Jeremy Pruitt responds to Vol Calls caller who asks him to 'go back to Alabama'
Every week, Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt’s call-in radio show “Vol Calls” ends up going off the rails at some point, it seems.
Wednesday night’s show was no exception, as Vol fans are frustrated with Tennessee’s 2-5 record as we enter December.
During this week’s show, a fan asked Pruitt when he was going to admit he’s not a coach and head back to Alabama:
Caller: “When are you going to admit you’re not a ball coach and go back to Alabama?”
Jeremy Pruitt’s response ⬇️ #VolCalls pic.twitter.com/x1Pfysd2ME
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) December 3, 2020
Since beating South Carolina and Mizzou to start the season, the Vols have lost to Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn.
This weekend, a tough test looms against No. 6 Florida. Then, the Vols finish off the season at home against No. 5 Texas A&M.
Things could get a lot worse before they get better. At the very least, it should make Vol Calls a must-listen every week.
With everything Pruitt has put into this game he shouldn’t have to entertain these couch potato trolls.
I’m not sure what he’s putting into the game, but he sure is pulling OUT a ton of money for such a shabby product.
I’m a Bulldawg fan but I gotta say that’s about the first time I’ve heard him give an answer that was legit and not another Butch Jones The 2nd comment
Why do opposing fans call UT’s Pruitt Mr potato head?
I’ve been calling him that since the day he got hired. Quite frankly he looks like a Mr. Potatohead to me. We had a fark image of his head at his coaching introduction speech at UT pasted onto a Mr. Potatohead on the Florida message boards at the time.
Wow, you’re edgy. Will you sign my yearbook?
Too bad the HC has to waste time with these idiots. I am sure he has better things to do like be with family. Oh well, that is part of the job and he is certainly compensated for dealing with these mental midgets.
Yeah I think the call in radio show or weekly tv show are contractually obligated for these coaches, just like Saban always has to have a bottle of coca-cola in front of him even though he’s never taken a drink from it.
Agreed.
I think he answered that quite well. GO VOLS! VFL!!
As a Gator fan, he handled that VERY aggressive caller quite well. Gotta give him credit for keeping his cool but I suppose he’s been getting a lot of practice at this sorta thing.
At least he didn’t blame it on his players being crappy for once.
Exactly why Gus doesn’t take questions from fans. What good could possibly come from it?
Because coaches are paid to participate in call-in shows. Kirby Smart’s show has questions tweeted in instead of live callers, that prevents being ambushed.
His win-loss record helps too.
Part of the coaching contract. Just the same way that all coaches are these days required to wear the gear of the sponsor of their respective school, be it Nike or UnderArmor or whatever. You won’t see them anymore on the sidelines wearing a suit and tie like the old school guys did, because they CAN’T. Call in shows or weekly post game TV shows are all different for the schools, but packaged in with the contract.
Same with making a certain number of booster club speaking visits during the offseason and such.
Gus is going to be on a Bus outta Auburn soon enough. They would be stupid to keep him after that embarrassing performance against Alabama.
No! Keep Gus. Auburn is just “young.” They’re gonna turn it around next year. I promise.
(Besides, that $21 million buyout is still out there).
Gus is a definitely a odd one. At least once a year he starts a dumpster fire, then randomly does something to keep his job. Like when he does manage to beat Bama. I’d be split on him getting canned.
WTF? Texas A&M lost just as badly to Alabama as Auburn did and you haven’t heard their fans shut the hell up about themselves all season long.
I suppose Auburn fans have higher opinions and expectations of their team.
the coaching has not been good but don’t make calls like that. The lack of civility in the world is bad enough.
I’d like to see the caller say that to Pruitt’s face. The coward would shake like a chihuahua at a wolf sanctuary.
It’s fans like this piece of human garbage that make it hard for schools like Tennessee to reverse their misfortunes. Recruits are not naive. If they see that fans are doing this, they are going to believe the coach is toast, and then they won’t consider that school. It becomes a fulfilling prophecy once the coach loses his ability to recruit. Tennessee fans have been trying to fire every coach since General Neyland retired.
LH, that’s funny stuff! “…like a chihuahua at a wolf sanctuary.”
LOL…no doubt.
If you think anyone is skeert of JP you are sadly mistaken.
You might be shaking but no one else is!
OMG!! Are you suggesting that Pruitt would commit an assault and battery upon a Vol fan for slighting him in person? So, essentially, Pruitt would then get arrested and sued and probably suspended by the SEC. Not sure you thought that one through. Besides, I’m sure fans having been verbally assaulting Pruitt at home games for awhile.
Pruitt, if he leaves, will be scooped up very fast by a P5 for DC. Football is changing, its no longer “a good defense is the best offense”. Defending a spread field is no easy task so you have “a good offense is the best offense”. For DC and their position coaches, for right now at least, the ceiling for DCs may be just that…a well paid DC.
