Former Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt isn't the most popular person in East Tennessee these days.

Of course, that's true of most ex-Tennessee head coaches.

Pruitt, however, is the most recent ex-Vols head coach. And after going 16-19 during his time on Rocky Top and getting the program entangled in an NCAA investigation, it's easy to understand why there's some disdain for Pruitt in Knoxville.

But I don't necessarily think that should be the case. And I say that as someone who's been extremely critical of Pruitt at times over the last two years.

There are two reasons, specifically, why I feel like fans shouldn't have the same level of vitriol toward Pruitt as they do toward some other former Vols head coaches (Butch Jones for example).

The NCAA investigation stuff is overblown

Jeremy Pruitt broke NCAA rules by providing impermissible benefits to players and recruits during his time at Tennessee. While the rules are silly, they're still the rules that everyone has to play by. Some coaches and programs are able to skirt those rules better than others.

But if you take what Pruitt did and remove the NCAA and the sport of college football from the equation, we'd view his actions as admirable and possibly even heroic.

Pruitt and his wife, Casey, were helping players and their families. They were giving them money for things like rent, medical bills, etc.

From the Knoxville News Sentinel:

Pruitt went to his car, where he had cash, and gave her either $300 or $400 in a Chick-fil-A bag because "it was the human thing, the right thing to do," Pruitt told investigators during a March 7, 2022, interview. His statement in that regard is the lone proof for the cash payment, according to the document.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, impermissible benefits from Pruitt to players/recruits included paying a car payment for a recruit's mother. He made 25 car payments — including two after he was fired at Tennessee — for the vehicle.

Pruitt was making millions of dollars a year while he was the UT head coach. And he was essentially paying it forward by helping families that quite simply needed the help.

Sure, it helped the Vols in recruiting. But it's not like Pruitt was just throwing cash at players to get them to sign with Tennessee. As he told NCAA investigators, Pruitt was doing "the human thing" by helping those families. I have a hard time seeing why fans would be mad that Pruitt paid some medical bills or helped pay rent. He was in a position to help and he did. In any other context, he'd be praised.

And considering what happens at other programs, and the fact that NIL deals now allow avenues for players to be paid, Pruitt's actions don't seem so egregious. His biggest mistake was not distancing himself from the payments as other coaches do. But perhaps that's because he was simply doing what he thought was right (helping families).

It shouldn't be a surprise that Pruitt was someone who was willing to help families who needed it. I always thought he cared deeply about the players.

We saw it with the way he supported players that he recruited who signed elsewhere. That's a big reason why Aubrey Solomon transferred from Michigan to Tennessee in 2019 — because Pruitt never bashed him for signing with another program.

From 247Sports:

“Coach Pruitt, he was actually, it was when they did an in-home visit, I believe,” Solomon said Tuesday in his first interview since joining Tennessee in January. “I was in high school and we were just talking, and this is the ultimate ending when I decided to pick Michigan. I told him, ‘Yeah, Coach, I’m thinking about picking Michigan.’ He just asked me why, why Michigan, and then I just told him my reasons.

“This was the one coach that didn’t bash for me my decision. He understood and he was like, ‘You know what, if anything ever happens, I’m one phone call away, you’ve always got me.’ That really stuck with me, and as you can see I’m here now, so it truly stuck with me.”

Pruitt also made sure Jauan Jennings got another chance at Tennessee (Jennings had been dismissed from the program before Pruitt's hiring). And he saw to it that Jeremy Banks was reinstated to the team after his arrest in 2019. Pruitt, regardless of what happened on the field, has always been a coach that's very much "pro player".

Jeremy Pruitt brought much of the talent to Knoxville that we're seeing excel in 2022

Another reason that Tennessee fans should feel differently about Pruitt is because he recruited many of the players that are excelling in Knoxville this season.

Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, Cedric Tillman, Tyler Baron, Cooper Mays, Darnell Wright, Ramel Keyton, Jabari Small, Jaylen Wright, Byron Young, and Aaron Beasley are just a few of the players that Pruitt signed that are playing key roles for Tennessee this season.

Now, current Vols head coach Josh Heupel has obviously helped those players reach their full potential (or close to it). But without Pruitt, many of the players that Tennessee fans have cheered on this season wouldn't be wearing orange.

Tennessee is in a much better place now with Heupel leading the charge. I don't think anyone disputes that. The events that led to Heupels' hiring turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Heupel being the right coach for Tennessee and Pruitt not deserving hate from Vols fans aren't mutually exclusive. Both can be accurate.

And by the way, it's not like Pruitt should be completely absolved from criticism.

Pruitt, as a coach, could've done a lot of things better. There was never a good excuse for losing to Georgia State or BYU. And his quarterback decisions at times were questionable.

I think it's fair to suggest that Pruitt wasn't ready to be an SEC head coach. That's a big stage to be on as a head coach for the first time. And I'm sure he learned a lot from the mistakes he made and he'll be a better coach in the future because of it (part of the reason I think Heupel has had so much success already at UT is because he had three seasons of head coaching experience before he arrived in Knoxville).

Tennessee fans wouldn't change a thing about hiring Heupel. And they shouldn't — Heupel has been a revelation for this program.

But this idea that Vols fans should detest Pruitt is silly to me. Pruitt's a good man with a good football mind. He couldn't get it done on the field, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I'm sure he wanted to win as bad as anyone — that's true of every coach. It just didn't work out for him at Tennessee, but that doesn't make him worthy of being loathed by Vols fans.

Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC