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UPDATE: Pruitt is now reportedly heading to the Giants. He will join Craig Fitzgerald, Kevin Sherrer ... and ... Derek Dooley.
Source says Jeremy Pruitt will, in fact, be joining the Giants staff. Hiring not official yet and official role TBD https://t.co/8lGkno2WBU
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) January 28, 2021
Tennessee has turned the page on the Jeremy Pruitt era and replaced him with Josh Heupel from UCF. The next moves for Tennessee will get all of our attention over the next week or so, but what about Jeremy Pruitt?
According to Bruce Feldman, he’s likely heading to the NFL with the New York Jets.
SOURCE: Former #Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt is working on a deal to join the #Jets coaching staff.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 27, 2021
Most everyone thought he would walk right back into a role at Alabama or maybe even follow Steve Sarkisian to Texas, but a potential show-cause penalty from the NCAA looms large here. That, of course, would make Pruitt untouchable by any other University for the time being.
The Jets hired former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to be their next head coach. Jeff Ulbrich has been hired as his defensive coordinator, while five others have already been hired as defensive assistants. Pruitt’s potential role with the organization is unclear at this point.
Pruitt finished up his three year stay at Tennessee with a 16-19 record. Before that he was the defensive coordinator at Alabama, Florida State and Georgia. He’s also spent time as a defensive backs coach at both the high school and college level.
Expect some clarity on his jump to the NFL soon as we await potential penalties coming from the NCAA.
Elsewhere on Tennessee’s exiting staff, former running backs coach Jay Graham is headed to Alabama to coach the special teams, while former defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley heads back to the NFL with the Chargers.