2018 was a year of reality for the Vols

NASHVILLE — As I walked towards the media room following Tennessee's 38-13 loss to Vanderbilt. I thought about what I would write. I thought about catch phases like rock bottom, embarrassment, disappointment, etc.

As I stood in the back of a cramped media room listening to six seniors address the media, the word hit me and that word is — reality.

For 60 minutes with both teams having the same thing to play for, Vanderbilt was the better football team. They were more physical. They were faster or at least played faster. They were more emotional and quite frankly looked more invested.

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt and and senior Kyle Phillips, who questioned some guys buy- in, reiterated those ideas.

“I think it’s pretty simple,” Pruitt said. “The best team won today. They executed better than we did. If you go back and look they blocked us better than we blocked them. They got off blocks better than we got off blocks. They covered us better than we covered them. The made better throws. They made plays at wide receiver, we didn’t. It’s pretty simple.”

If you recap year one under head coach Jeremy Pruitt, it was a year of some highs, some lows, some we don’t belong and a whimpering finish.

In other words it was a reality check for everyone. For players, they are still learning what it takes to be fully invested. For Pruitt, a realization as to how much work it’s going to take to restore the program he’s been tasked with fixing. And for the fans, the reality that this is no easy or quick fix.

“Lord knows we have a long ways to go,” Pruitt said. “We have to improve. I think our kids improved as the season went.

“I thought over the course of the season we learned how to practice. We improved tremendously on how to practice. But you should have seen us in the spring. From where we are at there was no where to go but up. We made a lot of strides. We still don’t have enough competition. We don’t have competition at certain positions. So you are either going to play somebody or play no body basically. We have to recruit to create some depth and competition. When we do that we will get better in a hurry.”

The reality for Pruitt and his staff is they are learning too. He’s learning to be a head coach. It’s a growth that must continue for the staff that the University has made the greatest investment of all time in. Part of that learning includes finding an offensive identity.

“I’m sure when we go back and do quality control over the entire season, there’s tons of things I can improve on,” Pruitt said. “I think probably from the first year to the second year when you have a new staff together is probably the biggest improvement that you see. We will have plenty of time to do that (quality control). We will start workin on it tomorrow.”

The other reality is that this program needs development. Barring any surprises, Tennessee will have the same strength coach for two straight offseasons for the first time in four years. The Vols must get faster. They must get stronger. That reality has shown up almost every week this season.

The other reality is that Tennessee simply needs more. The Vols need more size, they need more speed, and most importantly more internal competition. Pruitt almost laughed in describing what his first spring practice was last April compared to what it should be. He expects this spring to be better and he expects players to challenge other at different level.

“We just have to get some competition,” Pruitt said. “When a guy doesn’t practice the right way. You have to have another guy that you can put in. If a guy doesn’t the right way during the game you gotta have someone else to put in. What happens is if you have competition, you fix all of those things in spring ball and fall camp. You create the right habits. Hopefully we will have some guys who develop and we can create some competition as a team.”

As the 2018 season ends, there were some big moments: Winning at Auburn, beating Kentucky. There were lows like not closing out a game at South Carolina and there were disappointments like the last two weeks.

So for me, the overriding feeling from Jeremy Pruitt’s first year is reality. Reality that Tennessee has a big hill to climb to get to where they are expected to be. Saturday night that reality hit home as the Vols are again home for Christmas as they were manhandled in their attempt to get bowl eligible.

“The extra practices you are going to get better if you get to practice, but we have to take what we have got,” Pruitt said. “We need to finish in the classroom and start our off-season conditioning. I don’t know this is new for me.”

Following a third-straight blowout loss to Vanderbilt where the ‘Dores were the better team, this is new for everyone in orange.