Jeremy Pruitt addresses phone call with officer during Jeremy Banks' arrest video
When a video of the arrest of Tennessee’s Jeremy Banks recently emerged, it wasn’t just the sophomore Volunteer who had to explain his actions. UT head coach Jeremy Pruitt was on the receiving end of some harsh criticism for his reaction to Banks’ arrest. The video included officers talking to Pruitt. The early Sunday morning call wasn’t the best look for the second-year head coach. Pruitt appeared to question the necessity of the arrest and imply that football players get special treatment from police at other programs where he has worked at (Alabama, Florida State, Georgia).
This piece of the transcript between Jeremy Pruitt and the Knoxville police during the Jeremy Banks arrest is quite fascinating https://t.co/CUciA3LoFT pic.twitter.com/k7UUGeN5dY
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 2, 2019
The video emerged on Tuesday night. With the SEC holding its weekly media teleconference on Wednesday, it’s not surprising that Pruitt was asked about Banks’ arrest and his comments.
Here’s what Pruitt told media members:
- On Jeremy Banks: You know, as I’ve said before, Jeremy’s comments and behavior were unacceptable and we’ve addressed the matter internally.
- On his phone call comments: You know, when you get a phone call at 3:30 in the morning you are always going to take it. To be honest, when I got the phone call, I had no idea who I was talking to for the first two minutes. By the time I got it figured out, obviously some confusion because it was late but I appreciate the officer talking to me and doing his job.
- On saying he’s never had something happen like this – was he saying police would have cut players a break at other places and that’s his expectation? No, absolutely not. There’s no place I’ve ever worked where anyone has cut anyone a break. The point was the warrant was issued for five weeks or four weeks there and I wasn’t aware of it. That’s something we have got to do a better job of, focusing on our players so you don’t have a speeding ticket or anything that turns into something like this. We have got to do a better job as a staff, we have got to have a relationship to get it figured out.
- Had he seen the video before? As I said before, Jeremy’s comments and behavior were unacceptable, we’ve addressed it and that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Cue the UGA trolls.
And UT apologists.
and fans of a team that shouldn’t be in the SEC
And that team would be TN?
where was the SEC charter signed?
you’re getting fairly tiring fuzzy. Sound like hooker – a one note song.
No reason to troll. Just read the articles.
Agree
I bothered to watch the video. You should as well.
This story is a dog whistle to those already disgruntled at Pruitt, Banks, or UT.
My take was that Pruitt was half asleep, trying to figure out who/why he was getting called, expressing informed compassion for the kids warrant circumstance, and lastly, respectfully accepting the cops decision.
I generally take great joy in UT misfortunes. But, I refuse to be mislead here regarding UT or Pruitt, by a bandwagoning bunch of bloggers whose prime purpose is trending clicks.
Nice to see a level-headed response on here.
Nobody making excuses. But when most of the comments on A Tennessee related article comes from the same fan base. It gets old. Most insufferable fan base by far in SEC. And that’s saying a lot, Tennessee included.
Hey Coach.
Your player said “Where I come from, WE SHOOT COPS” to a police officer.
You should have suspended, possible kicked the player from the program.
You’re pathetic.
Kid is a thug who Pruitt is trying to protect. That’s bad form for UT. It just keeps getting worse on Rocky Bottom.
Err….player says “we shoot cops where I am from” Coach says “this is the silliest [suttf] I have ever seen” (per an officer doing their duty.)
Fulmer? This can’t stand man. This is bullskipe. Do what you got to do! You can’t have a player threatening cops and a coach, a HEAD coach taking their back and saying what he said.
A Professor at UT? (It is an academic institution) would lose their job immediately for either offense.
Take care of it Phil.
Player comments cant be excused. Talking about shooting a cop? Unacceptable. Pruitt came off looking bad in the phone call. He could make up for it by suspending him for a game or two and require some kind of police related community service before returning. If player doesnt like it, too bad. He can hit the road. Tenn can lose without him.