Tennessee (2-6, 2-6, SEC) has two games remaining in the 2020 regular season.
The Vols travel to Vanderbilt today and host Texas A&M Dec. 19 to conclude the regular season.
Third-year Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt could make wholesale changes within his coaching staff following the conclusion of the regular season.
Tennessee has three assistants with expiring contracts. Offensive line coach Will Friend, wide receivers coach Tee Martin and inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer are signed through Jan. 31, 2021.
A vacant defensive line position will also be filled after Jimmy Brumbaugh was relieved of his duties during the season.
Ahead of the Tennessee-Vanderbilt game, Rush Propst, Pruitt’s former boss at Hoover High School, discussed changes that could happen for the Vols’ coaching staff after the season ends.
Propst discussed how Pruitt needs to decide the direction of the staff, offensively and defensively.
“I just think that he needs to make some adjustments to his staff,” Propst said of Pruitt on the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days.” “I think he will. I think he’ll look at it and make some decisions. He’s got to decide what he wants to do. What philosophy, what kind of offense do I want to be, he knows what he wants to do defensively, that is not going to change. Does he bring in a defensive guy, there are some available, to relieve him of what he has been doing, to give him a chance to be more of a head football coach and concentrate on other areas. I think that Jeremy is really good in a lot of other things, maybe from that perspective, or he maybe happy with his whole defensive staff. I’ve got Todd Watson on that staff, that I know helps out in certain ways. Shelton Felton worked for me. I have tremendous amounts of confidence in Shelton Felton. I told Jeremy two years ago you should hire Shelton Felton, he is that good.
“Offensively is where his most work has to come. He’s got to decide which way to turn, but before you go hiring coaches, he has to decide deep down in his heart, deep down in his mind and soul where do you want the offense to be. Do you want to be uptempo, spread, swinging it around the field and doing that kind of stuff, or do you want to be a ground and pound, play-action and run-combo — those kinds of things. Really, there can be a little bit of both.”
The entire show with Propst can be listened to here or below.
Vols Wire takes a look at coaches that could be part of changes within Pruitt’s staff for the 2021 season.
NEXT: Coaches that could join Tennessee’s staff next season