It's deja vu for the Big Orange Nation

After Saturday’s final spring scrimmage, head coach Jeremy Pruitt gave his team a letter grade of “D” when it comes to where and how they are in grasping brand new offensive and defensive schemes.

For the Vol fans the letter “D” might represent deja vu.

If you have been a Vol fan for the last decade stop me if you have heard more than one Tennessee coach tell fans that he's establishing his culture — his way of doing things. Lane Kiffin did it. So did Derek Dooley, and Butch Jones.

This spring, Pruitt has done it as well. Body language and competing have been mainstays by Pruitt about what he needs out of his team. Saturday, Pruitt expanded on it by saying he's having to teach his team more than he cares to list.

"There are lots of things we're coaching. Not only are we installing an offense and a defense, but we're teaching them how to practice, teaching them how to compete, teaching them how to lift (weights). I could fill up a wall with things we're teaching them here. There's lots of things to learn. I think our guys have learned enough this spring that they will do a good job this summer when the other guys get in here."

For Vol fans, it's an all too familiar message. It was just delivered in a more blunt fashion Saturday.

Rarely do you hear a coach publicly assert that some of his players quit, especially after a spring scrimmage. Of course, you don't always hear a coach wonder aloud where the crowd was either for a spring game.

Now, let's be clear, it's not like Pruitt told the fans to go to KMart like Jerry Green, the 3rd winningest basketball coach in Vol history, did. But Pruitt, who's message to the fans from the day he was hired was that it will take everyone, did wonder where some fans were.

“I thought the Volwalk was spectacular. To me it's kind of like our football team for the fans. The ones that were here, I'm proud they were here. They are fired up. They are ready to get going. Then there were some people that weren't here that had legitimate reasons for them not to be here. Then there were some people that weren't here that – why weren't they here? It's kind of like our football team. So I think we all need to look in the mirror and see who we want to be,” Pruitt said.

The realty is Tennessee had a really nice crowd on Saturday. The weather was great and despite not having an autograph session, Tennessee realisticly had somewhere around 50,000 fans inside Neyland Stadium.

That's not bad at all for most every fanbase. It's certainly not bad for a fanbase who again is taking a leap of faith into their football future.

A leap they have made with now their fourth different man in a decade.

In the last 10 years, Tennessee fans have been told “it's time”, that they are “rising to the top” and that “their time was coming.”

But that 10-year span has offered 6 losing seasons and a decade long losing record of 62-63

In the past five months, this fanbase went through the craziest coaching search in the history of college athletics. No one is blaming the Big Orange Nation if they are taking a step of faith instead of a leap.

A step that frankly this fanbase is making because of the man that made the hire. It's their confidence in Phillip Fulmer that has them confident in a first year coach.

It's why no one you spoke to on Saturday in the athletic department, aside from Pruitt, was disappointed in the crowd for the Orange and White game. After all, Saturday was deja vu four times over for the Tennessee fans.

So while Pruitt's answer to the gameday atmosphere on Saturday might have disappointed some, his no non-sense approach for the last month has been refreshing to most. The first-year head coach is blunt when he wants to offer his opinion. He's silent when he doesn't want to answer a question.

Pruitt's not a marketer and he's clearly in control. It's 180 degrees opposite of Butch Jones and frankly his personality is unlike anyone at Tennessee in decades.

He's not worried if anyone's feathers are ruffled. He knows the bottom line is that he will be judged by wins and losses as every coach ultimately is.

For the Vol fans, it's simple, they want to a return to the glory days by whatever means necessary.

In other words, a look in the mirror by both Pruitt and the Vol fans casts the same reflection.

Just win.