'I was really upset, I was so upset' – One of the smartest decisions Jeremy Pruitt made at Tennessee wasn't well-received at first
Tennessee Vols fans don't have many positive memories from the Jeremy Pruitt era on Rocky Top, but there were a few good decisions that were made during those years (2018 to 2020). For example, Pruitt (along former UT athletic director Phillip Fulmer) reinstated fan favorite Jauan Jennings to the team ahead of the 2018 season […]
Tennessee Vols fans don't have many positive memories from the Jeremy Pruitt era on Rocky Top, but there were a few good decisions that were made during those years (2018 to 2020).
For example, Pruitt (along former UT athletic director Phillip Fulmer) reinstated fan favorite Jauan Jennings to the team ahead of the 2018 season (Jennings was kicked off the team in 2017 by former athletic director John Currie and interim head coach Brady Hoke).
Pruitt is also responsible for bringing quarterback Hendon Hooker to Knoxville (Hooker transferred to Tennessee before Pruitt was fired in early 2021).
The former Tennessee head coach is also responsible for one of the smartest position changes in recent UT football history.
Former Vols defensive back Alontae Taylor initially played wide receiver for the Vols after signing with the program during the 2018 recruiting cycle.
Taylor, a second round pick by the New Orleans Saints in the 2022 NFL Draft, played wide receiver for just a few weeks before Pruitt moved him to the defensive side of the ball, a move that Taylor wasn't happy about.
"I was a quarterback (in high school), didn't throw the ball too much, really [just] ran the ball," said Taylor in a recent interview with CBS Sports. "So every team was recruiting me as an athlete. The schools that did offer me were like Georgia Tech and Louisville, that's when they had Lamar (Jackson), so a guy who can kind of run the ball. So basically, I committed to Tennessee, and our head coach Butch Jones got fired. I decommitted, almost went to Georgia after my official visit out there, and then Jeremy Pruitt gets hired at Tennessee. I don't know anybody on the staff, but I just decided to stay home (Taylor is a Tennessee native).
"I went to Tennessee to play wide receiver. I was getting recruited as an athlete out of high school. So I went to Tennessee in the spring, early enrolled after graduating high school early. I played receiver for three weeks. Then we had a team meeting. Coach says he's gonna move a couple guys for three days. You know, I'm sitting there [thinking] I'm not getting moved. I've never played nothing else but offense. And so Pruitt calls my name out and I go to his meeting room, and he tells I'm gonna go to corner. And I was really upset. I was so upset because I never played it, and I'm a competitive guy. So we get out there in that (Nick) Saban kind of system, we're doing like two-on-twos and I'm getting cooked. I'm getting cooked. And I just hated it, man, for a long time. I just kept asking Pruitt, 'Can I go back to receiver?' And, you know, he just basically ended up telling me that as long as he's the head coach, I'm never playing receiver and he feels like I could be a top corner. So I started playing corner my freshman year in college, and played four years. In the final year, I played with the Josh Heupel team (at UT) and got drafted."
Things worked out quite well for Taylor at cornerback. The former Vol, in fact, is a candidate to receive a contract extension after emerging as a key player in the Saints' secondary over the last few years.
Pruitt may have ran into some trouble at Tennessee, but there's no doubt that he's one of the best secondary coaches in the nation.
