Jeremy Pruitt likes his offense to run the football. Jim Chaney likes to run the football.
During Chaney's first tenure with Tennessee, I recall him saying after a spring game, something along the lines of, 'If I could run power 60 times I would.'
Pruitt probably wouldn't mind that.
Chaney is a great offensive coordinator to end up with after a 40+ day search.
Stealing a coordinator away from the top competitor in your division makes it even better.
Georgia ranked 2nd in the SEC and 14th in the nation in scoring in 2018, averaging 37.9 points per game under Chaney. The Bulldogs ran the ball on 61-percent of plays in 2018 and led the conference in rushing yards per game and rushing yards per carry in each of the last two seasons.
He should be able to improve a Tennessee offense that ranked last in the SEC in both of those rushing categories in 2018, but returns every starter.
It's not just about the run game. Chaney is adaptable and has a proven track record of developing quarterbacks. True freshman Jake Fromm led his offense to the national championship game in 2017.
In his first stay in Knoxville, Chaney and Lane Kiffin took Jonathan Crompton from a cringe-worthy junior year to respectability in his senior year of 2009.
Then Chaney tutored gunslinger Tyler Bray to the best statistical season by any Vol passer not named Peyton Manning (3,612 yards, 34 TDs).
When Nathan Peterman threw two interceptions and zero touchdowns in his first 43 career passes at Tennessee, he transferred to Pittsburgh to play for Chaney. He thought he'd be playing for him in Knoxville when he first committed, until Derek Dooley was fired and Butch Jones brought in his own staff.
Chaney helped Peterman resurrect his career. In his only season under Chaney, he completed 61.7-percent of his passes and tossed 20 touchdowns against eight picks.
In his first Power 5 offensive coordinator stop at Purdue, Chaney took a lightly-recruited, under-sized QB from Texas named Drew Brees and broke Big Ten records with him.
Pruitt still has work to do on the recruiting trail and in the development of Tennessee's current players but the Vols got better with the hire of Chaney.