Jeremy Pruitt implies Alabama tried to hire key assistant away from Tennessee
The Tennessee Volunteers kicked off spring practices on Tuesday, and that means coach Jeremy Pruitt is getting his first look at his squad for the 2020 season.
Also, this is an important time for the assistant coaches and other staffers to get familiar with new players. However, Pruitt indicated on Tuesday night in a press conference that one key Vol assistant was highly coveted by other teams this offseason.
Per Pruitt, strength coach Craig Fitzgerald was in high demand this offseason:
Jeremy Pruitt indicates Alabama tried to steal away Craig Fitzgerald:
"Craig is a guy that's in high demand. No secret there's several jobs in our league come open in the last couple of weeks and Craig was the first guy they called and he decided to stay here."
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) March 10, 2020
Considering Fitzgerald is Tennessee’s strength coach and Alabama had a high-profile opening at that position after Scott Cochran left, it’s easy to read between the lines of what Pruitt was saying.
Fitzgerald is still in Knoxville for the 2020 season, which is big for Pruitt’s staff. We’ll see if teams come calling again this offseason.