KNOXVILLE — Jeremy Pruitt grew up in the small town of Rainsville, Ala., just 60 miles southwest of the Tennessee state line and Chattanooga.
He knew from a young age he wanted to be a head coach, just like his father, and the destination didn't matter. He just wanted to coach.
“I didn't want to be a head football coach at Alabama, Florida State or somewhere like that,” he said. “I just wanted to be a ball coach."
Coaching on a big college stage might not have been the end goal, but Pruitt is now coaching one of the country's blue blood programs.