Reed thinks Pruitt ‘should have been fired’ but Vols should blame Phil
Jeremy Pruitt’s firing probably shouldn’t have been much of a surprise and for Tennessee faithful it hopefully marks the end of Phil Fulmer’s involvement.
Pruitt “should have been fired,” Jon Reed of Fox Sports Knoxville told Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft on The Morning Rush this morning on ESPN Arkansas.
Since the start of the 2007 season, Arkansas and Tennessee have both gone through five head coaches with a coach lasting just a single season at both places.
What they didn’t get into was Fulmer’s trying to escape responsibility by announcing he asked to be allowed to retire. Whether that was before or after he was told he was going to be gone either way we don’t know.
But Phat Phil rose to power within the Vols by backstabbing Johnny Majors to get the head coaching job, then stabbed John Currie in the back to get the athletics director’s job in 2017.
Wherever Fulmer was, chaos and drama followed him around. Alabama fans believe he turned the Crimson Tide into the NCAA and a lawsuit was filed. It took a few years to serve him papers but they were served at SEC Media Days in 2008.
Fulmer resigned at the end of that season. Call it the Nick Saban Effect. As long as Alabama was wallowing around trying to figure things out, Florida was going through a string of coaches after Steve Spurrier and Georgia going in circles, Fulmer piled up some wins.
Saban came to Tuscaloosa in 2007, beat Fulmer twice (by a combined score of 70-26) and Phil decided to ride out on the mirage he built that he was a good coach.
The reality is he was lucky as a coach and had no idea what to do as an athletics director and the entire program has turned into a toxic heap.
It kills any chance for Tennessee to hire the fans’ choice (Hugh Freeze). Some sources in Knoxville that are connected to the program say Gus Malzahn is the leader in the clubhouse.
Gus is available after being fired at Auburn. His defensive coordinator, Kevin Steele, is already in Knoxville.
“The belief is he’ll be on this next (Vols) staff no matter what,” Reed said. “To me that eliminates Gus because I don’t think Gus wants to get back in bed with (Steele).”
That is different from what I’ve been told. Malzahn basically turned everything with the defense over to Steele and they had a pretty good relationship, according to sources at Auburn.
But the first hire Tennessee has to make is an athletics director and Reed thinks that John Gilbert from East Carolina is the odds-on favorite.
Gilbert was at Alabama over marketing and fund-raising during Saban’s early years. Then he went to Tennessee before getting caught up in Fulmer’s whirlwind of screwups in 2017.
Pruitt was just a defensive coordinator Fulmer thought he could control and that certainly looks like it could have happened.
“Reports are he didn’t have very many friends over in the athletic building as well,” Reed said about Pruitt. “I wish it had happened earlier.”
Experience has shown with the Vols nobody in Knoxville really knows what’s going to happen.
“At Tennessee, we just kinda make it up as we go along,” Reed said.
There are Razorback fans that have had that same feeling.
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Neighbors after Razorbacks fade in second half against South Carolina
Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors talked with the media following a 104-82 loss to the Gamecocks on an emotion-filled day in Columbia.
Gamecocks get 21st straight SEC win downing over-matched Hogs
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Arkansas had five players score in double figures but came up short against No. 4 South Carolina on Monday night, losing 104-82.
Razorbacks guards Chelsea Dungee and Destiny Slocum both turned in big performances for the Hogs, going for 22 and 15 points, respectively.
The Gamecocks secured their 21st straight SEC win in the effort as they improved their record to 10-1 overall (5-0 SEC). The Hogs fell to 11-5 overall (2-4).
Arkansas shot the ball well Monday night, sticking with South Carolina on the scoreboard through the first three quarters, as the visiting Hogs shot 54 percent from behind the three-point line and 45 percent from the field.
Dungee went 2-2 from beyond the arc and Makayla Daniels added two three-pointers as well. When all was said and done, five Hogs got into double-figures — Dungee, Daniels, Slocum, Amber Ramirez and Erynn Barnum.
Turning point
Arkansas was able to apply pressure early on, as the Hogs managed 11 points off of turnovers before the intermission.
South Carolina held a slim five-point lead at halftime, as Dungee’s 14-point showing before the break kept the Hogs in it.
The Gamecocks turned up the dial in the second half, exploding for 62 points in the final two quarters and pulling away from the Razorbacks.
