Recruiting is all the craze in college football right now as National Signing Day rapidly approaches. But Vol fans have also been talking a lot about a player whose status is currently in limbo with Tennessee’s team. And that player is none other than wide receiver Jauan Jennings.
It’s been over two months since Jennings was dismissed from Tennessee’s football team for posting a video of a profanity-laced tirade on his Instagram where he bashed the Vols’ coaches and the way the team was run. Interim head coach Brady Hoke elected to kick Jennings off the team prior to the Vols’ season finale against Vanderbilt, and Athletics Director John Currie signed off on the decision.
Now both men are gone from their respective positions, and Jennings has been working on earning his way back onto the team.
New Tennessee AD Phillip Fulmer made a guest appearance on the morning sports talk show The Swain Event hosted by former Vol Jayson Swain on Wednesday morning. Fulmer was asked about a myriad of topics, such as the health of the program, recruiting, Butch Jones’ picture on the Jumbotron, the Smokey Gray jerseys, and more.
But one of the topics Fulmer talked the most about was Jennings’ status with the program and with new head coach Jeremy Pruitt. And he clarified and confirmed where things stand with Jennings and the Vols’ roster.
“In Jauan’s case, Coach Pruitt decided that he’s going to give him this list of things to do,” Fulmer said on The Swain Event, “and if he does those things, including counseling things with anger management and other kinds of things, then he will have earned the right to try and be a Vol. And if he doesn’t, he can’t blame anybody else but himself.
“I hope he does what he’s supposed to.”
Jennings put a post on his Instagram last week that seemed to indicate he was close to joining the Vols’ roster again. Fulmer clarified that Jennings is not currently back with the team, but he states that the avenue is there for Jennings to return as long as he follows the rules that Pruitt lays out before him.
If Jennings does return, he’ll be the most experienced receiver on Tennessee’s roster. His career marks of 57 catches, 746 yards, and seven touchdowns are the most of any Vol receiver currently on the roster. And that’s with Jennings missing essentially the entire 2017 season. Jennings has 15 starts at wide receiver, which is also more than any other receiver on the Vols’ roster.
You can watch and listen to Fulmer’s full interview here:
.@PhillipFulmer joins us now! #SwainEvent https://t.co/SukQOD9Bw7
— Jayson Swain (@SwainEvent) January 24, 2018
