This is an accepted version of this page
 Pruitt in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1974-05-28)May 28, 1974 (age 51) Rainsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Plainview (Rainsville, Alabama) |
| College | Middle Tennessee Alabama |
| Career history | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Career | NCAA: 5–19 (.208) Bowls: 0–0 (–) |
Jeremy Pruitt (born May 28, 1974) is an Americanfootball coach. He previously served as thehead coach at theUniversity of Tennessee from 2018 to 2020 and defensive coordinator at theUniversity of Alabama from 2016 to 2017,University of Georgia from 2014 to 2015, andFlorida State University in 2013.
As a defensive coordinator, Pruitt's defenses frequently ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense and related categories. Pruitt worked for Alabama as Director of Player Development from 2007 to 2009 before becoming the Crimson Tide's defensive backs coach in 2010. Prior to joining the college ranks, he served as an assistant coach at the high-school level. Pruitt was a 2013 finalist for theBroyles Award, given annually to the nation's top college football assistant coach, and was again a finalist in 2016. He playedcollege football atMiddle Tennessee and Alabama.[1][2]
Pruitt appeared on the TV seriesTwo-A-Days in 2006 while an assistant coach atHoover High School inHoover, Alabama.[3] In January 2021, Pruitt was fired from Tennesseefor cause, as a result of significant recruiting violations.[4] He was replaced byJosh Heupel.
Pruitt was born inRainsville, Alabama, the son of Dale and Melissa Pruitt. His father is a long-time high school head coach, with stints atPisgah (1982–1983),Plainview (1984–2000, 2006–2014, 2022–present),Ft. Payne (2001–2003), Marion County (Tenn.) (2004–2005, 2020–2021),Albertville (2015–2018), andDade County (2019).[5][failed verification] Jeremy played for his father at Plainview, where he was named all-state in 1991 and 1992, and helped the team achieve a 48–8 record.[6]
Pruitt began his college football career atMiddle Tennessee State under Hall of Fame head coachBoots Donnelly.[7] He was recruited as a quarterback, but switched to defensive back during his freshman season.[8] After his sophomore year, he transferred to theUniversity of Alabama, where he played under coachGene Stallings. He saw action in nine games during his junior season as a member of the1995 Alabama squad, and seven games during his senior season as a member of theOutback Bowl-winning1996 squad.[9] As a player, Pruitt helped mentor All-American teammateKevin Jackson in defensive coordinatorBill Oliver's complex schemes.[8]
Pruitt began coaching as a student assistant on the1997 Alabama team, where he worked primarily under defensive backs coachCurley Hallman.[10]
Pruitt worked as an assistant coach under his father at Plainview High School in 1998 and 2000 and at Fort Payne from 2001 to 2003.[11]
Pruitt coached defensive backs in 1999 atWest Alabama, where he earned his degree.[12]
Pruitt served as an assistant coach underRush Propst atHoover High School from 2004 to 2006, winning state championships in 2004 and 2005.[9] While at Hoover, he appeared on the first season of theMTV reality television show,Two-A-Days, which aired in the fall of 2006 and focused on the lives of students at Hoover.[13]
In2007, Pruitt joined the Alabama coaching staff as Director of Player Development.[14] FollowingAlabama's 2009 national championship season, Pruitt was named the Tide's defensive backs coach.[15] During his first season in2010, Alabama's secondary led the SEC in passing efficiency, and included one All-American,Mark Barron. The2011 Alabama secondary led the nation in pass defense and passing efficiency, and included three All-Americans, Barron,Dre Kirkpatrick, andDeQuan Menzie. Both Barron and Kirkpatrick were drafted in the first round of the2012 NFL draft. Pruitt's 2012 secondary ranked seventh nationally in pass defense, and includedJim Thorpe finalistDee Milliner.[16] He was named National Recruiter of the Year in 2012 by247Sports.[17]
In2013, Pruitt was hired as thedefensive coordinator atFlorida State.[18] In his lone season with the Seminoles, his defense ranked number one in scoring defense, allowing just 12.1 points per game, and ranked third in total defense, helping the2013 Seminoles win the national championship.[9]
