Vols staff loaded with former prep coaches

Jeremy Pruitt speaks before Tennessee's men's basketball game against Kentucky last Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. Pruitt is settling in as the Vols' new football coach after spending the past month splitting time in that role and his job as Alabama's defensive coordinator.
Jeremy Pruitt speaks before Tennessee's men's basketball game against Kentucky last Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. Pruitt is settling in as the Vols' new football coach after spending the past month splitting time in that role and his job as Alabama's defensive coordinator.

KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's new football coaching staff leads the Southeastern Conference in a category that head coach Jeremy Pruitt continues to suggest is advantageous as he prepares for his first season at the helm in Knoxville.

The Volunteers' payroll, as Pruitt pointed out again during SEC Media Days last week, is stocked full of former high school football coaches.

"To me, that's important," Pruitt said from the stage at the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday. "If you're going to get in the high school game, you are doing it because you want to have a positive impact on young people. I know our guys, that's their first priority."

More Info

Tennessee coaches with high school experiencehead coach Jeremy Pruittdefensive coordinator Kevin Sherrerco-defensive coordinator Chris Rumphdefensive line coach Tracy Rockersafeties/special teams coach Charles Kellyoffensive line coach Will Friendwide receivers coach David Johnsonrunning backs coach Chris WeinkeWithout high school experiencecornerbacks coach Terry Fairtight ends coach Brian Niedermeyeroffensive coordinator Tyson HeltonNumber of assistants with high school experience at SEC schoolsTENNESSEE 8ARKANSAS 7AUBURN 6GEORGIA 6LSU 6MISSOURI 5KENTUCKY 3MISSISSIPPI STATE 3TEXAS A&M 3OLE MISS 2SOUTH CAROLINA 2FLORIDA 1ALABAMA 0VANDERBILT 0

A review of each football staff in the SEC shows that Tennessee has more coaches (8) with high school coaching experience than any other team in the SEC. Arkansas, which is also led by a first-year coach with a high school background in Chad Morris, is second with seven coaches who have high school coaching experience.

College football staffs are allowed to have up to 11 on-field coaches, including the head coach. Two teams in the SEC - Alabama and Vanderbilt - have no coaches with high school experience in their official university bios.

"If you're a high school coach, you've got to understand how to be a really good teacher," Pruitt said. "You've got to understand the teaching progression. I think our guys are fantastic teachers."

Quality teaching and quick learning will be key this season for the Volunteers, who finished 4-8 last season under the previous coaching staff that included fewer coaches with a high school background. Tennessee begins preseason practice on Aug. 3.

Pruitt and Morris are both first-year head coaches in the league with high school coaching experience. Auburn's Gus Malzahn was a longtime high school coach in Arkansas.

Missouri's Barry Odom and Kentucky's Mark Stoops are the other two SEC head coaches with high school experience listed in their coaching bios, though for shorter stints than Pruitt, Morris and Malzahn.

"We're all fortunate to have the opportunities that we have," Pruitt said. "It could be probably 100 other high school coaches across the country. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I think what's important is if you aspire to do something, you need to do a good job at the job that you've got. I think probably everybody that's in this situation tried to do the best that they could as an assistant coach. I'm thankful I got the opportunity."

Pruitt is the son of a high school football coach and was an assistant coach for four high schools in Alabama from 1998 to 2006. He has continued to show a soft spot for high school coaches by having an open-door policy to prep coaches at Tennessee's practices.

"You learn how to adapt. You learn how to motivate," Pruitt said of the benefits of high school coaching experience.

It has been over a decade since most of Tennessee's assistants coached in high school. In that time, they have added more impressive accomplishments to their resumes, such as being part of national championship staffs at the college level and coaching eventual NFL draft picks.

But Pruitt is banking on the lessons learned as high school coaches to continue paying off as he settles in as a head coach in the toughest conference in college football.

"I think it gives them understanding that's going to help us develop young men," he said.

Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.

Upcoming Events