Tennessee Football: Quarterback change is not coming

Tennessee Football could use a boost from a quarterback change, but head coach Jeremy Pruitt said he has had no thought of a change at quarterback.

Many Tennessee football fans were frustrated after Tennessee’s loss to Georgia this past Saturday. I was one of them, and many of those fans started looking towards the coaching staff for a quarterback change after an abysmal offensive performance in the second half.

As someone who wants to see Tennessee succeed long-term as well as this year, I think that Tennessee might be better off with a different quarterback running the offense.

Yes, Jarrett Guarantano is finally coming into form as a fifth-year senior, but even before the Georgia game, he still missed some throws that a quarterback with his experience should never miss.

Although I would like a quarterback change, it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting my wish anytime soon as Jeremy Pruitt has said that he’s not looking to change quarterbacks.

"“Well Jarrett (Guarantano) is our quarterback,” Pruitt said. “He gives us the best opportunity to have success. When you have 1st and 20, it’s tough to make first downs. When you have 2nd and 15, it’s tough to make first downs. We didn’t do a very good job protecting. We didn’t play very fast on the perimeter. It’s the way the game goes. I played quarterback. When you don’t have a lot of success, the quarterback takes too much blame. When you have a lot of success, the quarterback probably gets too much credit. Offensively, our struggle Saturday was not because of one independent person. It was a team effort. We understand that. It starts with us as coaches to put our guys in a better position to have success.”"

To be fair, I don’t know if any of the backup quarterbacks would’ve beaten both South Carolina and Missouri to put the Vols at 2-0 before the Georgia game.

And I might be wrong. Guarantano might be the best quarterback we have on our roster right now, but we saw what Brian Maurer could do last year. Unfortunately, a series of concussions forced him off the field. If he hadn’t been forced to be sidelined from concussions, there’s a pretty good chance he’s Tennessee’s starting quarterback right now.

It looks like we won’t be getting a different quarterback running the Tennessee offense, at least anytime soon, so let’s hope that the defense can continue to lead the team and hope the offense comes around.