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Jeremy Pruitt has officially been the head coach of Tennessee for less than 24 hours, but he has wasted no time in putting together a proven staff.
On Thursday, reports had surfaced that Colorado State offensive coordinator, Will Friend and defensive back coach, Terry Fair were leaving Fort Collins, CO to join Pruitt at Tennessee. Pruitt was also able to bring on Southern Cal quarterback coach Tyson Helton on Thursday as well. Helton is expected to serve as offensive coordinator on Pruitt’s new staff.
Jeremy Pruitt already putting together Tennessee staff. As reported by Volquest, USC passing game coordinator and QBs coach Tyson Helton will join him along with Colorado State OC/OL coach Will Friend, Colorado State DB coach Terry Fair and Tennessee RB coach Robert Gillespie.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) December 7, 2017
By Thursday evening, it was revealed that Georgia outside linebacker coach Kevin Sherrer will also rejoin Pruitt at Tennessee. Sherrer was brought on by Pruitt when he took over as defensive coordinator under Mark Richt at Georgia in 2015. Sherrer is set to be named Tennessee’s defensive coordinator, replacing Bob Shoop. Sherrer has been instrumental in a Georgia defense that ranked 4th nationally in total defense this season. It has not yet been determined wether or not Sherrer will head to Tennessee early or stick with the Bulldogs as they embark on the College Football Playoff.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman, Sherrer won’t be the only Tennessee assistant coach with previous SEC experience. Former Georgia defensive line coach, Tracy Rocker and current Florida defensive line coach Chris Rumph are also expected to be apart of the defensive staff under Pruitt.
SOURCE: #UGA OLB coach Kevin Sherrer is expected to be the #Vols new DC under Jeremy Pruitt. In addition, Tracy Rocker and Chris Rumph are expected to join that D-staff. Lots of good experience there, especially in the SEC.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 7, 2017
While Pruitt is already committed to sticking with Alabama until after the playoff, at this rate he will have his staff completely in place by the time he takes over the reigns full time at the end of the month. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s loading up on proven recruiters who know the landscape in the unrelenting SEC, where it is really needed.