First year head coach Jeremy Pruitt makes his first trip to Athens, Ga., tomorrow as the head coach of the University of Tennessee Volunteers. Pruitt looks to get a four-quarter effort out of his team this weekend, against the #2 ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

The similarities between Tennessee and Georgia are very evident. Both Pruitt and Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart have coached under Alabama’s Nick Saban. Both have similar defensive ideas and schemes and both have adapted the pro-style, “run heavy” type of offense that has garnered success for decades throughout the SEC.

Smart is in his third year as the head coach of the Bulldogs, and has found immense success thus far during his tenure. Pruitt, in his first season, has had much more adversity to overcome than that of coach Smart. Inheriting a program coming off of its worst season in school history, coach Pruitt was tasked to rebuild an ailing blue-chip program. Currently, the Vols sit at 2-2 (0-1) on the season, and things aren’t going to get much better from here anytime soon.

In the coming weeks, the Vols take on a number of top ranked teams, including Georgia, Auburn and Alabama. The type of program that coach Smart has built and continues to build at Georgia is the exact type of program that coach Pruitt is trying to develop Tennessee into. He wants a hard-nosed, smash-mouth, “pound the rock” type of team.

Much like the dynasty that Nick Saban has built at Alabama, both Georgia and Tennessee are attempting to mimic the type of play style necessary to find success long-term throughout the SEC. UGA is playing at another level, for the time being, and it looks to be a long weekend for the Volunteers between the hedges in Athens.