3 Times Jeremy Pruitt Has Proved Haters Wrong in Tennessee Tenure

Jeremy Pruitt was dead in the water after he lost at home to Georgia State and BYU in his second season in Knoxville. His firing was a matter of when, not if.

In spite of all that criticism, Pruitt picked the Volunteers up by the bootstraps and led them to an 8-3 mark the rest of the way, including a bowl win over Indiana. Tennessee is finally headed in the right direction, as Pruitt continues to prove the haters wrong.

3. He Stole a 5-Star in Cade Mays From Georgia

Mays, a Knoxville native, left his home state for the more stable program of Kirby Smart's Georgia. However, following his father's unfortunate finger amputation, Mays is back in Knoxville, showing to the rest of the SEC and college football world that Tennessee is once again able to lure top transfer targets, regardless of position. Between him and Jim Chaney, Tennessee has been making a habit of stealing from Georgia.

2. He Made the Right Call on Jarrett Guarantano

Guarantano had been benched several times for the likes of Quinton Dormady and Brian Maurer this season, but Jeremy Pruitt stuck to his guns and rolled with the Bergen Catholic alum. While 16 TDs against eight interceptions isn't exactly on par with Joe Burrow, Guarantano gave their passing attack a degree of verticality, and has instilled himself as the starter in 2020, a verdict which looked up in the air just a few games ago.

1. He Sustained Their Excellent Recruiting

The most frustrating part of the Butch Jones era in Tennessee was the fact that he was struggling to win, despite ending up in the Top 20 recruiting classes year in and year out. Pruitt has the Volunteers ranked 16th in recruiting this year, which is ahead of such blue bloods in Miami, Florida State, and Nebraska. Pruitt has improved this team from five wins to eight last year, and the sky is the limit for 2020 and beyond.