Aaron Murray on UT Vols' Jeremy Pruitt: 'I don’t think he’s the right guy' to be a head coach

Blake Toppmeyer | Knoxville

ATLANTA — Aaron Murray isn't a believer in Jeremy Pruitt.

Murray, the former Georgia quarterback who is now an analyst with the CBS Sports Network, offered a blistering critique of Tennessee's first-year coach during an interview Tuesday on 102.5 The Game.

"I don’t know if his personality is fit to be a head coach. I don’t," Murray told the radio station. "As a head coach, there’s so many things that go into it. It’s not just going out there and coaching. You have to deal with front office. You’ve got to go talk with the president of the university. You have to deal with boosters. You have to deal with the offense, the defense. It’s not just going in there and dealing with the kids and scheming up. There’s a lot that goes into it.

More: UT Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt fires back at Aaron Murray criticism

Jeremy Pruitt criticized by ex-Georgia QB Aaron Murray John Adams, Joe Rexrode and Blake Toppmeyer react to Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt criticism and breakdown day two of SEC football media days.

"I don’t think he’s the right guy to kind of be the CEO of a corporation. He’s really good managing just a defense and being a defensive coordinator. He needs to prove to me that he can handle the whole ship. For right now, I don’t think he can. We’ll see what happens this year. I don’t think it helps that he doesn’t have a lot of talent at Tennessee.”

Aaron Murray unhappy with how Jeremy Pruitt treated Mark Richt

Murray, the SEC's all-time career passing leader, played for Georgia from 2009-13. He had a 4-0 record against the Vols.

Pruitt was the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator in 2014-15. After Mark Richt was fired, Kirby Smart didn't retain Pruitt, and Pruitt was hired as Alabama's defensive coordinator.

“When he was at Georgia, the way he acted, the way he treated Coach Richt I thought was poor," Murray told 102.5 The Game. "He wasn’t as respectful as I thought a defensive coordinator should be to a head coach. That’s my thing, with authority.

"When he’s dealing with the athletic director, when he’s dealing with the president, when he’s dealing with a booster who has given millions of dollars, you can’t go tell him to screw off. You have to take the meeting. You have to sit with them. Yeah, I know you want to be game planning and getting ready for the game, but you’re a head coach now. You have to do these other things.”

Murray also didn't offer a favorable outlook for the Vols' 2018 season and said the roster Pruitt inherited will be a hurdle for him to overcome.

“Talent-wise, they’re far behind right now," Murray said. "Talent-wise, it’s not even close with them, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia. It’s just not there. He has a huge mountain to climb just to get them competitive in this league."

Murray's comments come in advance of Pruitt's first appearance at SEC Media Days. Tennessee takes its turn during the four-day media event on Wednesday.