KNOXVILLE – Jeremy Pruitt has spent most of his life in Alabama, but Tennessee’s first-year football head coach has a pretty clear idea of what it will take to fit in as a resident of the Volunteer State.
“I want our fan base to be excited about our football team,” Pruitt said during a radio appearance on “Swain Event” last week. “That’s the most important thing. I want them to be excited about the way we play, the way we compete, the way we play together, the relentlessness that we play with, that we never quit.
“That’s what I want our fan base to be excited about. I figure if they’re excited about that, then I’ll fit in just fine.”
Volunteers fans will be operating on blind trust in those principles for the season opener against West Virginia in Charlotte on Sept. 1. The athletic department is promoting a “Tennessee takeover” for the neutral-site Belk College Kickoff game at Bank of America Stadium. Tickets went on sale last week.
Fans’ first chance to see Pruitt’s team at Neyland Stadium will come the following week, when the Vols host East Tennessee State. If a recent trend continues, that could be the beginning of an uptick in attendance at Tennessee home games.