Can UT Vols football, Jeremy Pruitt copy blueprint of Georgia Bulldogs, Kirby Smart?

Georgia has the blueprint. Can Tennessee copy it?

When Tennessee (2-2, 0-1 SEC) plays No. 3 Georgia (4-0, 2-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS) in Athens, Ga., one could forgive Vols fans for wondering whether they are staring into their future — perhaps a distant future — when they consider the Bulldogs.

HOT DEAL:$1 for 3 months unlimited digital. Special introductory offer for new subscribers only

Vols athletic director Phillip Fulmer took a page from the Georgia playbook when he hired Jeremy Pruitt to be UT’s coach.

Kirby Smart took Georgia to the national championship game last season in his second year as coach.

Pruitt, like Smart, is a 40-something Alabama native.

Pruitt, like Smart, played defensive back in college.

Pruitt, like Smart, was a defensive backs coach and later a defensive coordinator for Nick Saban at Alabama. Smart also was an assistant for Saban at LSU and in the NFL.

Pruitt worked under Smart for six seasons while at Alabama.

Their schemes are similar — and perhaps their coaching styles, too.

Pruitt was Georgia's defensive coordinator in 2014-15 under Mark Richt before rejoining Saban at Alabama. Georgia senior cornerback Deandre Baker played under Pruitt in 2015. This is his third season playing for Smart.

“Both coaches instill discipline and physical football,” Baker told the Athens Banner Herald. “Coach Pruitt on his way out, he kind of instilled that to Georgia. Coach Kirby kind of came and polished it and instilled it into us.”

Jeremy Pruitt, Kirby Smart inherited different level of talent

Despite the similar backgrounds and schemes, the situations each inherited at his current job are different, said SEC Network analyst Matt Stinchcomb, a former Georgia offensive lineman.

“This is a different kind of horse you’re riding,” Stinchcomb said of Tennessee. “The challenge is distinct. It’s a different proposition.”

The Bulldogs went to a bowl game in every season of Richt’s tenure and won eight games in 14 of his 15 seasons. That includes 2015, his final year, when Georgia went 10-3.

Tennessee last won 10 games in 2007, Fulmer's penultimate season as coach. Pruitt is the fourth Vols coach since then.

“(Georgia) had 15 years of tranquility — 15 years,” Stinchcomb said. “To take nothing away from what Kirby has done at Georgia, but the idea that he needed to reboot the program is not the case, while Tennessee has hit the reset button repeatedly, and there’s a certain level of disruption that’s hard to overcome after so many times.”

Smart went 8-5 in his first season. It’s clear from the Vols’ 47-21 loss to Florida last week that they won’t approach such a mark in Pruitt’s first season.

Georgia’s 2016 roster included three players — running back Sony Michel, offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn and linebacker Roquan Smith — selected in the first round of last year’s NFL draft. Also on that team were running back Nick Chubb and linebacker Lorenzo Carter, selected in the second and third rounds, respectively, of last year’s draft.

Those five players helped form the backbone of Georgia’s team that went 13-2 and won the SEC last season.

Kirby Smart recruiting for long-term success

Smart didn’t rest on what he inherited. His initial recruiting class after taking over for Richt was ranked sixth in the 247Sports composite. He was just getting started. His 2017 class ranked third. His 2018 class ranked No. 1. And his 2019 class is rated No. 1, based on commitments.

He also developed a quarterback — sophomore Jake Fromm, who has a 64.2 percent completion rate with a 33-to-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his Georgia career.

Behind Fromm is freshman Justin Fields, the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback of the 2018 recruiting class.

It appears Smart’s Bulldogs are here to stay.

Assembling and developing such talent is Pruitt’s challenge at Tennessee.

For now, the programs are worlds apart.

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee's Dan Fleser contributed to this story.

FILM STUDY:What to make of UT Vols' first-down play calling in loss to Florida?

SAPP SAGA:'Everybody makes mistakes': Jeremy Pruitt updates situation with UT Vols' Quart'e Sapp

INJURY REPORT:Jeremy Pruitt: Low hit on Jarrett Guarantano 'wasn't intentional' against Florida

RECRUITING:Could Tennessee's poor play impact recruiting?

DEPTH CHART:UT Vols depth chart released for game vs. Georgia