Pruitt is a terrible hire and here is why

#27
#27
The OP leaves out the fact that Pruitt has had success as a DC outside of working for Saban and any comparison to Dooley is a stretch. Dooley was never a coordinator and he had a losing record as the head coach at La Tech. As someone who follows recruiting pretty closely, Pruitt is one of the most respected recruiters in the country. Once again, I don't remember Dooley being associated with that at all. Make no mistake that this is a risk hire but it seems like the OP is purposely searching for negativity.
 
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#29
#29
oregonvol said:
I know battered vol syndrome is a real thing and people here just want to feel positive about whatever they get at this point, but I don't feel that we've benefitted in any way by ignoring logic and facts over the years, so I figured I would point out why other schools weren't interested in Pruitt and why it won't work out here.

Let's tackle the "virtues" posters will reiterate ad nauseam:


Yes, we're back to that familiar point where the unknowable future is our new coach's best quality. Of course, no one can say for certain that Pruitt will fail, but given that there is so little evidence that he will succeed, it's a sucker's bet to think he'll ever be anything more than average here.
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I am on the fence on this like it seems many here are but, what CJP has going for him over Dools, Kif and Butch is that he has recruited and competed in the SEC for years - something the three unwise men never did.

While our coach is not Gruden, he's also not Shi!ano and a few other choices that would join the three unwisemen.
 
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#31
#31
BowlBrother85 said:
The OP leaves out the fact that Pruitt has had success as a DC outside of working for Saban and any comparison to Dooley is a stretch. Dooley was never a coordinator and he had a losing record as the head coach at La Tech. As someone who follows recruiting pretty closely, Pruitt is one of the most respected recruiters in the country. Once again, I don't remember Dooley being associated with that at all. Make no mistake that this is a risk hire but it seems like the OP is purposely searching for negativity.
Click to expand...

at least some of his recruiting prowess comes from some serious handlers. bryonne devinner (sp?) being a big (pun intended) piece of his success.
 
#32
#32
OP, success breeds success. He's created success and has been invited into successful situations because of his abilities to sustain success. I'm excited to have someone who knows what winning feels like, knows how to recreate it in various institutions, and is eager to bring it again to fruition at the University of Tennessee.
 
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#33
#33
No mention of the national championship he won as DC at FSU, as they had the #1 scoring defense in the country?

Also, I am pretty sure that Butch was a “does more with less” kind of head coach when we hired him....
 
#34
#34
Pruitt is more about game day decisions. UT can recruit itself. All a HC has to do is produce in the field thru a solid game plan and proper execution.

Saban is a good coach. He follow Neyland's maxims.

I don't know about his personality, but that maters too.

Inspire the players and coaches to out work the competition.
 
#37
#37
oregonvol said:
I know battered vol syndrome is a real thing and people here just want to feel positive about whatever they get at this point, but I don't feel that we've benefitted in any way by ignoring logic and facts over the years, so I figured I would point out why other schools weren't interested in Pruitt and why it won't work out here.

Let's tackle the "virtues" posters will reiterate ad nauseam:

1. "He's a great recruiter!"

Well, he has traditionally been at schools that have great recruiting. Has he really been the impetus behind it, or just part of a team?

Also, weren't we told the exact same about Dooley? Didn't Dooley come from a similar recruiting background?

Also, does it really matter so much that your head coach was a great recruiter as an assistant? If that were the case, wouldn't other Power 5 schools immediately go for the best recruiting assistants for their head jobs? Or are we just smarter than the rest of them? Does anyone actually believe that?

Haven't we gone down this road again and again? How many top recruits have we singed over the years that weren't properly developed or utilized? Haven't we learned, at this point, that a coach is much more valuable than a recruiter?

2. "He's just like Kirby Smart!"

Actually, looking at the differences between the two resumes is enlightening. Smart was Saban's defensive coordinator for 8 years. Pruitt has only been a defensive coordinator for 5 years total. He has only been Saban's coordinator for 2 years. So, we are certainly looking at less experience.

