It was thought that there would be fewer head coach firings this college football season because of the pandemic and the fact that schools/athletic departments are hemorrhaging money with no or few fans in attendance at football games. However, there already have been two head coaches fired in the SEC and there could be a third as early as Saturday night if Jeremy Pruitt's struggling Tennessee team is upset at rival Vanderbilt. The Vols are 15-point favorites on the William Hill Sportsbook college football odds.
The Vols (2-6) enter on their first-six game losing streak since opening the 1988 season at 0-6. All six of those defeats have been by double digits. Losing by at least 10 to Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and Florida is understandable, but not vs. Kentucky (at home) and Arkansas. Another double-digit loss could be coming on Dec. 19 vs. No. 5 Texas A&M.
Athletic director and former UT coach Phillip Fulmer recently preached patience to the fan base, which absolutely wants a change, and compared Pruitt to the start of the Johnny Majors Era. Incidentally, Majors was the coach of that 1988 team, which closed with five straight wins and then jumped to 11-1 the next year.
Rock bottom in the Pruitt Era would certainly be a loss at winless Vanderbilt (0-8), which fired Coach Derek Mason following the Commodores' most recent game Nov. 28, a 41-0 shellacking at Missouri. Five of Vandy's eight losses are by at least 21 points. That's the only current open job in the SEC – Todd Fitch is the interim coach -- with South Carolina recently hiring Shane Beamer to replace Will Muschamp.
The Commodores have won five of the last eight against the Vols. The last time Vandy won a game as at least a 15-point underdog was Oct. 19, 2019 at home vs. Missouri. The Dores were +21.5 and prevailed 21-14. Tennessee last lost as at least a 15-point favorite in the 2019 season opener at home vs. Georgia State, 38-30.
According to various reports, Tennessee would "like" to keep Pruitt, who is under contract through Jan. 31, 2026. Firing the third-year coach would cost the school nearly $13 million in a buyout plus millions more to fire his staff – then tens of millions more to hire a new head coach. ESPN's Paul Finebaum said this week that the school would only move on from Pruitt if the Vols showed no signs of life in the final two games.
"I don't see change there unless the bottom falls out even more," Finebaum said. "Everyone knows what I mean by that, a loss to Vanderbilt and a bad loss to A&M at the end. I think that's the only way things could get so bad where Fulmer would have to find someone else."
And, no, Vols fans, Urban Meyer is not coming to Knoxville -- he wouldn't even take the much better Texas job. The hot name is former Ole Miss and current Liberty coach Hugh Freeze.
Pruitt has largely recruited well, although he recently lost a couple of top commitments from the 2021 class, led by five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis – UT's top overall '21 recruit. Sister site 247Sports ranked the Miami Central player as the No. 16 overall player in the country and No. 1 inside linebacker.
Lewis had been committed since April chose the Vols over Florida, LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Penn State and Nebraska, among other schools. 247Sports now lists Tennessee's 2021 class as No. 14 in the country and fifth-best in the SEC behind usual suspects Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Florida.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Will Jeremy Pruitt be the Tennessee football coach Week 1 of the 2021 season? (odds only pre-Vandy game)
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