Jeremy Pruitt comments on Aubrey Solomon news, Bryce Thompson situation ahead of Tennessee’s season opener

After a 5-7 season in Year 1 under Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee is looking to take a big step forward in Year 2 of the Pruitt era.

The Volunteers are getting some big help on defense in the form of Michigan transfer Aubrey Solomon, who was finally officially ruled eligible for 2019 by the NCAA. Ahead of the Week 1 clash against Georgia State (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU), Pruitt discussed the Solomon news, UT’s new offense and more on the SEC’s weekly media teleconference Wednesday:

• On Michigan transfer Aubrey Solomon: We found out yesterday that Aubrey Solomon will be eligible. It’s been tough on him… I’m glad he’s getting the opportunity to play. He’s really improved from the first day of practice to now. He’s really elevated his game, he can play all three downs, he can play inside, play outside.
• On suspended DB Bryce Thompson: Like I said the other day, we suspended Bryce from our team indefinitely, we cannot comment anymore because there is an ongoing investigation.
• On keys to being successful: On offense, we need to be a clean team – by that we can’t beat ourselves, no balls on the ground, have to throw completions, stay ahead of the chains. On defense, we have to play as a team, we have had some guys banged up… we don’t have as much experience there, we have to play ball-hawking defense… we are bigger, faster, stronger. We should be better on special teams.
• On how the offensive line can help improve QB play: If you look at last year, based on the number of offensive linemen we had on our team, we only had seven healthy guys that could play, we aren’t in that situation now. Whether from development or recruiting, we have those guys now.
• More on the offensive line and how: We have more competition on the OL, bigger and stronger there. We have almost everyone back there, they have a better understanding of what we want done and how we practice.
• On tackling in Week 1 after the long layoff: if you look at bowl games, one thing that shows up, especially on defense, is missed tackles. It’s something that shows up a little more early in the year. Every day if you tackle in space – we do things to help that – but there’s nothing like game speed.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.