In fact, one looks at Pruitt's time as a coordinator, and the fact that he has never been at a school for more than 2 years, and you realize that he has very little experience developing personnel. This is a guy you want to rebuild with? By contrast, Kirby Smart was Saban's top assistant as he built the Alabama dynasty. That's far different than being a hired gun that is inserted into already established staffs and programs.

Do you really believe that every Alabama defensive coordinator will make an effective head coach just because Smart has done well this year? That doesn't seem like a good bet. We've seen plenty of successful coordinators fail over the years, guys with more consistent resumes and longer periods of production.

3. "He's a great defensive mind!"

Is he? He has had very good defenses. He's also always had a talent advantage.

The thing I don't understand about Tennessee is that, while the administrations' mouthpieces in the local media keep telling us how hard it is to recruit and win here against the likes of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, etc…we never really try to hire a coach with a history of getting more out of less. Pruitt definitely continues that trend.

If you believe that he will be able to out-recruit the rest of the SEC, then I guess there is cause for hope. But hasn't that been what we've pinned our hopes on in coach after coach? Why would we think the result will be different this time?

One of the best measures of a coach is what they do in the big games and against teams of similar talent. Since Pruitt has never been the head guy, we have to go by his coordinator experience. In his biggest games (his two national championship appearances) Pruitt's defense has given up an average of 33 points (by contrast, Kirby Smart's defenses never allowed more than 21 points in the national championship game, and averaged 11.7 points allowed per NC game). That's not really the work of a defensive mastermind, especially considering the incredible talent he had at his disposal.

4. "We couldn't get anyone else!"

Well, that may be true. If so, though, that is due to the administration not the fans or the program. Accepting that result and supporting that administration does nothing to improve the state of the program. Haven't we learned anything at this point? Isn't "getting behind the new coach" and having patience the exact reason Dooley and Jones got big extensions, resulting in ridiculous buyouts?

If you truly couldn't get anyone who had a decent chance of winning here due to our administrative mess, wouldn't it be wiser to install an interim until we fixed the mess? Committing longterm to a weak hire simply doesn't make sense for anyone, save those hoping to continue bilking the fans while selling false hope. Sure, an interim would probably kill the recruiting class. But is it better to waste 1 year or 3-4 years?

5. "We got to give him a chance! He hasn't coached a game yet!"

Yes, we're back to that familiar point where the unknowable future is our new coach's best quality. Of course, no one can say for certain that Pruitt will fail, but given that there is so little evidence that he will succeed, it's a sucker's bet to think he'll ever be anything more than average here.
Click to expand...

We have some of the best fans in the world.

And for some of the worst, see Exhibit 1, above.
 
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#41
#41
Volador said:
I am on the fence on this like it seems many here are but, what CJP has going for him over Dools, Kif and Butch is that he has recruited and competed in the SEC for years - something the three unwise men never did.

While our coach is not Gruden, he's also not Shi!ano and a few other choices that would join the three unwisemen.
Click to expand...

Still don't get the love affair with Gruden. This is infinitely a better hire than Gruden. Gruden would have been another disaster.
 
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#44
#44
oregonvol said:
I know battered vol syndrome is a real thing and people here just want to feel positive about whatever they get at this point, but I don't feel that we've benefitted in any way by ignoring logic and facts over the years, so I figured I would point out why other schools weren't interested in Pruitt and why it won't work out here.

Let's tackle the "virtues" posters will reiterate ad nauseam:

1. "He's a great recruiter!"

Well, he has traditionally been at schools that have great recruiting. Has he really been the impetus behind it, or just part of a team?

Also, weren't we told the exact same about Dooley? Didn't Dooley come from a similar recruiting background?

Also, does it really matter so much that your head coach was a great recruiter as an assistant? If that were the case, wouldn't other Power 5 schools immediately go for the best recruiting assistants for their head jobs? Or are we just smarter than the rest of them? Does anyone actually believe that?

Haven't we gone down this road again and again? How many top recruits have we singed over the years that weren't properly developed or utilized? Haven't we learned, at this point, that a coach is much more valuable than a recruiter?

2. "He's just like Kirby Smart!"

Actually, looking at the differences between the two resumes is enlightening. Smart was Saban's defensive coordinator for 8 years. Pruitt has only been a defensive coordinator for 5 years total. He has only been Saban's coordinator for 2 years. So, we are certainly looking at less experience.

