Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt this week confirmed a report from Fox Sports Knoxville that UT won’t be wearing smokey grey jerseys while he’s the head coach on Rocky Top.
The traditionalists in the Tennessee fan base will be happy. Jeremy Pruitt told me the Vols won’t be breaking out the alternate “Smokey Gray” uniforms while he’s the coach. He said they would wear orange and white.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) February 8, 2018
While confirming the report, Pruitt basically took a shot at former Vols head coach Butch Jones by saying Tennessee doesn’t need “gimmicks”. Instead, Pruitt said the focus needs to be on developing players.
Uniform changes are a hot-button topic with fans, but anybody who thinks @CoachJPruitt has spent much time thinking about “Smokey Gray” unis doesn’t get him. He was asked about it and answered. Simple as that. “What we need is players and to develop those players, not gimmicks.”
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) February 9, 2018
Someone might want to go check on Butch Jones after that. For what it’s worth, I don’t think Pruitt has anything personal against Jones. And I don’t think he was purposefully taking a shot at his predecessor. But I do think Pruitt is very well aware of the cheesy clichés and gimmicks that were utilized during the Jones era. And the fact that Tennessee landed two top ten classes (2014 and 2015) and failed to properly develop those players. Pruitt is a no nonsense kind of guy. All he cares about is changing the culture in Knoxville and returning Tennessee to its winning ways. He has a massive uphill climb ahead of him, but I feel confident that he’s up to the task. And thank goodness we won’t have to deal with anymore bricks along the way. Featured image via Sports Illustrated
Please don’t post about that Loser Butch Jones anymore! If I never heard that name again I would be one happy man.