Rumors have circulated in recent weeks that former Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt could be returning to a college football sideline.

Alabama, where Pruitt served as defensive coordinator for two seasons before replacing Butch Jones at Tennessee, needs a defensive coordinator after Pete Golding left for the same job at Ole Miss (he was likely "encouraged" to look for a new job).

Pruitt didn't have a lot of success as a head coach at Tennessee, but he possesses one of the best defensive minds in college football. And he's shown that he can work with Nick Saban (Pruitt was also on staff at Bama from 2007 to 2012 in various roles).

ESPN's Chris Low, however, is not convinced that Pruitt will return to Tuscaloosa — at least not in 2023.

Low recently appeared on Tide 100.9 and spoke about the Pruitt/Bama rumblings.

The ESPN college football reporter suggested that the lingering NCAA investigation at Tennessee (penalties still haven't been announced) will likely keep Pruitt from being hired by Saban at Alabama.

"I think the thing to remember about Jeremy, and all coaches in his boat that have been accused of NCAA violations and been fired and a case is still pending, as it is with Tennessee, is those decisions whether another school wants to hire him are institutional decisions," said Low.

And when it comes to the penalties for those violations, Low thinks it could be a few more months before Tennessee and Pruitt hear anything from the NCAA.

"I'll be honest with you, talking to people who should know, I don't think any decision is coming down on the Tennessee case for months," said Low. "I think April or May at the earliest. So if a school, and we won't even say Alabama, if a school wants to hire Jeremy Pruitt right now, you're doing so with so much uncertainty.

"Things change, it's very fluid. I don't see Jeremy Pruitt being hired as the defensive coordinator, but it's not because Nick Saban or anybody there at Alabama doesn't think he can do the job," added Low. "It's just, as I laid down a minute ago, there's just a lot of things out there, that I think any school, not just Alabama, any school would be hard-pressed to bring someone in his position in as a coordinator or an on-field assistant coach. Now, it's fluid, things change, I know there's been conversation about it, but I think that's where we are right now."

I think Pruitt eventually ends up back at Alabama. He's familiar with Saban, he's from Alabama, and he played for the Crimson Tide. It's home for him. And it makes sense that Saban would want him back after he had a successful two-year run as Alabama's defensive coordinator.

But it will probably be 2024, at the earliest, before Pruitt can return to Bama in any sort of coaching role.

Featured image via Saul Young/News Sentinel, Knoxville News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services