It’s been nearly two months since wide receiver Jauan Jennings was dismissed from the Vols’ football team for posting a profanity laced tirade on his Instagram. At the time, interim head coach Brady Hoke and Athletics Director John Currie made a joint decision to dismiss him.
Since then, however, many things concerning this situation have changed.
Jennings issued an apology via another Instagram video shorty after, and now all the parties involved in making the decision to boot him are no longer at Tennessee. Phillip Fulmer has replaced Currie as AD, and Jeremy Pruitt is now the full-time head coach of the Vols.
And according to Fulmer, there are ongoing discussions about bringing Jennings back.
Fulmer appeared on Sports Radio WNML here in Knoxville on Friday afternoon, and he was asked about Jennings’ status. While he didn’t give any specifics, Fulmer seemed to be positive about the possibility of Jennings’ return.
“I don’t know exactly where it stands right now because (Pruitt) and Jauan are still discussing,” Fulmer said during the interview. “I think he’s put some parameters around it, and I guess everybody’s got to figure out what those are and if they’re really going to do it. That’s up to them right now, and we’ll comment on that more when I know more.”
When Pruitt spoke to the media on Wednesday, he stated that Jennings had reached out to Fulmer already and said that “There may be a time in the next couple of days where I meet with him and see where things are at.”
Jennings played in just one half of one game for the Vols in 2017. He caught three passes for 17 yards before sustaining a wrist injury late in the second quarter of the Vols’ season opener against Georgia Tech. He missed the next few weeks because of that injury, then he was dismissed from the team prior to the Vols’ last regular season game against Vanderbilt.
In his Tennessee career, Jennings has caught 57 passes for 746 yards and seven touchdowns. If he is reinstated onto the team, he will be the only fourth-year receiver on the roster. The Vols could use a play-maker like Jennings on offense this season, and he would be a huge re-addition to Tennessee’s roster.
