Before the days of the Josh Heupel era, many fans remember, or are trying to forget, Jeremy Pruitt's tenure as the head football coach of the Tennessee football program. The hire at the time was a major addition for the Vols. They had gotten an elite defensive mind who helped win five national titles as an assistant coach. Pruitt was a member of the Nick Saban coaching tree and had coached at Florida State, Georgia, and Alabama.
The Jeremy Pruitt era went completely opposite of what was planned. In 2018, he went 5-7 and followed it up with an 8-5 2019 campaign.