Jeremy Pruitt on three-time Mr. Tennessee RB Eric Gray: ‘I know he’s chomping at the bit to get involved’
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At times last season, Tennessee’s offense seriously lacked the explosiveness necessary to threaten quality SEC defenses. With that in mind, Jeremy Pruitt and his Tennessee staff targeted one of the most explosive players in the state’s history to help alleviate that issue on the roster.
To the delight of Volunteer fans, four-star running back prospect Eric Gray spurned many national offers to stay at home and play for Tennessee during the Early Signing Period. The only three-time Mr. Tennessee award winner in the state’s history arrived early in Knoxville as a mid-term enrollee after racking up over 8,000 rushing yards and a total of 134 touchdowns during his high school career, with the vast majority of that production occurring in his last three seasons at Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis.
Unfortunately, Gray’s debut on the practice field has been delayed this spring due to a shoulder injury but that hasn’t stopped the freshman tailback from doing everything he can outside of physical contact to prepare for the upcoming season.
According to his head coach, Gray is having to be held back by the coaching staff from rushing back following an offseason shoulder surgery.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate, Eric he had to have his shoulder fixed but it’s a good thing we found out about it. He got it fixed in January, and he’ll be ready to go in May,” Pruitt said on Tuesday. “He’s a guy that’s a really good student, doing a nice job academically. He really has worked hard in there, kind of off the field, I guess film room, per se, learning assignments. We’ve almost had to hold him back a little bit, but he’s got plenty of football ahead of him and I know he’s chomping at the bit to get involved.”
While Gray may not be a full participant this spring, Pruitt believes all the work the freshman is putting in away from the field will still help prepare him to participate on the team this fall.
“I think being here, learning how college life is, getting kind of used to the everyday grind, I think is going to benefit him this summer and this fall and give him an opportunity to compete and play,” Pruitt added.
Based on what Gray has done at the high school level, it’s going to be tough for the Volunteers to keep him off the field come the fall, which stands to reason why they want to protect him to ensure he is fully available by the time fall training camp arrives in the coming months.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
