Washed up quarterback turned analyst, Aaron Murray, was recently on 102.5 The Game in Nashville absolutely blasting Jeremy Pruitt. While I could understand blasting Pruitt after he’s coached a few games, I don’t understand the reasoning behind blasting him before he’s coached a significant game.
Murray claimed he “treated Mark Richt poor” at Georgia. While probably true, I think it goes to show how soft Richt is and why he could never get over that nine or 10 win hump every season. Do Belichick or Saban let their assistants treat them poorly? Don’t think so. This softness also seemed to fall down to Murray, who didn’t last very long in the NFL. Guess he just got really offended at someone standing up to his head coach who got fired because he couldn’t hang in the SEC. Good head coaches don’t let their assistants treat them poorly.
The statement about UT’s talent is something else I don’t understand. From 2018-15, UT has had the 20th, 17th, 14th and 4th composite recruiting class in the nation according to 247Sports. While recruiting rankings aren’t the end all be all, this roster is not as depleted as it may seem. A lot of guys on this roster experienced the back to back 9-win seasons we had under Butch Jones. There’s plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, Jones just couldn’t keep them healthy and couldn’t coach them. That’s why UT fired him. This roster has a lot more talent than what was displayed last season.
Another thing I don’t understand is blasting a guy before he’s coached at least half of a season. What if UT has an 8-win season this year? That would certify Pruitt as a guy who can come in and instantly turn a team around. It’s silly to blast him when there’s zero evidence that he can’t do the job. What does Murray know about how Pruitt handles boosters or the university president? Absolutely, nothing. He hasn’t heard anything, hasn’t seen anything, but just assumes that he can’t balance all this. I’m pretty sure if Phil Fulmer is guiding you along, you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. You really couldn’t ask for a better mentor and advisor as a head coach than Fulmer.
There’s no reason to blast Pruitt at this point. But, a bitter Murray certainly has no place blasting Pruitt. Maybe Murray should go coach high school football or something because this is garbage analysis that facts and evidence fail to back up. Overall, Pruitt seems to be doing a good job, but there’s no measure of how good until we see how many wins he gets this season. After that, people can blast him all they want, but let’s wait and let the facts do the talking.
Smokey covers the Tennessee Volunteers for the SoBros Network. He loves a good backpacking trip, but hates taking a shit in the woods. Follow on Twitter: @SoBroSmokey
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