The same coaching style that helped Jeremy Pruitt have a major role in building, developing and coaching one of the best defenses in the nation during his time at Alabama is the same style the Volunteer head coach is currently implementing in Knoxville following his hire on Rocky Top.

Perhaps the best player that can attest to that fact is Tennessee offensive lineman, Brandon Kennedy.

After earning his undergraduate degree in Tuscaloosa, the former Alabama offensive lineman followed Pruitt to Tennessee and is set to enter his third season in the Orange and White in 2020.

So what is it about Pruitt that gave Kennedy the confidence to jump from one SEC program to another?

According to Kennedy, who was recently a guest on Tennessee’s “The Slice” podcast, the one characteristic of Pruitt that stands out is the coach’s honesty.

“The thing I love most about Pruitt is that he’s honest,” Kennedy says in the clip below. “As a coach and everything, that’s the number one thing that an athlete or a student-athlete, recruit, that’s the number one thing you look for. You just want somebody to be honest with you kind of tell you how it is. Sometimes the truth hurts, you know like constructive criticism and something that you need that to improve and things like that. So, that’s the one thing that I admired the most about Coach Pruitt and also try to, you know, put that into my leadership.”

You can listen to Kennedy’s quote in the clip below.

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