KNOXVILLE – According to multiple media reports, Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt has locked in on two candidates for the offensive coordinator opening on his staff.
FootballScoop.com has reported that Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and North Carolina State offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz are Pruitt’s two main choices at this time. The report added both “are interested in the position.”
Brandon Marcello, who covers Auburn for 247Sports.com, reported Tuesday that if Lindsey – who is in his second season back at Auburn after previously coaching there in 2013 – is retained beyond Saturday, the school will owe him $100,000. Auburn was reportedly trying to rework head coach Gus Malzahn’s contract in an attempt to retain Lindsey, who, after a great 2017 season has overseen an offense that has struggled.
The Tigers went 10-4 last season – which was highlighted by regular-season victories against Alabama and Georgia on the way to winning the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division – and averaged 33.9 points and 451.6 yards per game. They weren’t able to recreate that in 2018, finishing the regular season 7-5. Auburn averaged 28.2 points per game and failed to reach 30 points eight times.
Like Lindsey, Drinkwitz doesn’t have any prior experience working with Pruitt, but he is similar in that he also got his start coaching in the high school ranks. He spent five years at two Arkansas high schools, and he also has experience coaching in the SEC, with a two-year stint at Auburn in 2010 and ’11. He was an offensive coordinator at Arkansas State in 2013 and at Boise State in 2015, prior to his past three seasons with the Wolfpack.