KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When Jeremy Pruitt was filling out his initial staff at Tennessee, he leaned heavily on coaches with whom he’d shared meeting rooms in the past.



Whether he shared a living space with them in college like offensive line coach Will Friend or briefly crossed paths like he did with safeties coach Charles Kelly for a year at Florida State, Pruitt sought familiarity.



Offensive coordinator Tyson Helton was an exception, but Pruitt had known him since 2004 … and Helton isn’t on staff anymore after taking the head coaching job at Western Kentucky.



There’s another notable exception, and he landed on staff at Tennessee by placing a cold call.



Pruitt fielded a call about Joe Osovet, whom he knew only from a brief dalliance recruiting one of Osovet’s players, Rasul Douglas, to Georgia. Douglas ended up going to West Virginia and becoming a third-round pick.



Osovet was interested in the open...