Last week it was reported that Jeremy Pruitt had hired his strength and conditioning coach at Tennessee. And now that new coach has added a pair of former SEC players to his support staff.
Pruitt has hired Craig Fitzgerald to be his strength and conditioning coach at Tennessee. Fitzgerald had been with the Houston Texans since the 2014 season, but he had also served as the strength and conditioning director for Penn State and South Carolina.
And now he’s added two of his former players at South Carolina to his staff at Tennessee.
According to their own Twitters and a report from Dan Harralson of Saturday Down South, both Shaq Wilson and Byron Jerideau are joining Fitzgerald’s staff with the Vols. Both men are former Gamecock players who were on the roster while Fitzgerald was at South Carolina from 2009-11.
Byron Jerideau and Shaq Wilson are joining Craig Fitzgerald’s strength staff at Tennessee.
— Dan Harralson (@danharralson) January 13, 2018
New Beginnings #GBO #GoVols pic.twitter.com/xHFJGcgwL0
— Byron Jerideau (@JerideauB) January 12, 2018
Thanks brother love you ???? https://t.co/w0A0dKqJ1r
— Shaquille Wilson (@Shaq__Wilson) January 13, 2018
Wilson’s Twitter bio specifies that he will be the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Vols while Jerideau’s bio just states that he will be on staff at Tennessee.
As a player, Wilson gained a reputation for being one of the better linebackers at the time in the SEC despite being undersized. At 5-foot-11, 224 pounds, Wilson was far from the biggest linebacker in the SEC. But he didn’t let that hold him back, and he totaled 246 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, four sacks, and four interceptions in his career that spanned from 2008 to 2012. Wilson would go on to serve as a quality control coach for South Carolina in 2014.
Jerideau played for the Gamecocks from 2010-12 and totaled 57 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and six sacks as a bruising defensive tackle. He spent some time with the then-San Diego Chargers in the NFL before becoming the assistant strength and conditioning coach for Appalachian State in 2015.
