Paul Finebaum burns Jeremy Pruitt for postgame comments after Alabama blowout loss
Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt received considerable push back for his comments about the Vols “closing the gap” against Alabama following a 48-17 loss in Knoxville on Saturday.
SEC Network host Paul Finebaum took a sarcastic tone about those comments on Monday morning during his regular visit with “The Roundtable” on 94.5 FM in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I hate to get involved in other people’s personal health, but I strong recommend Jeremy Pruitt making an appointment this morning with an eye doctor if that’s what he thought,” Finebaum said. “It’s the same Tennessee game I’ve seen now for about 12 or 13 years. Every once in a while it gets a little closer, we all know when, but that game look like last year’s game, the year before, the year before and the year before. I think that’s pretty pathetic when that’s the best you can offer your fan base when getting your head knocked around for four hours. But hey, give him another raise.”
The decision was something that fans around the SEC have been accustomed to in this rivalry. QB Mac Jones passed for 387 yards and ran for a touchdown, and RB Najee Harris added three more TDs as Alabama added the 14th straight win in this rivalry.
I didnt really care for those comments either. Kind of jones-esque. But at least he didnt say anything about champions of life or 5 star hearts… I know what he emant and so does finebaum but he would have been getter off just saying “we arent their yet obviously”. Yeah the gaps closing but its still huge. From 10 miles wide to 9 miles is still a big gap. I dont have a problem with the raise or extension. It was appropriate at the point in time. he has 2 more years to prove he can get it done. He will have to maintain recruiting momentum which is always more difficult when you are losing more or worse than what is expected. he needs to beat arky and beat one of either auburn or ATM and then see where it goes from there. Winning cures everything. Right now though, the coaching all over looks very suspect. Muschamp II or better… stay tuned.
It’s easy to go on TV or the radio and parse and critique what the losing coach says after a game. Guys like Finebaum have enriched themselves doing it. Maybe Pruitt would have been better off discussing how the recruiting has been improving, which it has. I wonder what Finebaum thinks Pruitt should have said. TN is light years behind Bama? Vol fans can expect these kind of losses for the foreseeable future? I also think Finebaum’s “salary” comment was bush league.
Sure fans want to be NCAA champs every year. But we do none of the work.
If a Butch Jones feels like his team gave their best to succeed, it’s his most important job to hand out some praise about it.
It’s ok to have fan ideas about the work of Jones or Odom, but (and I look at my own comments), it will be better for college football if we keep our judgements in a little more humble context.
Seriously? Butch Jones.
Honestly I don’t know if Tennessee has gotten closer. But I know the UGA TALENT ON PAPER HAS SURPASSED ALABAMA! Yet on the field last game you wouldn’t know it. But again, it is only ONE GAME!!! Regardless to what Aaron Murray says. I DON’T BELIEVE WE ARE PLAYING THE BEST QB!!!
Nobody is going to convince me that a 5 foot 9 walk on QB who looked horrible against Alabama, is the better choice at QB! Over a 6 foot 3 also athletic 5 STAR that put up historic numbers in the TOP CLASSIFICATION WITH A CANON ACCURATE ARM!!! People don’t just watch his freshman year. When he was supposed to be a senior in high school. GO BACK AND WATCH HIS HIGH SCHOOL TAPE!!!
How many have done that?
And regardless to how good he has or hasn’t looked in his first ever SEC camp coming off an injury. Practicing against the #1 team in the country. STILL, SOME PEOPLE ARE GAMERS!!! They don’t always practice great but turn it on in actual games!!!
Stetson Bennett of course knows his way around our defense. He has been practicing against them for practically 5 years now! That gives him an unfair advantage. They let D’wan Mathis have his chance and then ANOTHER ONE!!! And I’m not against that at all. BUT WHEN DOES JT DANIELS GET HIS FIRST CHANCE?
Is Smart going to wait until we lose another game before he gives him a chance? ITS LIKE HE IS SCARED TO BE WRONG!!!! LIKE HE DOESN’T WANT PEOPLE TO SEE HE WAS WRONG!!!
