With Robert Gillespie gone, Pruitt's search for his replacement will be interesting to watch. It's hard to believe that the first-year head coach doesn't have a clear idea of the direction he wants to go with that position. Here are some possible names that we are working on tracking down details about this afternoon.
Jay Graham – The VFL knows Pruitt having worked with him for a year at Florida State. Pruitt is reportedly a fan of Graham, liking him as a player and a coach. The issue is Graham is under contract with Texas A&M. The Aggies are paying good money to Jimbo Fisher's staff. Details of Graham's contract have not been released, so it's unclear how realistic Graham might be financially. Graham would certainly be a popular choice among Tennessee fans.
Des Kitchings – The running backs coach and recruiting coordinator is also an assistant head coach at NC State. Kitchings and Pruitt know each other, as Pruitt interviewed Kitchings for the wide receivers job. Now did Pruitt not hire Kitchings because he didn't like him and didn't think he was a good fit or was it because the position of wide receivers wasn't the right fit for Kitchings?
Rush Propst – Pruitt's former boss at Hoover High School has been mentioned as a staff possibility since Pruitt was hired. Propst spent time in Knoxville back in December visiting with the staff. Propst, who coached JJ Peterson, and Pruitt are very close. Propst has never been a college coach, so is he the fit Pruitt is looking for? That's unclear, but what is clear is that Pruitt would be as comfortable if not more comfortable with Propst than anyone because of their long standing relationship.
Chris Weinke – Weinke was set to join Pruitt's staff back in December, but the deal fell through for whatever reason. Would whatever that reason be prevent a deal from being done if that's who Pruitt wanted to hire? Not sure. Would Weinke be interested after things didn't workout in December?
A couple of final thoughts on Gillespie. The truth is no one should really be surprised when you look back at things. When Pruitt first talked about his staff at the press conference following Alabama's national championship, he would not call Gillespie the running backs coach. He simply said he was on the staff somehow. And then Thursday when contracts were released it was very noteworthy that Gillespie didn't have his deal extended and he was the only coach on staff who was on a one year deal.
Jay Graham – The VFL knows Pruitt having worked with him for a year at Florida State. Pruitt is reportedly a fan of Graham, liking him as a player and a coach. The issue is Graham is under contract with Texas A&M. The Aggies are paying good money to Jimbo Fisher's staff. Details of Graham's contract have not been released, so it's unclear how realistic Graham might be financially. Graham would certainly be a popular choice among Tennessee fans.
Des Kitchings – The running backs coach and recruiting coordinator is also an assistant head coach at NC State. Kitchings and Pruitt know each other, as Pruitt interviewed Kitchings for the wide receivers job. Now did Pruitt not hire Kitchings because he didn't like him and didn't think he was a good fit or was it because the position of wide receivers wasn't the right fit for Kitchings?
Rush Propst – Pruitt's former boss at Hoover High School has been mentioned as a staff possibility since Pruitt was hired. Propst spent time in Knoxville back in December visiting with the staff. Propst, who coached JJ Peterson, and Pruitt are very close. Propst has never been a college coach, so is he the fit Pruitt is looking for? That's unclear, but what is clear is that Pruitt would be as comfortable if not more comfortable with Propst than anyone because of their long standing relationship.
Chris Weinke – Weinke was set to join Pruitt's staff back in December, but the deal fell through for whatever reason. Would whatever that reason be prevent a deal from being done if that's who Pruitt wanted to hire? Not sure. Would Weinke be interested after things didn't workout in December?
A couple of final thoughts on Gillespie. The truth is no one should really be surprised when you look back at things. When Pruitt first talked about his staff at the press conference following Alabama's national championship, he would not call Gillespie the running backs coach. He simply said he was on the staff somehow. And then Thursday when contracts were released it was very noteworthy that Gillespie didn't have his deal extended and he was the only coach on staff who was on a one year deal.
