Tennessee Volunteers Football

Tennessee Volunteers football coach Jeremy Pruitt received a vote of confidence from athletic director Phillip Fulmer on Wednesday.  

Fulmer not only expressed his support for Pruitt, but he also made it clear that he does not plan on returning to the sideline, via Vol Calls (h/t ESPN's Chris Low):

"We've got a good football coach, and I believe in Jeremy Pruitt totally. I have no interest in coaching again and would rather spend that time being a grandfather and doing whatever I can as athletic director in helping Jeremy get this program where we all want it to be. Any talk of me coaching again is just a bunch of rumors."

He continued, per Rick Russo of WVLT:

This comes as Pruitt has been heavily scrutinized following a disappointing start to his tenure in Knoxville.

Pruitt led Tennessee to a 5-7 record during his first year on the job in 2018, which included a 2-6 mark in SEC play. The Volunteers have dropped three of their first four contests in 2019, including home losses to Georgia State and BYU to open their schedule.

Their lone victory this season came against FCS program Chattanooga. 

Of note, two of Tennessee's next three games come against top-three teams in No. 3 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama.

At this point, the AD doesn't envision a coaching change.

"Jeremy Pruitt is as bought in as anybody could possibly be bought in at the University of Tennessee," Fulmer said.

Losing is not something Fulmer is overly familiar with in regards to Tennessee football. He spent 16-plus years as the head coach, recording a total of two losing seasons during his tenure. He went 151-52-1, winning one national championship (1998) en route to the College Football Hall of Fame. 

Now, though, the program is in danger of suffering a third consecutive losing season. 

But at 69 years old, Fulmer prefers being the AD—a role he has held since December 2017—to being the head football coach.

"I'm way past that point in my life," Fulmer said, via Low. "I love the job I have [as AD] and am committed to seeing this thing through."

An arrest video released of Jeremy Banks showed the Tennessee football player being extremely disrespectful to the police officers, according to TMZ Sports.

Banks provided an apparent warning to a policewoman participating in a ride-along.

"You don't wanna be an intern because where I'm from, we shoot at cops," he said. "I'm from Memphis, Tennessee."

Banks was arrested on Sept. 15 when he was pulled over for a traffic violation and a University of Tennessee officer discovered he had an active warrant for failing to appear in court for driving with a suspended license, per WATE 6.

Though a team spokesman called the situation "resolved," the latest video showed the player being very aggressive during his detainment.

"All my f--king life I hated cops," he said.

Banks has since apologized for his actions in a statement, per TMZ:

"I want to sincerely apologize to my family, the University of Tennessee and the law enforcement community. I deeply regret my language and attitude in the video.

"I have great respect for our policemen and women, and I am embarrassed by my actions that night. That’s not who I am. I promise to be a better representative for the University of Tennessee moving forward."

Banks joined the Volunteers as a 3-star prospect from Cordova, Tennessee, per 247Sports. He spent his freshman year as a reserve running back with 185 rushing yards on 52 carries but converted to linebacker for the 2019 season.

In three games this season, the sophomore has seven tackles and two interceptions.

Nearly a decade after departing Tennessee for USC, Florida Atlantic head coach Lane Kiffin discussed the aftermath of his decision with ESPN's Chris Low.

When Kiffin left Tennessee after just one season as head coach to take his dream job at USC, it led to a chaotic scene in Knoxville in which current LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, who followed Kiffin from Tennessee to USC, was calling midterm enrollees at Tennessee who had yet to start classes in hopes of getting them to jump to USC as well.

Then-Tennessee defensive end Chris Walker described the situation:

"That's when it got ugly because I was trying to calm the guys down and telling them to let Lane say what he wanted to say. But when Ja'Wuan [James] put [Orgeron] on the speakerphone, that's when I grabbed it, told O not to call our players anymore and hung up. I love O and loved playing for him, but that should not have happened."

Now, Kiffin agrees that it was in bad taste despite the fact that it wasn't technically illegal: 

"It wasn't like we were recruiting kids on Tennessee's roster. They were still recruits because school was starting that week. That happens all over the place. But I get the players and the Tennessee fans being mad over that, and I probably would have been, too, at that point. That one's on us."

On the night Kiffin read a statement announcing his Tennessee departure, he had to barricade himself in his office until police escorted him home at 4 a.m. because fans and students on campus were shouting obscenities at Kiffin and burning mattresses, per Low.

In retrospect, Monte Kiffin believes taking the USC job was the wrong move. Monte is Lane's father, and he served under Lane as Tennessee's defensive coordinator before going with him to USC:

"We should have never left, but you can't see into the future, and there's no way you know we were going to be hit with the sanctions we were hit with at USC. I still give Lane a hard time. I'd just bought a beautiful new home there in Gettysvue on the golf course [in Knoxville, Tennessee], and while we were trying to sell it, golfers would come by and throw cigar butts up on my porch. Maybe we deserved it."

