NY Jets: Jeremy Pruitt won’t be joining Robert Saleh’s staff after all

The NY Jets reportedly added an experienced college coach to Robert Saleh’s new staff on Wednesday in the form of former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt. However, it appears that might not actually be the case.

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman originally reported on Wednesday that the Jets were “working on a deal” with Pruitt less than two weeks after he was fired by Tennessee. uSTADIUM later confirmed the report and insisted Pruitt would be the Jets’ new assistant defensive backs coach.

However, in the hours that followed, multiple reports came out disputing those claims.

Connor Hughes of The Athletic was the first to report that Pruitt would not be joining the Jets’ staff despite previous reports. ESPN’s Rich Cimini later confirmed this to be true and Feldman reiterated that other teams were showing interest as well, not just the Jets.

The final nail in the coffin was when Dan Duggan of The Athletic reported that the New York Giants had agreed to hire Pruitt. Duggan’s report was supported by multiple others stating the same thing.

So after all that, it seems as though Pruitt will be joining the Giants’ staff as a defensive assistant.

The NY Jets won’t be hiring Jeremy Pruitt after all

Pruitt is one of the more respected defensive minds in the college coaching world, having developed a host of future NFL talent during his time at various schools.

Serving as a defensive backs coach and later defensive coordinator for schools like Alabama, Florida State, and Georgia, Pruitt helped coach players such as Jalen Ramsey, Dre Kirkpatrick, and Lamarcus Joyner.

His success as a defensive coach earned him an opportunity to be Tennessee’s head coach. But after three tumultuous seasons, Pruitt was fired, with the program citing his part in a recruiting violation scandal.

As for the Jets, they’ll continue the search for qualified coaches to add to first-year head coach Robert Saleh’s staff. Coordinators Mike LaFleur, Jeff Ulbrich, and Brant Boyer have already been named with a few other assistants joining the organization as well.

With Pruitt not taking a position as the team’s defensive backs coach, it will be interesting to see if the Jets decide to bring back the incumbent Dennard Wilson. Wilson, a survivor of the Todd Bowles regime, received a promotion to passing-game coordinator in 2019 under Adam Gase.

Saleh has indicated that he’s open to bringing Wilson back, but there has been no confirmation on his status as of yet.

Either way, one individual who won’t be joining the Jets’ staff is Jeremy Pruitt.