Jets Rumors: Jeremy Pruitt Contract Talks Source of Conflicting Reports

Little more than a week after he was fired for cause by the University of Tennessee, there are conflicting reports about the job status of former Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt and his connection to the New York Jets. 

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the 46-year-old was "working on a deal" to join the Jets staff, but Connor Hughes of The Athletic and Rich Cimini of ESPN later refuted that report. 

In response to the initial report that Pruitt would join Robert Saleh's staff in the Meadowlands, Cimini had pegged Pruitt as the team's defensive backs coach. The former Alabama defensive coordinator, who worked with Jets defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, has never coached in the NFL. 

Pruitt led the Volunteers for three seasons, taking over for Butch Jones when he was fired in 2017. Josh Heupel was announced Wednesday as Pruitt's replacement.

While Tennessee went just 16-19 through three seasons under Prutt, including a 3-7 campaign in 2020, it was a recruiting scandal that ultimately cemented his legacy with the Vols. According to Blake Toppmeyer of the Knoxville News Sentinel, an investigation into the program "revealed evidence of sweeping and serious NCAA violations," with the expectation that they will result in "multiple NCAA Level I and/or Level II violations." 

Pruitt is the only Tennessee football head coach to be fired for cause, per Toppmeyer. 

A pair of assistant coaches, Brian Niedermeyer and Shelton Felton, as well as seven members of the program's recruiting, personnel and support staff, also lost their jobs. Athletics director and former football head coach Phillip Fulmer also left the university.