With Jeremy Pruitt fired and the potential for looming sanctions, the Tennessee football program is a huge mess right now. On Wednesday, it managed to get even messier thanks to some high-profile player departures.
As summed up by al.com’s Matt Zenitz, the Volunteers lost four starters to the transfer portal: linebackers Henry To’o To’o and Quavaris Crouch, running back Eric Gray, and offensive lineman Jahmir Johnson.
These are not insignificant departures. To’o To’o was the quarterback of the defense, led the team in tackles with 68, 7.5 of them for a loss. Crouch was a five-star recruit who was the team’s third-leading tackler in 2020. Gray led the team with 772 rushing yards and was the best player on the offense, while Johnson started five games for the Volunteers and was set for an even bigger role in 2021.
Five-star offensive lineman Wanya Morris left Tennessee last week, transferring to Oklahoma. Four-star defensive end recruit Dylan Brooks also asked the school to release him from his letter of intent Tuesday following the Pruitt firing.
With potential sanctions looming and talent fleeing the program, the Volunteers’ coaching position keeps looking less and less attractive. Tennessee fans have their hearts set on a fairly big name, but they’ll be lucky to get anyone close to that at this rate.
