By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Here is a question I have pondered for two weeks now.

Will the University of Tennessee football program be the Tennessee we once knew ever again?

Jeremy Pruitt has only coached 14 games in Knoxville and you get the feeling his job is on the line.

The Volunteers are 5-9 under Pruitt, and the program seems like it can’t get out of its own way.

It is bad enough to lose at home to Georgia State a team UT was favored to beat by 26 points, but to top that off Tennessee snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory last weekend against BYU with less than 20 seconds left in the contest.

The Vols gave up a tying FG and then folded in overtime to the Cougars.

What is wrong with this program? Here are my thoughts:

Recruiting: Tennessee does not recruit on a high level like it once did.

The Volunteers don’t even get the top players in Tennessee any longer. That used to be a given.

In the 1990’s Tennessee used to be a national brand in recruiting. The Vols dipped into New Orleans and plucked Peyton Manning. They dipped into Mobile, Alabama and plucked Tee Martin. Tennessee dipped into Georgia and grabbed Jamal Lewis, and had a foothold in the Atlanta area, and would cherry pick, Florida, Texas, and California.

That brand is gone now, but it must be rebuilt. Nashville is a growing city and High School football in that city is pretty good, but Georgia, Alabama, and LSU are more likely to pull a high ranked player out of Nashville than the University of Tennessee. That is totally unacceptable.

Head Coaching: The last three hires have been a nightmare. Lane Kiffin came in and threw discipline out with the bath water. Derek Dooley was a last resort because nobody wanted the job, and Butch Jones just could not bring the consistency needed to lead a program like Tennessee. Now Jeremy Pruitt, who was hand-picked by Phillip Fulmer, seems to be struggling as well.

Phillip Fulmer: This may not be popular, but I think Tennessee needs a clean break from the old guard in Knoxville and that starts with Phillip Fulmer, who at almost 70 years old needs to enjoy his family and grandchildren.

Fulmer, learned how to coach under Johnny Majors and then turned around and helped push King Johnny out the door in 1992 so he could take over, needs to be pushed out to pasture now for a permanent retirement.

He has been a great ambassador for the University but it is time for a fresh start in Knoxville. Making Fulmer AD was a temporary solution, and a not permanent one.

Fulmer led UT to great things in the 1990’s, but 1998 was 21 years ago. A fresh approach is needed.

Tennessee’s 0-2 start is as ugly as it gets. The program hasn’t started 0-2 since 1988. The Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Alabama games don’t look winnable right now.

Right now, the Vols are facing a must win scenario against Chattanooga Saturday to possibly avoid a disastrous 1-6 start.

The Flag Ship University in the State of Tennessee facing a must win against UTC is blasphemy.

Tennessee Football is currently like an abandoned factory in the Rust Belt. Once a symbol of manufacturing greatness, but now in decay. The University of Tennessee football program needs to modernize into the 21^st Century.

On December 31, 2019 the worst decade in Tennessee football history will mercifully end. Will this proud program swallow its pride and make the changes needed to be relevant again?

I hope so a win in Knoxville used to mean something, but everyone seems to be winning there now.

UT was once here before and in 1977 brought in a Vol legend Johnny Majors to rebuild the brand. When will it be “Football Time in Tennessee” again?

It wasn’t a quick fix in 1977 and it won’t be now, but it can be done. The SEC misses and needs a relevant Big Orange.