Anonymous coaches sound off on Josh Heupel, Jeremy Pruitt, and the Tennessee Vols in 2021
One of the best ways to tell the state of a program isn't by what the media is saying, it's by what opposing coaches are saying. Unfortunately, most opposing coaches won't speak on the record candidly about another program. That's why I'm a big fan of Athlon Sports' annual "SEC coaches anonymously talking about opponents" […]
One of the best ways to tell the state of a program isn't by what the media is saying, it's by what opposing coaches are saying.
Unfortunately, most opposing coaches won't speak on the record candidly about another program. That's why I'm a big fan of Athlon Sports' annual "SEC coaches anonymously talking about opponents" feature.
Athlon Sports recently published what anonymous SEC coaches had to say about each SEC program ahead of the 2021 season. And their comments about Tennessee were quite telling.
Opposing coaches essentially slammed Jeremy Pruitt and the culture he created at Tennessee. They also feel like the Vols are going to be a disaster on defense in 2021 in Josh Heupel's first season.
Here's the full sampling of what the opposing coaches had to say:
"They never became what they said they were going to be. [Jeremy] Pruitt fell into that same trap as so many other [Nick] Saban assistants where he tried to be Nick and not himself. He’s not Nick. You got the feeling he didn’t know how to let go from being a coordinator."
"Offensively, they were a Jim Chaney offense. Pull film from any of his team, the stuff was the same. Defensively they tried to do way too much. Culturally they lost the kids, we heard that from transfers and gossip but it’s also on the tape. They didn’t want to play, they didn’t want to work for each other."
"You can call [Josh] Heupel’s offense simplistic, but the speed of it is the secret. Does have that talent right now? Probably not. The big thing to watch is the play-calling cadence. That offense is about speed and how you call it, how you call the first three plays to set up the big punch."
"Defensively they’re going to be bad, so get ready. They’re going to try to mix the formations but look for a lot of 4-2-5. They don’t have linebacker talent."
"There’s so much work to be done here, and on top of it they’ve got to deal with the NCAA thanks to the last staff. In short order? Find a quarterback and some receivers, create that battery and work on your team speed. Heupel wants a track meet, but he inherited that in Orlando. It will be harder to build that in this league, especially if they’re restricted by sanctions."
"The transfer portal beat them up pretty badly, I wouldn’t be shocked if they’re shopping for skill position transfers.”