Flip side: offensive gurus Hermman, Malzahn, Chad Morris. Great HC? Dabo was a special team coach and has more NCs than all 3 combined.
Lord I would never in my mind use Morris to measure anything. He is a high school coach and now the luckiest, wealthy failure in history. He WILL be used as a measure going forward for outstanding failures.
I don’t even want to talk about Morris in general, let alone measure how much of a failure he was at Arkansas. Let’s just say that Razorback fans like myself suddenly took a strong interest in basketball during those two seasons.
Dabo was merely a wide receivers coach. And became “the mouse that could”.
In Tuscaloosa we Tide fans do not want Pruitt back here…ever.
Yeah but your coach does…
I’m not sure which is more surprising, that Tennessee beat Missouri, or that Missouri lost to Tennessee. I mean Mizz has a winning record this year for crying out loud.
How we looked this first two games and even the first half vs uga is not even comparable to how we look since. It’s amazing how they have regressed. And I truly think the talent is there, not uga bama talent but better than what we have had. The qb and the qb coach has gotta go. If we had a competent qb we would have had a pretty good shot at arkansas and auburn. I know there are more issues, but qb is a game changer.
Yeah, JG continuing as a starter is puzzling. I don’t get it…
Only Muschamp can detonate a QB room better.
It’ll all come together in 2021 when Guarantano has his breakout year. Then all the haters will realize Pruitt’s master plan on giving him as many snaps and experience as possible in 2019 and 2020, sacrificing those years to prepare his team for championship glory behind JG in 21.
Lol. If G stays next year I think some ppl’s heads would explode.
Definitely Weinke needs to go
We got JG’s only full game Heismann Award attempt. Program was on high at at the beginning of the season. Eli Drinkwitz was still figuring it out and figuring out who was his QB. We’d obviously like another opportunity at that game but that’s for next year. Tennessee has a talented squad, the coaching not so much right now.
That has been big problem all along, UT can get the recruits, we know that much. Only name I have to mention is Kamara, woefully underused
As a lifelong UF fan… I was always thankful when Kamara hardly touched the ball. If I could see his immense talent… you would think his coaching staff would. Not surprising he moved on.
Caller Phil is gonna get to comfortable being a smart a55 remotely. When he pulls that kind of stunt in person, and gets popped in the pie hole, he’ll learn some manners.
Good for him taking the high road. I give him a lot of credit for not blowing up under all the pressure he’s surely feeling.
Coach Pruitt handled that with class. A tip of the old houndstooth hat from a Bama fan to him.
I took the call (which was disgraceful) as a measure of the temperature of the water in Knoxville. The fans are about past pissed but not quite yet at despondency. If Fulmer isn’t making plans, then the boosters who choose the AD should be.
Will Muschamp at South Carolina began receiving calls like this a few weeks prior to being fired. His fans accused him of robbing SC & suggested he wear a mask. But with that 2 year extension…no way Phil Fulmer fires him. Fulmer still remembers that feeling of being fired(which is the reason a former coach should be an AD anywhere).
Its just not time yet, despite lack of funds. Hope he can fix the offense, it has killed us all season.
Snopes just DEBUNKED this caller. Coach Pruitt is just doing the best he can and it’s perfectly normal for a team to regress to a potential 8 game losing streak in year 3. These fans are just “bitter clingers” to memories of 1998. CNN is reporting this is the new normal and any transphobic/cisgendered/non-pronoun respecting fans that have a problem with it can shut up because SCIENCE.
“it’s perfectly normal for a team to regress to a potential 8 game losing streak in year 3.”
Umm, no. Year 3 is when a team takes off. If it does not, you do not have the right coaching staff.
No-I’m afraid you’re incorrect because your argument was DEBUNKED.
ROFLMAO. For a second, I thought you were serious.
Wow, I’ve never been a big Pruitt fan, but that response was professional and pretty good for the type of insult the caller said. I’m a little impressed.
He’s going to get more practice.
I am a Georgia fan but want our opponents to do well so it means more when we beat them. I personally think Pruitt will be a great coach eventually, but he HAS to get an SEC caliber qb to get over the hump plain and simple. He needs to find a transfer qb that can give them a good season to build on and then he will be able to recruit decent qbs. Right now, why would any decent qb go to Tennessee?
So many so-called experts said UT was team to beat this year or could sneak up on people? It just goes to show you, how wrong the pundits are and how far UT still needs to go. The worst thing ever for them was winning a championship. Glory Days!!
ADB, we will hear it all again next offseason. Bet they have more players, who have used 4 years of eligibility, come back for another season than anyone else in the SEC. Then again, watching Trey Smith give up the NFL for THIS, maybe they want. I remember so many clowns on here, berating me for saying it was one of the dumbest decisions I have seen a football player make. Where are all those people? “Uh, it’s his decision, so why do you care?” Pffftttt