What has transpired at Tennessee since the dismissal of Butch Jones has been the talk almost daily.
That drama will reportedly come to an end, with Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt being tabbed to lead the Vols.
Source tells FootballScoop Wednesday night this is a six year deal for Jeremy Pruitt.
In Pruitt, the Vols are getting an accomplished coordinator who has worked under some of the most respected coaches in the business. Along with his obvious ties to Saban, Pruitt won a national title coordinating the defense for Jimbo Fisher at Florida State, and then led a dominant defense at Georgia under Mark Richt before heading to Tuscaloosa.
Before becoming a defensive coordinator at the college level under Jimbo at Florida State in 2013, Pruitt worked as the defensive backs coach for Nick Saban at Alabama and was in an off the field role before that. before that, Pruitt went from defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator for the storied Alabama high school program Hoover high, and was at Fort Payne HS (AL) as an assistant before that.
Tennessee lands a quality coach in the same mold as Kirby Smart, who also started off as a defensive coordinator for Nick Saban before landing his first head coaching job with an SEC program. Vol fans will be hoping for a similar outcome.
With Phil Fulmer now leading the athletic department in Knoxville, Pruitt will be able to add another well known name in college football to work under alongside the likes of Richt, Jimbo, and Saban.
Over the course of this search, when we asked coaches familiar with Pruitt's thinking who he might bring as his offensive coordinator, after getting past the Fulmer's going to weigh in on that noise, two names consistently came up, Billy Napier and Dan Enos. Given that Napier recently agreed to re-up at Arizona State, good chance Dan Enos will be Pruitt's choice for offensive coordinator at Tennessee. Sources told FootballScoop they would not expect Tee Martin to wind up at Tennessee if Pruitt were hired.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.