His Tennessee team wasn't the only group Jeremy Pruitt challenged during his press conference in the aftermath of the Orange & White Game on Saturday.

The first-year coach of the Vols wondered aloud why Neyland Stadium wasn't fuller than it was for Tennessee's annual spring game.

Tennessee announced an attendance of 65,098, the third-highest for a spring game in program history and reportedly the fifth-largest crowd for a college football spring this year, even if the number likely was inflated.

Pruitt's comments created a little bit of a stir and generated some discussion throughout the next 24 hours, and the former defensive coordinator at Florida State, Georgia and Alabama backed up them during a radio interview he did Sunday night.

Asked during his appearance on "The Nation" on Sports Radio WNML in Knoxville if he had gotten any feedback about those comments, Pruitt said he hadn't.

"I've been working," he said.

Pruitt then praised Tennessee's fan base and those who showed up, but in his eyes it wasn't good enough because he wants everyone who associates with his program to be thinking and aiming for more.

"To me, I think we've got great fans," Pruitt said. "I think the attendance was 65,000, and that's great. The people that were there, they've done a fantastic job.

"To me, if we're going to do it, our goal is to be the best at whatever we do, and that's the way we're going to look at it as a football program."

The no-nonsense Pruitt came out firing in his postgame media session after the spring game, calling out players he believed "flat-out quit" during the game, and he issued another challenge when asked about the crowd.

Here was the full quote that generated a reaction:

"I thought it was great. I thought the Vol Walk was spectacular. To me, it’s kind of like our football team for the fans. The ones that were here, I’m proud they’re here. They’re fired up, ready to get going. And then there were some people that weren’t here, they had legitimate reasons they couldn’t be here. Then there were some people that weren’t here, why weren’t they here? It’s kind of like our football team. I think we all need to look in the mirror and see who we want to be.”

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Despite going 4-8, Tennessee ranked seventh nationally in attendance in 2017, and the fan support and loyalty for the Vols can't be questioned.

But Pruitt knows what championship programs look like because he's been a part of them, and he knows it requires everyone in and around the program pulling in the same direction and with maximum effort.

"We want to be the best," he said Sunday, "and if we're going to be the best, we can't talk about it. We've got to try to do it in everything we do."

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