Worth reading 7.18.18: Is Pruitt criticism “blistering” or fair?

If you read only one thing about the Vols today . . .

. . . make it this, from 247Sports:

• Former Georgia QB doubts Jeremy Pruitt is right hire for Tennessee football

The headlines for this bit of news are amusing. That one up there is fair, but when you click through, it’s “blasts.” The News Sentinel yesterday called it “blistering.” That’s likely for the purpose of priming the clicks pump a bit, so it’s understandable, but really, all Murray said was that he didn’t know if Pruitt was going to be able to handle all of the extra stuff a head coach needs to handle. That’s fair, because really, nobody knows the answer to that question.

The thing that troubles me about this is that Murray’s passing reference to his opinion that Pruitt was disrespectful to Mark Richt when he worked for him was accepted without any additional probing as to the details and now is passed around as an assumed fact. So what if Pruitt is disrespectful, they’re saying. Maybe that’s good, they’re saying. What I want to know are the details about the supposed disrespect so I can decide if that’s what it truly was. Until then, I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt and concluding that it was probably just his standard bluntness.

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

1. All the stuff that’s actually in your football team’s playbook, via SB Nation. Not Vols, but college football. Bookmark this and come back. It’s full of great stuff.
2. Joe Moorhead explains the 5 tenets of the SEC West’s most dangerous offense, via SB Nation. Ditto the above.
3. The Next-Step List: Ryan Johnson and Theo Jackson, via Gameday on Rocky Top
4. Beef back? Tennessee’s latest weights gains under new S&C staff, via VolQuest
5. SEC burning questions heading into the 2018 football season, via KnoxNews
6. Tony Barnhart: ‘Tennessee has a good situation’ with Pruitt and Fulmer, via Vols Wire
7. Florida DL Cece Jefferson: Tennessee defenders are ‘blessed’ to be coached by Chris Rumph, via Saturday Down South
8. Dodge ball: 5 tough questions Jeremy Pruitt might get but won’t answer at SEC Media Days, via Saturday Down South
9. Tennessee Vols football’s 2018 opponents at a glance: Vanderbilt Commodores, via 247Sports
10. Greg McElroy believes Florida will beat Tennessee “convincingly” in 2018, via 247Sports
11. Tennessee Vols Football: Kentucky coach Mark Stoops says ‘you just can’t’ prepare for being a first-year head coach, via 247Sports

Behind the paywalls

• Scouting the Opponent: Charlotte, via VolQuest
• Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Four-star safety Jaylen McCollough planning more visits, via 247Sports