College football Twitter is having a field day after the Tennessee Volunteers fired head coach Jeremy Pruitt for cause. Additionally, Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer is likely going to step down and retire.
If some of the recruiting violation rumors are false, then it still doesn’t change the fact that Tennessee’s program has seen a level of decline on par with Florida State in recent seasons. The Volunteers did finish 8-5 in 2019 after a rocky start, but the program took a major step back in 2020 with a 3-7 season.
According to the Dan Patrick Show, Tennessee handed recruits money in McDonald’s bags during campus visits. This rumor gave Twitter some easy material to work with and of course college football fans came up with some funny reactions:
Source: Tennessee #Vols got sloppy with recruiting. They were handing recruits cash in McDonald's bags when they visited campus.
Also a name to look out for to fill the Head Coaching vacancy: Jason Witten pic.twitter.com/HKDd02rldz
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 19, 2021
Gonna miss this recruiting staff. pic.twitter.com/hCJdrGSdj4
— Houston Kress (@VolRumorMill) January 19, 2021
When they ask if you want fries with that in Knoxville pic.twitter.com/qrJ6Y3CQSd
— Evil Kirby Smart (@EvilKirbySmart) January 19, 2021
Does McDonald’s already sponsor Tennessee athletics? If not, seems like a great marketing opportunity
— Jake Reuse (@ReuseRecruiting) January 19, 2021
This is how I picture Tennessee recruiting weekends going under Jeremy Pruitt.
(@jddalton04 provided me with the photo) pic.twitter.com/fAVqTP31hP
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) January 19, 2021
Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt denied the rumor via Twitter.
If y’all really believe that you got issues…. https://t.co/pZ5rkwgBGt
— Jalin Hyatt (@jalinhyatt) January 19, 2021