Listen Kirby Smart your going to be wrong more times than your right. If you keep trying to run the offense!!! Isn’t that why you hired Monken? I agree to SEE TO IT THAT MONKEN INVOLVES OUR ELITE STABLE OF RUNNING BACKS! But then leave him alone!!! Your not going to convince me that Stetson Bennett is his choice!!! Not with Carson Beck fully healthy and now JT DANIELS IS CLEARED FOR WEEKS NOW!!! If your worried about his skinny legs then hey look at Bennett!!! Bennett is tiny and skinny!!! MOST OF ALL, BENNETT HASN’T PROVEN TO ME THAT HE CAN EVEN KEEP IT CLOSE TO ALABAMA. THE WAY FROMM ALWAYS DID!!! No more excuses.
LET JT DANIELS AT LEAST PLAY A LITTLE. SO THAT IN CASE YOU NEED HIM, HE IS READY!!!!
Smart if your planning to do to Alabama what they did to you. THEN LET JT DANIELS PLAY LITTLE!!!
Okay, this is supposed to be about Tennessee. And it is about Tennessee!!!
JUST LIKE WITH UGA. I’VE HEARD ALL ABOUT THIS BIG-TIME NEW QB. THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO LIGHT THE WORLD ON FIRE AT TENNESSEE. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SAVIOUR OF YOUR PROGRAM. BUT I PERSONALLY HAVEN’T SEEN HIM. HAS HE EVEN PLAYED A SINGLE DOWN??????
If seen JG all year. But if any other QBs have played I haven’t seen them. I THINK TO MANY FORMER ASSISTANTS OF SABAN TRY TO BE LIKE HIM TO THE DETRIMENT OF THEIR OWN PROGRAMS!!! Saban is not playing the worst QB on his roster. He is playing a big tall guy who is his TOP OPTION right now!!!
PS. But both Pruitt and Smart are trying to be STUBBORN because they think that is how Saban would do it. THAT’S GOOD IF YOU WANT TO BE HIS B?TCH!!! SMART MADE ALABAMA NOT SABAN!!! BOTH NEED TO BE THEIR OWN MEN!!!
PS. Neither Dabo or coach O tried to be like Saban. And without KIRBY SMART SABAN HASN’T FAIRED TOO WELL!!! PRUITT & SMART NEED TO BE THEIR OWN MEN. AND STOP BEING SO DANG STUBBORN!!!!
King Negan
Wake me up next season.
I’ll be your wake up if you do the same for an Ole Miss fan…
@Olemissfan82……..Are you serious? Y’all are by far better than you were last year! Y’all exposed Alabama’s defense to the tune of 48 points! With Arkansas you ran into a team that was better than everyone thought. Realistically they should have only 1 loss this season. And that to UGA!!!
PS. Don’t give up so soon! If Alabama sleeps on Arkansas they will get BEAT!!!
King Negan
@lesstalk……..I’m a dawg fan. But what were you expecting? I expected UGA to lose in Tuscaloosa. But I expect to win the SEC! But as for Tennessee. Your expectations seem a bit high. RECRUITING RANKINGS DO MATTER! UGA has had 3 #1 recruiting classes in a row. On top of KIRBY’s 3rd ranked recruiting class!
To me I think UGA is underperforming!
Yes, we dominated the east and are supposed to! Florida is going to find that out the hard way this year! They are going to see that MEDIA TITLES don’t count for much! Yes, Dan Mullen is a decent coach. But he recruits at an average level for an elite SEC program! VERY AVERAGE!!! And when that happens your going to be average to bad somewhere unless you hit the transfer jackpot every single year. This season Florida has a decent offense.
Still once someone has people to cover Kyle Pitts without having to get out of their overall defensive scheme. That team is probably going to SPANK FLORIDA!!! That team I believe is the beast from the east UGA!!! I don’t believe Florida can stop UGA even if Stetson Bennett is the QB! He is as good or better than Trask and much faster!!! I TRULY BELIEVE THAT UGA WILL PUT AN EPIC BEATING ON FLORIDA THIS SEASON! It will make all Florida fans reevaluate Dan Mullen!!! In fact I believe because it’s Florida. He might very well be on the hot seat after this one. So far he has laughed and joked his way through the media. And only because the game was so close last season, did the fans buy it. When he said. We’re 7 points away! They weren’t 7 points last year and not even close this year. I think the cocktail party will prove that recruiting matters!!!!
