KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Two former Tennessee head football coaches have a new opportunity about 700 miles away from their old stomping grounds. The recently fired Jeremy Pruitt is joining the New York Giants as a senior defensive assistant. He'll work alongside Derek Dooley, who served in a similar role last season with the Giants, senior offensive assistant, and was promoted to tight ends coach. Giants head coach Joe Judge made the announcements during a press conference on Tuesday.
Pruitt finished his time at Tennessee with a 16-19 record in three seasons, but was fired for cause in January as the university continues to investigate alleged NCAA violations against the football program. This is Pruitt's first job with an NFL organization. Both Judge and Pruitt worked at Alabama together from 2009-11 before Judge left for a position with the New England Patriots.
Dooley finished with a 15-21 record in three seasons with Tennessee. He was fired at the end of the 2012 season. Unlike Pruitt, Dooley has a few years of experience in the NFL, working as the wide receivers coach for the Dallas Cowboys after his firing. Dooley returned to the SEC in 2018 as the offensive coordinator for Missouri.