Tennessee's Pruitt shoves aside harsh criticism from ex-Georgia QB

First-year Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt responded strongly Wednesday to ex-Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, who criticized the way he carried himself when he was the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator.

"Fifteen years ago, I was a kindergarten teacher," Pruitt said at SEC Media Days, according to The Athletic's David Ubben. "Now, I'm the head coach at Tennessee. You probably don't make that ascension without knowing how to treat people."

Pruitt's fiery personality was indeed an issue at Georgia, where he was the defensive coordinator from 2014-15. He was known to clash frequently with head coach Mark Richt, which left a sour taste in Murray's mouth.

"When he was at Georgia, the way he acted, the way he treated Coach Richt I thought was poor," Murray said Tuesday, according to Blake Toppmeyer of the Knoxville News Sentinel. "He wasn't as respectful as I thought a defensive coordinator should be to a head coach. That's my thing, with authority."

After parting ways with the Bulldogs, Pruitt moved on to Alabama, where he coordinated Nick Saban's defense over the past two seasons. He's now taking over a Tennessee program that floundered to a 4-8 mark last year and failed to earn a single victory against SEC opponents.

"I don't think he's the right guy to kind of be the CEO of a corporation," Murray added. "He's really good managing just a defense and being a defensive coordinator. He needs to prove to me that he can handle the whole ship. For right now, I don't think he can."