After losing to Kentucky, Tennessee fires defensive line coach
Just four games into the 2020 season, Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt has fired defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh, according to multiple reports.
The move came just a day after the Volunteers lost 34-7 to Kentucky, where Brumbaugh was an assistant coach under Mark Stoops from 2013-2016. It was Tennessee’s first loss to UK in Neyland Stadium since 1984.
The 43-year-old Brumbaugh was in his first season as a UT assistant after being hired in February. He worked with Tennessee defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley at Kentucky from 2013 until Ansley left to join Alabama in 2015. Brumbaugh was an assistant at Maryland from 2017-18, then spent last year as defensive line coach at Colorado under Mel Tucker.
According to GoVols247’s Patrick Brown, Pruitt was critical of Tennessee’s defensive line play after the loss to Kentucky. The Wildcats rushed for 187 yards on 45 carries and scored one touchdown on the ground.
“We’re just not very dominant up front, Bob,” Pruitt told Vol Network play-by-play announcer Bob Kesling. “And if you’re going to win in this league, you better be dominant up front. You better be able to play man-to-man. When you tackle running backs, you need to be able to knock them backwards.
“And we did that the first half, but we didn’t do it the second half. It was kind of like I told the team: They called the same plays the first half, and we really called the same defensive plays the first and second half. But why was the two halves different?”
UK Coach Mark Stoops hired Brumbaugh for his first staff after the former Auburn defensive lineman coached Za’Darius Smith, now of the Green Bay Packers, at East Mississippi Community College.
Tennessee currently ranks 35th nationally in rushing defense, allowing 148.75 yards per game.
Now 2-2 on the season, Tennessee plays host to No. 2 Alabama on Saturday. Kentucky visits Missouri.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 8:12 AM.