As for Tennessee. Y’all aren’t there just yet. I mean your getting there. And honestly you could have had only 2 LOSSES up to this point. You should have had only 2 LOSSES. And you still have a chance to do something special! LIKE KICK FLORIDA’S A$$ THIS SEASON!!! I’m confident you can do it. And just stop losing to teams you can beat and you’ll get there faster!!!
PS. When Tennessee started out as the #1 recruiting class in the SEC. I understand getting excited. But it wasn’t time to start poking fun at UGA and Alabama. I TOLD YOU THAT WOULD COME BACK TO BITE YOU!!!
FEEL FREE TO QUOTE THIS ON TALKING VOLS IF YOU READ IT!
King Negan
I have a friend who is on the Board of Trustees at UT. When Pruitt was hired, he said IF Pruitt is the coach we need, it will take 5 years to get back to upper tier of SEC. IF he is not, it will take 10 years. He said that UT football was in worse shape when Butch left than anyone can imagine, that it was so much more than just what we saw on the field. Pruitt is 1/2 of the way through those 5 years. He’ll get those 5 years. I’m checking now with my friend to see what they are saying on The Hill.
Pruitt had better stop worrying about supporting BLM and start worrying about his future!
That’s just stupid. In no way would his support of a social movement impact his job performance. As if no one is capable of having a job but also supporting causes. Just ignorant.
Congrats…I have seen a TON of ignorant comments here over the years…But you just won the top prize…Wow
I agree with you and cody, but don’t forget that Saban added this “All lives matter, including Black lives”. The reason it’s important for coaches to take this position is 1) it keeps the focus on improving all training and performance of police, while at the same time validating the concerns of minorities. Finally it cuts off any sub-element within the Black Lives Matter movement who might be using a legit complaint to advance black racist ideas. If you don’t think that’s real, look at the demands of the small group of protesters that recruited the football players to strike at Missouri in 2015. They advocated cheating all other races on campus to achieve advantages expressly for african-americans. Read it. It’s an eye-opener. The University did something interesting instead they hired an Asian American president.
Ten years?! Are y’all building a football program or planning a voyage to Mars?!
Alabama simply has better players than everyone in the SEC right now. Georgia is close, except at a couple of positions, unfortunately QB is one of them.
If everything went perfectly for UT, it might take five years to compete with Alabama, because not only do you have to recruit as well as them, you have to do it for several years.
But it shouldn’t take more than three or four years to compete for the East, or at least finish a strong 2nd. (UGA recruits really well too).
I’m not a Vol fan, but the loss to UK would trouble me much more than getting shelled by Alabama. The Tide does that to most everyone.
Great points Class of 98. Very well said. It’s a battle to reach the top of the East or to just compete for that title. Then there’s Bama – at a whole nother level, year in and year out.
Yeah you need about 30 to 35 good players just to establish depth. And you need depth at skill positions and major defense positions to win in the SEC. Might can get away with that in other conferences
@Mudragon…….No Alabama has not been at a whole other level than UGA! Far from it! WE BEAT THEM IN 2017 FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! Then we were screwed out of it by REFS!
That was the last National championship Alabama won and THEY DIDN’T WIN! It was gifted as was their playoff appearance. Auburn won the west that year and UGA WON THE SEC! Which includes Alabama! That made uga #1, auburn #2 and Alabama #3 in the division!!!
Since then Alabama was trounced by clemson and didn’t even make the playoffs last season. In fact UGA had the a better record than Alabama and PLAYED A MUCH MUCH TOUGHER SCHEDULE!!!! Alabama was beaten by the only two decent teams on their whole schedule. While UGA played and beat a highly ranked Notre dame, auburn and Florida! Then beat 11-2 Baylor to boot!!!
So please stop saying Alabama is on another level. It makes me sick to read it! WE WILL SOON SEE IF THEY ARE SOOOOO GREAT. THERE WILL BE A REMATCH!!! UGA IS GOING TO WIN THE SEC EAST. THEN LETS SEE IF PART 2 IS ANYTHING LIKE PART 1!!!
PS. I haven’t missed this year! I’m still batting 1000! I predicted the first loss but also predicted the REMATCH. That UGA is going to win!
