Vols Coach Jeremy Pruitt Claims Some Players Quit in Orange and White Game

Knoxville-(WDEF-TV) When you inherit a football team that went 4-8 last season, you expect some growing pains. And that’s a tough reality for new Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt.
He was apparently so disappointed with the play in the Orange and White game on Saturday, he didn’t let his players talk to the media afterwards.
The Orange beat the White at Neyland Stadium 34-7.

When coach Pruitt didn’t see the energy and effort he wanted in the spring game, he didn’t sugarcoat it.
Said Pruitt:”Couple of guys out there today just flat out quit. You can call it what you want to. I’m going to say they quit because that’s what I saw. We all know what turning it down is. You go hit somebody, and you squat your feet, duck your head, and you don’t run through them. That’s turning it down. Guys that do that. Film don’t lie. Guys that don’t compete, don’t hustle, film don’t lie.”
Stats don’t lie either, especially the rushing numbers for the White team.
14 carries. 14 yards.
Said Pruitt:”One team rushes for 134-yards, and one team rushes for 14 yards. So is one team that much better than the other one? I don’t think so. I watched them practice for 14 days. Is one team that much worse than the other one? Nope.”
Jarrett Guarantano went 15 of 27 for 226-yards with two touchdowns, but Pruitt wasn’t ready to christen Guarantano as the starting quarterback.
Said Pruitt:”Again we’ll know who our quarterback is probably when we go to Charlotte about halfway through the fourth quarter.”
Overall, this team has a lot of work to do before the fall season.
Reporter:”Coach how well do you think players have grasped the offense and defense that your are implementing?”
Said Pruitt:”I think if you looked at it after 15 days, I’d say we would probably get about a ‘D’.

The Orange was made up of the first team offense, and they finished with 360-yards of offense compared to just 85 for the White team. Will McBride finished 6 of 18 passing for 71 yards and one touchdown for the White team. Tim Jordan of the Orange team was the leading rusher with 57-yards on nine carries, while Orange teammate Ty Chandler had 53 yards on 11 carries.