College football — especially SEC football — is full of urban legends that become accepted as truth by fans even if they're never able to be fully verified. 

It's part of what's so intriguing about the sport. 

One of my favorite SEC urban legends involves former Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt and former UT special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler. 

Pruitt and Ekeler both served as assistant coaches at Georgia under Mark Richt in 2014 and 2015. 

It's fairly well-known that the two coaches weren't best friends. And over the years, there's been a popular unsubstantiated rumor that Ekeler and Pruitt got into a fight while they were both assistant coaches at Georgia. 

Ekeler, who left Tennessee's coaching staff earlier this year to take over as the special teams coordinator at Nebraska, was asked about the rumored altercation with Pruitt by Dawg Nation in early 2016 and he gave a diplomatic answer that didn't exactly quiet the rumors.  

"I would say there’s stuff that happens within a football program and a staff that really needs to stay in-house," explained Ekeler. "I’d rather not comment on that. People there know, and that’s all that matters."

"You could say it was one of the more difficult seasons I’ve been a part of. I think that’s fair to say," added Ekeler.

When Ekeler was hired by Tennessee in early 2021 (ironically after Pruitt was fired as the head coach at Tennessee), he was again asked if there was any truth to the rumor that he got into a fight with Pruitt at Georgia. 

Ekeler answered the question without mentioning Pruitt. 

“Um, you know what, the only thing I’ll say about my experience at Georgia is I worked for Mark Richt, an unbelievable guy," said Ekeler after pondering the question for a few seconds. "And really had a great experience working for him, incredible person. And you know, I’m just excited about what we’re doing here.”

Ekeler's been asked about Pruitt numerous times over the years and while he's never said anything negative about Pruitt, he also hasn't exactly praised him, either. 

That's why it was a bit of a surprise that Ekeler, unprovoked, shouted out Pruitt on Tuesday while speaking to reporters at Nebraska. 

"Every single experience, the people I've been around, I mentioned Ed Orgeron, I learned a ton about evaluation from Ed Orgeron," said Ekeler. "I go to Georgia and I learned a ton about evaluation from Jeremy Pruitt." 

It's not much, but that's basically the only praise we've heard publicly from Ekeler about Pruitt over the last decade. 

I wouldn't expect the two coaches to start hanging out at happy hour anytime soon, but maybe they can finally bury the hatchet. After all, Pruitt's been humbled a bit over the last four years since getting fired at Tennessee. 

Ekeler, by the way, also shouted out his former boss, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, while speaking with reporters on Tuesday. 

"I walked away from a phenomenal situation where I was at Tennessee and with Josh Heupel, who is a life long friend of mine," said Ekeler of leaving UT for Nebraska.  

Ekeler's always been about the right stuff. Tennessee fans are undoubtedly sad to see him go, but I'm sure everyone on Rocky Top will be rooting for his success at Nebraska. 

And maybe Pruitt will make it to Lincoln at some point this fall to catch up with his old adversary/colleague. 

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