Jeremy Pruitt named as an option for prominent football coaching job
Former Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt could be back in the limelight soon — albeit not quite the bright lights of the SEC….or even college football. Pruitt, who was fired by Tennessee in early 2021 due to an NCAA recruiting investigation, was named as a potential option to take over as the head coach […]
Former Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt could be back in the limelight soon — albeit not quite the bright lights of the SEC….or even college football.
Pruitt, who was fired by Tennessee in early 2021 due to an NCAA recruiting investigation, was named as a potential option to take over as the head coach at Hoover High School in Alabama.
Hoover is looking for a new head coach after Wade Waldrop stepped down recently (Waldrop was named the new head coach at Orange Beach earlier this month).
AL.com quickly mentioned Pruitt as an option for Hoover, which would make sense considering the former Tennessee head coach was an assistant coach at Hoover from 2004 to 2006 (this is when Pruitt famously appeared on MTV's "Two-a-Days — a show that focused on Hoover High School).
From AL.com: Could it be? The former Tennessee head coach and Alabama and Florida State defensive coordinator worked with his father Dale at Plainview High this fall. He spent three years under Rush Propst as an assistant at Hoover, including two as defensive coordinator.
Pruitt certainly has the credentials for the job. He's been an SEC head coach, won a bowl game, and won multiple national championships as a defensive coordinator. He's also obviously intimately familiar with high school football in Alabama.
Due to a six-year show cause ban that includes a mandatory one-year suspension if he's hired by a program, it's unlikely that Pruitt will get a chance to return to college football anytime soon. So an NFL job or a gig as a high school football coach are the only coaching-related options he has. Pruitt, however, seems happy at Plainview, specifically noting earlier this fall that he's enjoyed working at the same school that his kids attend. Hoover would be about 90 minutes southwest of Rainsville, AL.
Pruitt has essentially been banished from college football over $60,000 in impermissible benefits while coaches now often publicly discuss players receiving seven-figure deals. A little common sense would suggest that Pruitt isn't deserving of a six-year show cause ban. The public embarrassment of the situation at Tennessee along with a forfeited buyout should more than suffice as "punishment" for something that looks incredibly harmless in retrospect.
