Why Jeremy Pruitt hired Jim Chaney
Jeremy Pruitt interviewed close to a half-dozen candidates and talked to countless others about Tennessee’s offensive coordinator opening, but after 44 days, the Vols first-year head coach settled on a playcaller whose resume “spoke for itself.”
While many of the best offensive minds, both in college and the NFL, are now also head coaches, for Pruitt, Jim Chaney came straight out of central casting.
“There are certain guys out there that you don’t have to interview and Jim’s certainly is a guy that fits in that category,” Pruitt told Sports Animal WNML on Wednesday.
“The most important thing in this hire is to make sure we got the right guy and we’re very excited to have him to be a part of our staff.”
Tennessee’s search didn’t come swiftly — Tyson Helton left for Western Kentucky on Nov. 27 — or cheaply — Chaney signed a 3-year deal worth $4.8 million — but Pruitt landed on an OC that simply made sense for him, and the Vols.
Tennessee made an aggressive move poaching Chaney away from Georgia, but just as importantly, Pruitt hired an OC he trusts. While a pairing with Hugh Freeze or Mike Yurcich or Matt Canada might’ve worked, the Pruitt-Chaney marriage looks to have a much longer shelf-life.
As a 34-year-old coaching veteran, Chaney has seen it all. He’s heard it all, too, and the grizzled OC has the right personality to withstand Pruitt’s blunt managing style while maintaining command of the offensive room. Chaney has SEC experience at Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia and throughout his career has shown an ability to adapt to the talent at his disposal. At UGA, he helped develop Jake Fromm but also had four 1,000-yard rushers the last two seasons. During his time at Purdue and first stint at Tennessee, Chaney’s offenses were known for throwing the ball all over the yard.
"In college football, you have an opportunity, when you hire a staff, lots of times you didn't recruit all the guys and you've got to figure out who the playmakers are and you've got to find ways, you've got to be multiple in how you do it, and I think Jim's been able to do that. He's been able to adapt,” Pruitt said.
"You got to find ways to be creative and Jim does a fantastic job doing that. He's a very smart guy, and he's found different ways to have success in this league."
Chaney will be Tennessee’s fourth offensive coordinator in the last four years, and unlike his previous two predecessors, he must get the most out of an uneven unit for Tennessee to truly be competitive in 2019. The Vols have some intriguing pieces in place (quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, tailbacks Ty Chandler and Eric Gray) but they still don’t have a game-changer at receiver and their starting offensive line could include multiple freshman. Chaney’s ability to shape-shift depending on his personnel should come in awfully handy next season.
"It's about personnel and who your best players are and trying to get them on the right person on the other side, and I think he does a really good job of doing that,” Pruitt said.
“You can go all the way back when he was at Tennessee before and I was at Alabama, I mean, he's a guy that presents problems. He understands both sides of the ball. He's not playing checkers. He's playing chess."