KNOXVILLE - Jeremy Pruitt said his adrenaline is usually rushing when he has finished coaching in a football game.
"Sometimes, it's hard to go to sleep for me," he said.
The problem was exacerbated Monday night.
Pruitt had just helped coach Alabama to a thrilling 26-23 overtime win over Georgia in the national championship game, but that was not the only source of his adrenaline.
"That was a late game as it was, and knowing the next day where I'm going and I've been waiting on this moment to get it going, it's almost kind of chomping at the bit," he said. "I was excited. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep."
After the restless Monday night, Pruitt boarded a plane Tuesday with Kevin Sherrer, who had been on the opposite sideline the night before, and the two headed to Knoxville, trading in their crimson and red gear for orange.
No more balancing two jobs.
Sherrer, who had been coaching outside linebackers at Georgia, is Tennessee's new defensive coordinator.
And after splitting duties between Alabama and Tennessee for a month, Pruitt belongs solely to the Volunteers now. The 43-year-old former defensive coordinator at Alabama, Georgia and Florida State has nearly completed his staff and is off to a good start for the Vols' 2018 signing class.
With those elements of the foundation in place, Pruitt is turning his attention to Tennessee's current roster.
"Getting to know our players, that's the most important thing," Pruitt said as he met media on campus Wednesday. "That's one of the things that, over the years, has kind of helped contribute to the success that I've had is the players and getting heavily involved with them. Right now, they don't know me and I don't know them."
That continued to change Tuesday night during a team meeting in which Pruitt set the expectations for the upcoming semester and offseason training program.
"Everybody was all smiles," Pruitt said. "They always are at the first meeting."
The focus, Pruitt said, is starting to create "the right culture," establishing expectations and making sure the players understand them. The Vols lost eight games for the first time in program history in 2017, when fifth-year coach Butch Jones was fired with two games remaining in the regular season.
Tennessee struggled through a tumultuous coaching search and an athletic director change before former Vols football coach Phillip Fulmer was named athletic director in early December and hired Pruitt from a list of finalists that included Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele and Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker.
"This is something that's going to take time," Pruitt said. "I don't think you can put no timetable on it. But you've got to start somewhere, and we started last night."
A dead period in college football recruiting ends today, which will allow Tennessee's staff to spend more time recruiting ahead of the traditional signing period that begins Feb. 7. The Vols signed 14 players during last month's first-ever early signing period but still have several needs to address with the remaining room in the class.
"If you ain't recruiting 365 days a year, somebody else is," Pruitt said. "If we want to get what we want, then we better get started."
Pruitt said even while he was working with Alabama during the College Football Playoff, assistants in Knoxville were sending him video of high school prospects and that Pruitt was approving scholarship offers for players.
With Sherrer in a similar situation and fulfilling his obligation to Georgia, Pruitt and Sherrer spent long nights on the phone as their teams prepared to face each other in Monday night's title game.
It wasn't awkward, Pruitt said, because they were talking about Tennessee business and not their upcoming matchup against each other.
Pruitt reiterated Wednesday that he stayed with Alabama through the national championship game out of a sense of obligation to his players there.
"Most of the time," he said, "my mind was thinking in Knoxville. I can tell you that."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.