In2014, Pruitt joined theGeorgia coaching staff as the defensive coordinator.[19] His 2014 defensive unit finished 17th nationally in total defense, and finished in the top ten in turnover margin and passing yards allowed. Pruitt's2015 unit at Georgia finished the season ranked seventh nationally in total defense, and led the nation in fewest passing yards allowed per game.[9]
Pruitt returned to Alabama as defensive coordinator in2016, replacingKirby Smart, who had left to become the head coach at Georgia.[20][21] His 2016 defensive unit led the nation in scoring defense and rushing defense, and was ranked second in total defense.[9] His2017 Alabama defensive unit finished the regular season ranked second in total defense and first in scoring defense.[22] The unit was part of the team that won the National Championship in the 2017 season.[23]
In December 2017, Pruitt was hired as the head coach at theUniversity of Tennessee, capping a tumultuous coaching search that followed the firing of head coachButch Jones, and led to the replacement of athletic directorJohn Currie by Hall of Fame coachPhillip Fulmer.[24] On September 1, 2018, he made his Tennessee head coaching debut in the Belk College Kickoff against the #17West Virginia Mountaineers. The Volunteers lost by a score of 40–14.[25] The next week, againstETSU, Pruitt won his first game as head coach. The Vols defeated the Buccaneers by a score of 59–3 in Pruitt'sNeyland Stadium debut.[26] After a 24–0 victory overUTEP, Tennessee suffered blowout losses toFlorida and #2Georgia.[27][28][29] On October 13, against #21Auburn, Pruitt coached the Volunteers to their first victory over a SEC West team since 2010.[30] Following the Auburn game, Tennessee dropped back-to-back contests to #1Alabama andSouth Carolina before getting a 14–3 victory overCharlotte on November 3.[31][32][33] On November 10, he helped lead the Volunteers to a 24–7 victory over the #12Kentucky Wildcats.[34] Tennessee had two chances at bowl eligibility late in the season but dropped both, a 50–17 toMissouri and a 38–13 loss toVanderbilt.[35][36] Overall, in his first season as the Volunteers' head coach, Pruitt finished with a 5–7 overall record, 2–6 record in SEC play.[37]
Tennessee added the #13 overall recruiting class for the 2019 cycle according to247sports.com.[38] The Volunteers opened the season with a 38–30 loss toGeorgia State University.[39] The loss was particularly devastating for Tennessee as it marked the program's first loss to a non-Power 5 program since 2008 and its first loss ever to a Sun Belt team.[40] The next week saw the Vols drop a 29–26 result toBYU.[41] The Vols started 0–2 for the first time since 1988.[42] They earned their first win of the season against in-state opponentUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga by a score of 45–0, which was the second shutout under Pruitt.[43] Tennessee dropped to 1–4 with a 34–3 loss to #9Florida and a 43–14 loss to #3Georgia.[44][45] The Volunteers earned their second win of the season against SEC opponentMississippi State Bulldogs by a score of 20–10, giving the Volunteers their first SEC win for the 2019 season.[46] The next week saw a 35–13 loss to #1Alabama.[47] After a 2–5 start to the season, Pruitt helped lead the Volunteers to a five-game winning streak to end the season at 7–5 and earn bowl eligibility. The win streak saw Tennessee get conference victories overSouth Carolina,Kentucky,Missouri, andVanderbilt.[48] In the2020 Gator Bowl againstIndiana, Pruitt earned his first bowl victory as head coach of Tennessee with a 23–22 comeback victory.[49]