South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston was a difference-maker in this one, scoring 26 points while grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking six shots in the contest.
Hogs highlights
• Daniels eclipsed the 500-point mark with her first bucket of the night against the Gamecocks.
• With her 22 points, Dungee has now scored 20+ in all six SEC games.
• She also extended her double-digit point streak to 19.
• Barnum had a big night off the bench, notching 13 points on 6-10 shooting.
• Slocum notched five assists, her fifth such performance this season.
Next game
The Razorbacks will have the rest of the week off and will return to the court next Monday, Jan. 25 to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Ga.
The SEC Network will broadcast the game, and tip is set for 6 p.m.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
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Tennessee dumps Pruitt for cause, Fulmer steps down as AD
The cleaning of Tennessee’s football house started Monday with coach Jeremy Pruitt being fired and athletics director Phillip Fulmer jumping off the ship.
ESPN’s Chris Lowe and Mark Schlabach reported the moves just before noon Monday. Pruitt is fired for cause and Fulmer announced his plans to retire as athletics director.
All of this is the result of the Vols launching an in-house investigation dating back to November into alleged recruiting improprieties that sources told ESPN centered in part on extra benefits provided to football recruits on unofficial visits.
Pruitt, with his attorneys present, met with investigators for several hours last Thursday. That meeting was monitored by NCAA officials via Zoom, according to ESPN.
At least one other assistant, inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer, had a lengthy meeting with investigators last Wednesday, also with his attorneys present and NCAA officials monitoring virtually.
Last month Tennessee retained the services of attorneys Michael Glazier and Kyle Skillman with the Bond, Schoeneck & King law firm to assist in reviewing what the university said in a statement were “regulatory issues that have been brought to our attention.”
Sources told ESPN that Tennessee’s recruitment of Amarius Mims, the No. 3 offensive tackle and No. 19 player overall in the 2021 ESPN 300 rankings, is part of the inquiry. Mims signed with Georgia.
This comes at an unusual time in the hiring cycle and Pruitt is now the fourth coach in the SEC fired during a season filled with covid-19 and other issues.
Gus Malzahn at Auburn, Derek Mason at Vanderbilt and Will Muschamp at South Carolina were previously fired, but Pruitt is the only one that’s not getting paid to leave town. He was due about $12 million, according to reports.
His contract includes more than 30 fire-for-cause provisions. Among them, he can be fired for cause if he engaged in conduct likely to result in an NCAA finding of a Level I or Level II rules violation, or if someone who reports to Pruitt engaged in conduct that constitutes a Level I or II violation or is likely to result in such a violation and the university determines Pruitt was negligent in his oversight or lacked reasonable preventative compliance measures.
Additionally, he can be fired for cause for a failure to promote and maintain an atmosphere of compliance or a failure to monitor employees who report to him.
Pruitt, 46, compiled a record of 16-19, including a 3-7 mark in 2020 against a conference-only schedule. He was 16-19 overall at Tennessee and 10-16 against SEC opponents. The Vols were 2-11 against AP-ranked opponents under Pruitt, who was in his first stint as a head coach. He was previously the defensive coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban.
Fulmer had come back as athletics director in 2017
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Catalon first Hogs’ freshman on writers’ freshman All-American team since Greenlaw
Arkansas redshirt freshman defensive back Jalen Catalon has been named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American first team.
He’s the first Razorback FWAA Freshman All-American since Dre Greenlaw in 2015.
Catalon was the only FBS player to total 95+ tackles with three interceptions in the regular season, and the first SEC freshman since Tennessee’s Eric Berry in 2007 to have at least 86 stops and three picks.
The dynamic defensive back tied for the FBS freshman lead with 99 total tackles while also posting 2.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. His 9.9 tackles per game also tied for the FBS freshmen lead and ranked fourth among all SEC players.
He made a career-best 16 tackles against LSU, totaling five games of 12 or more tackles, second in the country behind All-American teammate Grant Morgan.
Catalon became the first Hog to intercept passes in back-to-back games since at least 1997 when he did so against LSU and Florida. He has also been named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America first team and Phil Steele All-American third team.
Catalon earned AP All-SEC first team and coaches’ All-SEC second team honors, and is one of 32 student-athletes named to the 20th annual FWAA Freshman All-American Team.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
