Is Jeremy Pruitt just another Butch Jones 2.0?
By Ty Butler
SEC football: First-year Butch Jones.
In Jones’ first season in Knoxville, the coach finished with a 5-7 overall record, going 2-6 in conference play while fighting an uphill battle after taking over for one of the worst coaches in program history, Derek Dooley.
Jones also faced a rather tough schedule, including games against: #1 Alabama, #2 Oregon, #6 Georgia, #7 Auburn, #10 Missouri, #11 South Carolina and #19 Florida- that’s 7 top-25 teams in one season, holy cow!
But Jones managed to move up to 25th in recruiting according to 247 Sports’ 2013 rankings.
This was definitely a step up from an awful 2012 campaign that saw the Vols go 1-7 in conference play.
It’s safe to say that things were looking good in Knoxville, and the Volunteers were beginning to gain a bit of confidence..
Butch Jones blasts 2 Chainz at practice. VOLS by a billion.
— Young Phillip Fulmer (@suckmyvols) September 12, 2013
SEC football: First-year Jeremy Pruitt.
Pruitt, much like Jones, took over a team coming off one of the worst seasons in modern era Volunteer football. And just like Jones, Pruitt also finished with a 5-7 record and 2-6 in the SEC, while playing against a number of superior teams.
During that season, Pruitt faced off against: #1 Alabama, #2 Georgia, #12 Kentucky, #17 West Virginia, and #21 Auburn.
A far more manageable year-one schedule than his counterpart.
Pruitt ended up finishing 4 spots ahead of Jones in recruiting for year-one.
And once again, the fanbase took to social media to shower their brand new toy with unlimited praise.
It’s 3:00 AM on Christmas Eve and all I can think about is Jeremy Pruitt leading our Vols into the SEC Championship game
— Swagger of Tennessee (@SwaggerofUT) December 24, 2018
COMPARISON
Year One Record- Pruitt: 5-7 (2-6 SEC) | Jones: 5-7 (2-6 SEC)
Top 25 Opponents- Pruitt: 6 | Jones: 7
Average Top 25 Opponent Ranking- Pruitt: 11 | Jones: 8
Recruiting Ranking- Pruitt: 21st | Jones: 25th
Bowl Game- Pruitt: None | Jones: None