USC was hit with major sanctions shortly after Kiffin's arrival, as it was determined through an investigation that former USC running back Reggie Bush had accepted improper benefits while in college.

As a result, USC lost multiple scholarships, and it was banned from the postseason for two years. The Trojans did have a 10-2 season under Kiffin, but they largely disappointed with a 28-15 record in parts of four seasons before his firing.

During his one season at Tennessee in 2009, the Volunteers went 7-6, which would be their best record until 2014.

Kiffin served under Nick Saban at Alabama for three seasons after getting fired by USC, and he is in the midst of his third season at FAU. He is 17-12 with the Owls, including an 11-3 mark in 2017.

The University of Tennessee has offered a four-year scholarship to a fourth-grade boy in Florida who was bullied by his classmates for making a homemade Volunteers shirt.

According to the University's press release:

"Alumni, fans, and honorary Volunteers have stepped up in response to this story. So far, more than 50,000 shirts featuring the boy's design have been pre-sold by the VolShop. All proceeds from the sale of the shirts will go directly to the charity Stomp Out Bullying. The university will cover the cost of the scholarship separately."

The boy was bullied after affixing a piece of paper with a hand-drawn Tennessee logo on it to his shirt for "College Colors Day", per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN. One of his teachers, Laura Snyder, posted about the incident on Facebook and it went viral.

The university heard about the story and decided to make a shirt out of his design, with proceeds going to an anti-bullying charity, in addition to sending the boy a large selection of Vols gear.

And now, he has a full scholarship awaiting him too. 

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt made a puzzling comparison to describe Jordan Murphy and Terrell Bailey's departures following the Volunteers' shocking loss to Georgia State in the opening week. 

During an appearance in front of the Knoxville Quarterback Club on Monday, Pruitt referenced Titanic, which was released in 1997, and said he thought of the movie as Tennessee embarked on its nightmare start.

"When the boat starts going down, remember all those mice running to the top, right?" he said, per the Knoxville News Sentinel's Mike Wilson. "We have had a few that's left our program, but you will figure out who wants to be a Tennessee Vol and who don't."

There's almost no scenario in which juxtaposing your team with the Titanic—even indirectly—will work out. It's also hard to understand the point Pruitt was trying to make since the boat sank regardless of what the animals aboard were doing.

Tennessee followed up its defeat to Georgia State with a double-overtime loss to BYU, which included the Cougars completing a 64-yard pass with six seconds remaining to set up Jake Oldroyd's game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter.

Things will probably get worse for the Vols before they get better, too. Tennessee should get its first win Saturday against Chattanooga but then faces Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama and South Carolina in succession.

Pruitt's team might be out of the bowl hunt by the end of October, in which case he could be playing the role of the captain going down with his ship.

Fresh off a stunning 38-30 win over Tennessee, Georgia State safety Remy Lazarus told Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Division I-FCS Furman will give the Panthers a stiffer test than the Vols.

"I think [Furman] will give us a tougher battle than we faced Saturday, if you want to be honest," Lazarus said. 

Per B/R Betting, Georgia State was a 12-1 underdog entering its road matchup against Tennessee, deservedly so considering the Panthers were coming off a 2-10 season and a last-place Sun Belt finish.

Tennessee has taken a step back since winning the BCS national championship a couple of decades ago, with the team finishing last in the SEC East in 2018. Still, the 5-7 Vols beat No. 21 Auburn on the road and No. 11 Kentucky at home and were the clear favorites entering their season opener.

However, the Panthers emerged victorious thanks in part to 17 unanswered points over a 6:19 fourth-quarter stretch. Three Vols turnovers and 233 Panthers rushing yards proved to be the catalysts.

The result was stunning given the pregame odds, but saying Furman will be a tougher test than Tennessee might be a stretch.

The Sagarin Ratings, which lumps FCS and FBS schools into one large Division I ranking, has Tennessee at No. 77 and Furman at No. 124. The Panthers are No. 112.

Still, Lazarus' comments have some merit: Furman is No. 11 in the latest FCS poll, and it's not uncommon to see teams from that division spring upsets over FBS foes. In fact, that happened seven times last year.

Georgia State will host the Paladins on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.

Tennessee Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt announced Wednesday wide receiver Jordan Murphy and defensive back Terrell Bailey have left the program.

Neither player appeared in Saturday's shocking 38-30 loss to the Georgia State Panthers. Pruitt said Murphy was dealing with an illness but didn't say whether that's why he didn't play in the upset.

Steve Megargee of the Associated Press captured a Twitter post from the reserve wide receiver Monday making fun of the Vols' loss to Georgia State before it was deleted:

Tennessee, which entered its season-opening game as more than a three-touchdown favorite, allowed the Panthers to pull away with 17 unanswered points in just over six minutes during the fourth quarter. UT turned the ball over three times against its unheralded opponent from the Sun Belt Conference.