King Negan
The ten years bit meant that we would have wasted 5 and have to do it again because he wasnt the correct coach… that is how I read it anyway.
Class of 98………Sorry but I can’t agree. Based upon one game in Tuscaloosa your already ready to give up? I don’t believe Alabama has better players. Not by a long shot!!!
On paper UGA has the top roster.
But other than that debacle last time. The games have all been extremely close. And had the REFS called it correctly. WE ACTUALLY WON IN 2017!!!
I believe a few calls here or there could have changed the outcome in 2018 to!!! And again, not to beat a dead horse. But wasn’t this last game fairly close until that BS PASS INTERFERENCE CALL THAT PUT THE BALL ON THE 1???
That is what changed the game. But hey, we also have better QBs than Stetson Bennett!!!! The only thing we are proving is that we can win with our 4TH string QB!!!! That is exactly what we are doing!!!
But let’s wait until THE REMATCH in the SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME before we cash in our chips and call it quits. NO, ALABAMA IS NOT BETTER THAN UGA!!! WE HAVE 10 times the defense they do!!!
PS. I’ll take UGA in the REMATCH!!!
King Negan
Class of 98……..UGA recruits really well to? What is with that. You give the impression that Alabama recruits better. This year so far they are. That is because Saban is a flat out cheater! And he cut through the covid19 nonsense. Went from 50TH to #1 in nearly a few days to weeks maybe. ITS NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND HOW. HE STARTED DROPPING THE MONEY!!!
Either way. UGA has had the #1 RANKED class 3 straight years in a row! 247 which is filled with Alabama lovers jilted a few of UGAs 5 STARS in 2019 in order to GIFT ALABAMA WITH THE #1 class! But the others like rivals saw straight through it and AWARDED UGA THE #1 RECRUITING RANKING THAT THEY DESERVED! Thus giving UGA 3 straight #1 recruiting classes!
And if we ever want to start our guys on steroids like Alabama and Clemson have both been CAUGHT DOING. I’m sure that our development will pickup to! Saban was shooting Tua full of painkillers & steroids all year long until his body was destroyed on one hit. Saban nearly cost the kid everything trying to force him to play through injuries!!! When he had Mac Jones who has been just as good or BETTER!!!!
Saban is a pure JERK! Alabama is a cocky group of a$$whipes! They have done NOTHING! Yet they are celebrating with cigars after beating Tennessee. HUGE WIN NICK!!! Nick became a dancing bear when they beat UGA as if he ever doubted his REFS! He pays them enough.
PS. Just like Gus, that old fart dancing bear Saban apparently forgot. THERE WILL PROBABLY BE A REMATCH!!! He hasn’t gotten rid of us just yet!!!
King Negan
This is what I think also. One of his first press conferences he implied the mess he would have to clean up. I wont be worried until the 5th season.
An exquisitely faír comment & evaluation….
@bamajama…………Wait until the REMATCH in the SEC CHAMPIONSHIP. And the playoffs if Alabama can make it. Then I want to see Alabama sucking cigars!!! LOL THE ONLY THING THEY WILL BE SUCKING IS WIND!!!
PS. The hot wind coming out of Sabans mouth as he again explains how they cheated poor bama! REFS CHEATING ALABAMA HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE FUNNIEST JOKES IVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!!!
King Negan
Coach Pruitt, have we closed the gap to Kentucky?
Fair Question!
@CrankE…….Just one bad game like Alabama vs UGA! We have a better overall roster and yet they won big. It takes just one or two bad calls to totally changed any game! Now if you were Florida asking about the gap between UGA and Florida. Then I would totally understand! UGA is way ahead of Florida.
Honestly, Kentucky has been a basketball school since forever. Nobody ever thinks Kentucky is gaining on anyone and thus they slip up on most everyone! Still I don’t think their coach gets enough credit. If he ever becomes a big-time recruiter Kentucky might be dangerous. But before that happens. He will probably move on to a bigger program. HE MIGHT WANT TO BE THE NEXT DAN MULLEN AFTER FLORIDA FIRES HIM!!! WHICH WILL BE VERY VERY SOON I THINK!!!
