Phillip Fulmer’s top target for Tennessee’s head coach is reportedly Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt

The Vols appear close to finally ending their coaching search.

Tennessee is still searching for its next head coach, despite schools like Florida State and UCF making their hires within a matter of days. Last week, rumors regarding Mike Gundy, Jeff Brohm, Dave Doeren, Mike Leach, and others all resulted in none of them accepting the Vols’ head coaching job.

As of Wednesday, it appears new Tennessee AD Phillip Fulmer is looking to hire someone on the defensive side of the ball, having interviews with three SEC defensive coordinators.

And the search has since zeroed in on Pruitt, and a deal is reportedly close.

• Kevin Steele played linebacker for the Vols in the 1970s, and he had a couple of coaching stints in Knoxville during the 1980s. He went on to coach at Nebraska, the Carolina Panthers, and Baylor before he coached at Florida State and Alabama. He’s been at Auburn for two seasons, where he was hired from LSU.
• Mel Tucker coached on NFL staffs for nine seasons before being hired by Alabama as associate head coach and defensive backs coach in 2015. He was hired as Georgia’s DC last season.
• Jeremy Pruitt spent most of his early coaching career in Alabama at the high school and college levels. Following his stint as Florida State’s defensive coordinator, he spent two seasons at Georgia and returned to Alabama as DC last season.

Tennessee’s looking for its replacement for Butch Jones, who replaced Derek Dooley, another former Saban assistant.

We’ll keep you updated on these rumors as they develop.