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Tennessee's 2020 season was cut to an All-SEC, ten-game season beginning on September 26.[50] The Volunteers started the 2020 season ranked #16 in the AP Poll.[51] The team got off to a 2–0 start with victories overSouth Carolina andMissouri.[52][53] Tennessee rose to #14 in the AP Poll and faced off against #3Georgia. Tennessee led 21–17 at the half before giving up 27 unanswered in the second half to fall 44–21.[54] The next week marked a lowlight for the Tennessee program, suffering a home loss toKentucky for the first time in 36 years. Tennessee gave up back-to-back pick sixes byJarrett Guarantano in the second quarter to begin a 34–7 blowout. The 27-point loss marked the worst defeat in the series for Tennessee since Kentucky won 27–0 in 1935.[55][56] Tennessee dropped their next four games before getting a 42–17 victory overVanderbilt.[57][58] The four-game losing streak saw Pruitt try to find answers to inconsistent quarterback play by constantly switching players out at the position. Tennessee shifted through four different quarterbacks towards the end of the season.[59] Tennessee dropped the last game of the season, a 34–13 setback to #5Texas A&M to finish 3–7.[60] Partially due to the shortened-season, Tennessee's three victories marked the fewest for the program for a single season since 1924.[61][62] Despite this, the NCAA had waived the five-winbowl eligibility requirement for the season,[63] and the Volunteers accepted a bid to theLiberty Bowl. However, the team had to withdraw on December 21 after several players and coaches, including Pruitt, tested positive for COVID-19.[64]
After the 2020 season, on January 18, 2021, Pruitt was fired after an internal investigation found evidence of recruiting violations.[65] According to the termination letter Pruitt received from Fulmer and Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman, Tennessee was notified of potentially serious NCAA violations shortly after the season. Pruitt met with the NCAA enforcement staff and Tennessee's lawyers on January 14. Plowman and Fulmer called Pruitt in for a meeting four days later to discuss evidence that two of Pruitt's assistants and several members of the recruiting staff committed recruiting violations that could have been prevented had Pruitt exercised adequate control over the program. On that basis, Tennessee concluded that Pruitt breached at least five clauses of his contract which justified firing him for cause.[66] Nine other coaches and staff were also fired.[67] At a press conference, Plowman said the investigation was still underway, but they had learned enough to demand that Pruitt be fired immediately. She said that she was stunned at "the number of violations and (the) efforts to conceal the wrongdoing."[68]
On March 10,2021, Pruitt was hired by theNew York Giants as a senior defensive assistant under defensive coordinatorPatrick Graham and head coachJoe Judge.[69] He was not retained after the 2021 season ended.[70]
On July 27, 2023, theDeKalb County School System announced that Pruitt had been hired as a physical education teacher at Plainview High School and would serve as a junior high boys’ basketball coach.[71]
In July 2022, the NCAA found that Pruitt, his wife and several members of his football staff provided about $60,000 of impermissible benefits and recruiting inducements to more than two dozen recruits and their families during his three years as head coach atTennessee.[72] As a result, on July 14, 2023, Pruitt was handed a six-year show-cause order for his role in providing impermissible benefits, effective until July 13, 2029. The NCAA harshly criticized Pruitt for failing to control the program, as well as for failing to cooperate with Tennessee and the NCAA enforcement staff during the investigation. If Pruitt is hired by another NCAA member school during this time, he will be suspended for the entire first season of his return. The NCAA also vacated all of Tennessee's wins for 2019 and 2020, officially making them the Vols' only winless seasons of modern times.[73]
Pruitt is married and has four children.[74]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee Volunteers(Southeastern Conference)(2018–2020) | |||||||||
| 2018 | Tennessee | 5–7 | 2–6 | 7th(Eastern) | |||||
| 2019 | Tennessee | 0–5* | 0–3* | 3rd(Eastern) | V*Gator | ||||
| 2020 | Tennessee | 0–7* | 0–7* | 5th(Eastern) | Liberty[note 1][75] | ||||
| Tennessee: | 5–19* | 2–16* | |||||||
| Total: | 5–19* | ||||||||
* The NCAA vacated all of Tennessee's wins from the 2019 and 2020 seasons after ruling that it used ineligible players. Records on the field were 8-5 (5-3) in 2019 and 3-7 in 2020.[76]
Media related toJeremy Pruitt at Wikimedia Commons