Mark Stoops comments on Tennessee firing assistant following loss to Kentucky
By Keith Farner
Published:
One of the major fallouts from Kentucky’s win at Tennessee on Saturday was Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt fired defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh, who also served as co-defensive coordinator.
That hit close to home for Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, both because he was on the opposite sideline as Pruitt and Brumbaugh, and Brumbaugh coached at Kentucky from 2013-16.
“Really disappointed to hear of that,” Stoops said at his Monday press conference. “Caught word of that yesterday and I wasn’t sure whether that was true or not, I didn’t reach out to the friends that I have on that program. I certainly will reach out to Jimmy, though. Jimmy I do consider a friend and know him obviously personally from being with me and his family and wish nothing but the best for him, he’s a quality coach, he’s a good coach and he’ll land on his feet with no problem. I have no idea what goes on there, that’s not my business, but at some point I will reach out to Jimmy, and that’s disappointing.”
Brumbaugh was in his first season at Tennessee after he coached at Colorado in 2019. After he left Kentucky, he coached at Maryland for two seasons. This season is Brumbaugh’s 17th in collegiate coaching. A total of 17 players developed under Brumbaugh have been selected in the NFL Draft, including six first rounders.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