Murphy, a 3-star prospect from the 2017 recruiting class, tallied 11 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown for the Vols in 2018.

Bailey had yet to record any stats across two years at UT. He was also a 3-star prospect in the 2017 class.

The Vols will attempt to bounce back Saturday night against the BYU Cougars.

The first year of the Jeremy Pruitt era in Knoxville resulted in a losing season for the Tennessee Volunteers (5-7), and the second year isn't off to a promising start, either.

On Saturday, the Vols were upset by the Georgia State Panthers 38-30 in the season opener at Neyland Stadium.

Georgia State entered the matchup on a seven-game losing streak, having won just once in their final 11 games last season en route to a 2-10 finish.

It was a troubling day for the Volunteers nearly from the start, as running back Ty Chandler fumbled on the second play from scrimmage. The Panthers quickly turned that great field position into points. Running back Seth Paige found the end zone from four yards out to help give his team a 7-0 lead just three minutes in.

Tennessee was able to put the turnover behind it, though. The Volunteers responded to the Panthers' touchdown with one of their own, going on a 16-play drive that a six-yard pass to Marquez Callaway capped off.

Chandler made up for his early fumble by putting his team in front with a 31-yard touchdown in the closing seconds of the opening quarter.

While Georgia State evened the score late in the second, Tennessee managed to take a 17-14 lead into the locker rooms thanks to a 19-yard field goal as time expired at the end of the first half.

The Panthers opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive to move back out in front. The Volunteers used a pair of field goals to recapture the lead early in the fourth quarter—but they were unable to close out their opponent.

Georgia State scored 17 straight points over six-plus minutes late in the fourth. A 19-yard run by Tra Barnett with just less than nine minutes put the Panthers in front for good, and a 22-yard run by Dan Ellington made it a two-possession game with less than five minutes to play.

This upset was unlikely for a number of reasons. Not only was Georgia State coming off a two-win season, but the program had never beaten a team from the current Power Five conferences:

Per ESPN, Georgia State ranked 89th in the nation in total offense (378 yards per game) and tied for 104th in scoring (23.9 PPG) last season. That didn't stop the Panthers from going into Knoxville and piling 213 rushing yards and 38 points on Saturday, though.

Ellington led the way for Georgia State with 139 passing yards, 61 rushing yards and three total touchdowns. Barnett added 95 rushing yards, 12 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano threw for 311 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the losing effort.

Tennessee Volunteers sophomore Bryce Thompson was arrested Saturday night and charged with misdemeanor domestic assault, according to Chris Low of ESPN.

Brett McMurphy of Stadium noted Monday morning that Tennessee has suspended Thompson indefinitely. 

Per the police report, Thompson threatened a woman on campus and told her he would "slap the s--t out of you." Another witness told authorities that Thompson threatened to "shoot up the school."

The woman, who Thompson has been in a relationship with for the past four years, also told police Thompson "has a bad temper and has punched walls during past arguments."

She told police they had been arguing after she found someone else's fake eyelashes in his room, per Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

According to Low, "When University of Tennessee police officers arrived on the scene, they reported Thompson was 'extremely upset and agitated' and that a metal gate had been detached from its hinges, damaging a wall."

One of the witnesses told police he heard both threats made by Thompson and "a loud crashing sound, presumably when the gate was ripped off," per Wilson.

Thompson denied threatening the woman or making physical contact with her and was released on $3,000 bond. Under Tennessee law, causing a person to "reasonably fear imminent bodily injury" is grounds for arrest.

Thompson was a freshman All-American last season, registering 32 tackles, three interceptions and a sack.

Tennessee picked up another massive commitment for its 2019 recruiting class from offensive tackle Darnell Wright on Wednesday. 

ESPN.com's Tom VanHaaren reported the lineman's selection of the Volunteers. 

Wright is a 5-star prospect and the No. 10 overall player in the 2019 class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. He's also listed as the second-best tackle and the top recruit from West Virginia.

In December, the Huntington High School standout explained his playing style to the Metro News.

"I like to maul people and get in there and get physical, but I can put a little finesse on it, too, and that makes it that much better," Wright said. "I like to get after one quickly and get them out of the way and keep moving."

The 6'6'', 320-pound rising star has all the tools to become a prototypical left tackle. Along with his obvious size advantage, he's showcased terrific small-area quickness and has a ridiculous amount of raw power for a player his age.

At a time when a blindside tackle is one of the most valuable spots in the sport behind quarterback and edge-rusher, it's no surprise a prospect with his upside was among the class' most coveted recruits.                     

All told, Wright is the type of prospect who can be the cornerstone of a collegiate offense in the near future, and he possesses the talent to eventually make an NFL impact. It's a major addition for head coach Jeremy Pruitt and Tennessee.

While it's too early to know exactly where he will fit into the Vols' plans, he could start on the right side before switching over to the left once he establishes himself.