PS. Unless Florida now enjoys being second in the SEC EAST! After being as far down as they were it’s understandable. Second doesn’t suck if your a gator!!! HEY I CREATED THAT SAYING. ITS MINE ONCE IT GETS POPULAR REMEMBER WHO CREATED IT!!!
SECOND DOESN’T SUCK IF YOUR A GATOR!
COPYRIGHT KN OR KING NEGAN OCTOBER 29, 2020
King Negan
Coach, how about that DL performance against Alabama? Should the DL coach be fired this week? Just asking…
FOURTEEN STRAIGHT! Wrap your head around that; Vol Fans. I remember when Fulmer was hired; the adage was “He Better Beat Bama.” Lowered Standards?
Meanwhile, Recruits are watching.
If you played in most other conferences you’d be undefeated or perhaps have just one loss (if you happened to draw Clemson, Ohio State, etc.). There’s been improvement for sure. Playing Bama, UGA & Kentucky can be bad for many/most teams’ health. This takes time. We know. The QB position is key and it may be time to look towards the future – though I have to give credit to JG – he’s one tough kid who’s been pummeled for years and gets right back up each play. He deserves respect just for that.
True…add a much improved Gators as well. Vols, in a way, are in a similar but worse position as UGA was when Jim Donnan took over. Gators and Vols were annually Top 10 if not Top 5. Donnan went 5-6, 10-2, 9-3, 8-4, and 8-4. His recruiting built a great foundation and depth…but would lose an unexplainable game or two every year….was very close hitting it big. His roster and depthpaid big dividends for Richt.
Mudragon………while I agree with your comment on JG. Honestly most Tennessee fans probably prefer that he not pop right up. To give others a chance. Nothing serious maybe just a bad ankle for a few games! I believe some coaches are wrong and too stubborn to admit it. I hope the UGA coaches just let us see JT Daniels before someone throws the season away. But hey Stetson Bennett is not bad. Maybe he won’t throw it away!!!
ATTENTION JT DANIELS…
JT Daniels if your reading this. Once you get your shot. REMEMBER TO LET THE GAME COME TO YOU! Don’t force anything. Your talented enough without forcing anything. ALSO DON’T BE AFRAID TO RUN AND SLIDE!!!!! NOTHING TO PROVE!!!!
PS. Same advice for Carson Beck. And Stetson stay in the pocket sometimes! And in order to get around the batted passes. PUMP FAKE ONCE IN A WHILE!!! It will get them in the air then their yours!!!!
King Negan
I don’t see why people are just trashing UT and Pruitt and JG. I dare any of yall to stand in the pocket like JG and have a 6’2 300lb Lineman rush at you and literally destroy and lets see how accurate your throws are. I dare one of yall to take a program like Butch Jones left for Pruitt and turn it into a dominant winning program in less than 5 years. I would even dare one y’all to go out there and try and tackle AJ Rose, Najee Harris, or any of the running backs we have faced. I dare one of y’all to cover Waddle or Smith or Shi Smith or Pickens or any of the elite recievers we have faced. So shut up about the Tennessee is trash and JG is the worst QB we have ever seen and Pruitt is not getting it done or Chaney is not getting it done
What’s your point?
The point is the harsh talk is premature.
Someone understands
Naw man, that argument wont fly. Every team that is down has taken their hits in the media. Just get in the gauntlet and take the hits. Tennessee isnt the only team left in a mess..seen much worse at Arkansas and others.
bro i wasn’t saying tennessee is the only one taking hits in the media i was speaking to the dumb people in the comment section who just like to flame tennessee to flame them, i honestly probably know more ab the game of football and the media about it more then you do sooo. Also i understand that more teams are talked ab but i was just saying that put yourself in that situation and see how you’d do.
I do agree that JG is one of the bravest men ever to step foot on a college football field. His own fans hate him and want his neck broken, and his ‘school’ won’t even hire him a competent head coach.
Losses by 21+ points in their first 30 games as Tennessee’s head coach:
Jeremy Pruitt 12
Butch Jones 6
Derek Dooley 6
That’s what he’s playing for. Mr. Potatohead doesn’t know his left shoe from his right shoe. The trainers had to put left and right arrows on the toes of his shoes because he couldn’t figure out the L and the R that were there at the start.
