Despite rough start, Paul Finebaum says Tennessee ‘all in’ on Jeremy Pruitt
By Keith Farner
Published:
It’s been a rough season on Rocky Top. Even after a promising first half on Saturday, the latest loss for Tennessee came against Georgia in a 43-14 decision.
Tennessee now has the unfortunate distinction as the only Power 5 program that has yet to pick up a win over an FBS school in 2019. The Vols have dropped their last six games against FBS teams and is off to its slowest start since 1988 when it was 0-6.
But despite the grim start, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum believes coach Jeremy Pruitt isn’t leaving Tennessee anytime soon. During his weekly Monday morning appearance on Birmingham-based WJOX 94.5 FM radio program “The Roundtable,” Finebaum shared what he learned in Knoxville after a weekend there with “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Friday and “SEC Nation” on Saturday.
“There’s almost no conceivable way that Jeremy Pruitt is going to lose his job,” Finebaum said. “They’re all in, whether Tennessee officials and boosters believe what they’re saying, or not, they’ve almost locked hands and said he will be our coach next year.”
The Vols play host to Mississippi State this week, and Finebaum sees it as a critical game.
“I had a friend of mine say ‘Do you think we’ll get a field goal against Georgia?’ I’ve never heard things that bad,” Finebaum said. “Tennessee fans are grasping for straws and a Mississippi State game is pretty much it, because if Tennessee can’t win this game, we know it’s a 1-6 start and the back half of the season looks a little bit better.”
The Vols travel to Alabama the following week, before games against South Carolina, UAB, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
