KNOXVILLE – Jeremy Pruitt stayed mum Wednesday on injury news, offering a wry smile when asked about the statuses of three starters for Tennessee’s football game against top-ranked Alabama on Saturday.
“I’m not going to give Alabama exactly who is going to be able to play and who is not,” the first-year Volunteers coach said. “All those guys are working hard to get ready to play. I think they’ve already got enough advantages on us.”
Such is Pruitt’s approach as he prepares to face the program he coached for and played for – and cheered for while growing up in northeast Alabama.
“I think everybody that’s in the business that we’re in are competitors,” Pruitt said.
There will be players Pruitt coached and coaches he worked with on the opposing sideline at Neyland Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the Vols (3-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) welcome the Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0). The opponent will be wearing the jerseys he dreamed of wearing as a kid and did wear as a defensive back in 1995 and 1996.