Bama and GA both have 80+ percentage of blue chippers. Vols have less than 50%. There was a reason why the two best players chose teams when we played backyard football when I was a kid. It will take at least 5 years for Vols to reach upper tier again if all goes right. If not, it’ll take longer. Look at GA. Smart has been there forever and with the best players and he can’t win big games. Saban walked into the best program at the best time. Ohio St has 80% or more. Next level is Texas, LSU, Fla, OK, Clemson all in the 60s. Then teams in 50s. Then Vols in high 40s. If you don’t think blue chippers matter, research it.
I meant to say Vols are in low 40 percentile; in fact, barely 40%.
Explain how Potatohead inherited a Tennessee team from Butch Jones that was so stacked with talent, it was the second best talented team in the SEC East only behind Georgia. That is statistical and documented fact. He has taken that team to ONE bowl game in 3 years. He’s also had the program for three years now and proven he cannot recruit as good as Butch Jones did before him based on what he’s brought in. It’s time to stop blaming anyone else for Tennessee’s woes than the great Potato. It starts and ends with him, no matter how many of his players he throws under the bus in post game commentaries.
Find a QB, UT. JG is good enough to get you beat in every meaningful game.
Tennessee better be lucky they caught Mizzou early. Mizzou would run them off the field now.
Bazelak has the completion % to back up what you are saying, and Drinkwitz’s running game against Kentucky lines up with this. I think Tennessee
would still have been a competitive match, but, I agree with your basis premise here.
Here’s another idea about division results everyone should consider also. The same two rosters and coaches can meet every week and have different winners and scores. Some sports even play a series to determine champions, baseball accounts for this idea. This considers the element of roster depth, as one example. Luck that may enter a one-game decision is less of a factor in a series. But Football is one of those tough men’s games. It would be too taxing on the rosters to play a series. Tennessee beat the roster Missouri played in 2020, that doesn’t make Tennessee the Division Champ or eliminate Missouri from the same by itself. Do I need to remind anybody that the SEC doesn’t really plan to have true division champs? If they did they wouldn’t count the results of conference games outside the division. They did rotate inter-division opponents until this year, why they went backwards in that element of fair-play this year is disappointing, and at a time they had a chance to move, for one year, closer to legitimate champ titles.
@wdrkb……….You put a few nice games together and suddenly your dangerous? OKAY I HAVE A CHALLENGE FOR YOU! BEAT FLORIDA! I know you can. But I wanna see you do it before you start becoming dangerous!
I’m not hating on Missouri I’m just saying. Until you do something. Tennessee beat you so hush. Beat Florida then you can talk a little. Until you play UGA! You do play UGA right?
PS. Sheesh, from Arkansas on. Everyone we play is tough lol.
King Negan
Until Tennessee makes a commitment to pay a name coach or go get an offensive innovator nothing will ever change.
And stop hiring guys who coached under Saban. It doesn’t work for us, obviously.
The Saban and Belichick coaching trees are perhaps the most overrated in football, given the accomplishments of both men. Saban has one good coach under his (Kirby) and Belichick has maybe one good coach under his (Vrabel). Both trees show that it’s the head coach doing all the managerial oversight and that magic doesn’t pass to the assistants. Unless Pruitt turns it around at the end of the season, the realistic goal is to build the cupboard for a hopefully better hire in 2-4 years.
Losses by 21+ points in their first 30 games as Tennessee’s head coach:
Jeremy Pruitt 12
Butch Jones 6
Derek Dooley 6
Ok guys, we gotta stop saying anything negative about the Vols. Noah said so. I realize it is a message board; you know, a place designed to discuss football, but stop it already. Only pump sunshine into the program from now on. Why? noah told us to.
And noah, the University of Tennessee’s football recruiting budget is more than Kentucky spends on recruiting all four sports. They pay much more for their coaching staff and a zillion times more on their facilities. They get much higher recruiting classes. 34-7 at Knoxville and you are saying we should not critique them ?
I never said you can not critique them but what does anything have to say relate to anything I said you are just looking for an argument. I never said anything about not critiquing them because I will be the first to say I critique them but bashing them and jumping to conclusions is not exactly called for. Does that make sense or do I need to use baby talk to explain.