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Since Tennessee hired Jeremy Pruitt away from Alabama in December of last year, current and former coaches who either worked with Pruitt or knew him by reputation came out in support of the hire.
There was his former bosses, Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban and fellow assistant coach turned-head coach Kirby Smart who all gave high praises of Pruitt after working with him at Florida State and Alabama.
On Thursday, Pruitt was given another ringing endorsement, this one from former Florida State head coach and fellow Alabama native Bobby Bowden, who gave his opinion on the first-year Tennessee head coach in a sit-down interview with ESPN College Football writer, Chris Low.
Bobby Bowden unsolicited told me he's very high on @CoachJPruitt. "Out of all these new coaches coming up, I have a feeling (Pruitt) is going to do the best. Nobody’s expecting anything out of Tennessee, and he’s such a good coach. I think he’s a hidden jewel, boy. I really do."
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) August 9, 2018
Notch that one up there among the best compliments Pruitt has received to this point in his short tenure.
Bowden took the Florida State job in 1976, winning 377 games during his 33-year career in Tallahassee. Among those wins were two national championships in 1993 and 1999 as well as 12 ACC titles. He currently ranked fourth in all-time wins among past and present college football head coaches.
It’s becoming clear that the growing consensus is that after the tumultuous coaching search that transpired over eight months ago, Tennessee was able to land a ‘hidden jewel.’