In fact, one looks at Pruitt's time as a coordinator, and the fact that he has never been at a school for more than 2 years, and you realize that he has very little experience developing personnel. This is a guy you want to rebuild with? By contrast, Kirby Smart was Saban's top assistant as he built the Alabama dynasty. That's far different than being a hired gun that is inserted into already established staffs and programs.

Do you really believe that every Alabama defensive coordinator will make an effective head coach just because Smart has done well this year? That doesn't seem like a good bet. We've seen plenty of successful coordinators fail over the years, guys with more consistent resumes and longer periods of production.

3. "He's a great defensive mind!"

Is he? He has had very good defenses. He's also always had a talent advantage.

The thing I don't understand about Tennessee is that, while the administrations' mouthpieces in the local media keep telling us how hard it is to recruit and win here against the likes of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, etc…we never really try to hire a coach with a history of getting more out of less. Pruitt definitely continues that trend.

If you believe that he will be able to out-recruit the rest of the SEC, then I guess there is cause for hope. But hasn't that been what we've pinned our hopes on in coach after coach? Why would we think the result will be different this time?

One of the best measures of a coach is what they do in the big games and against teams of similar talent. Since Pruitt has never been the head guy, we have to go by his coordinator experience. In his biggest games (his two national championship appearances) Pruitt's defense has given up an average of 33 points (by contrast, Kirby Smart's defenses never allowed more than 21 points in the national championship game, and averaged 11.7 points allowed per NC game). That's not really the work of a defensive mastermind, especially considering the incredible talent he had at his disposal.

4. "We couldn't get anyone else!"

Well, that may be true. If so, though, that is due to the administration not the fans or the program. Accepting that result and supporting that administration does nothing to improve the state of the program. Haven't we learned anything at this point? Isn't "getting behind the new coach" and having patience the exact reason Dooley and Jones got big extensions, resulting in ridiculous buyouts?

If you truly couldn't get anyone who had a decent chance of winning here due to our administrative mess, wouldn't it be wiser to install an interim until we fixed the mess? Committing longterm to a weak hire simply doesn't make sense for anyone, save those hoping to continue bilking the fans while selling false hope. Sure, an interim would probably kill the recruiting class. But is it better to waste 1 year or 3-4 years?

5. "We got to give him a chance! He hasn't coached a game yet!"

Yes, we're back to that familiar point where the unknowable future is our new coach's best quality. Of course, no one can say for certain that Pruitt will fail, but given that there is so little evidence that he will succeed, it's a sucker's bet to think he'll ever be anything more than average here.
Click to expand...

Good points. You also left off that he is from Alabama and is not showing up for work for a month.
 
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#45
#45
Coach Pruitt hasn't even been introduced as our new Head footVol Coach yet and already the idiot brigade is tearing him apart.

Here's a simple FACT....The deal is DONE, we have NO OPTIONS now whatsoever on who our new HC will be, Fulmer has decided.

Now we fans have 2 choices...

1...Cry and whine like babies and try to tear down and destroy what might turn into a homerun hire, or

2...Get behind Coach Pruitt and try our very best to help him become the great success we want and deserve for OUR Tennessee footVol program.

He's not who I wanted either since his name isn't Pedersen or Venables but Pruitt is the name we have and that's NOT going to change.

The more I research and learn about Pruitt the more I like the guy so I'm going to support him because I love Tennessee.

He's going to get at least 4 or 5 years anyway and there's nothing we can do about that so we may as well get a positive mindset and try to help promote Tennessee footVol in a positive way to try to help get good recruiting going.

Top recruiting is a MUST if we're ever going to compete and WIN against Bama and all the other top teams.

The next time we'll know to blow up the internet and and do protest walks all over Tennessee to DEMAND that we pay whatever it takes to hire the homerun coach we thing we deserve.

Right now it simply is what it is so I'll stay positive and try to help recruiting by not tearing down our program like a childish idiot.

VFL...GBO!!!
 
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#46
#46
I agree with the OP.

I find it hilarious to see folks try to force their opinions on others just because we don’t think it’s a great hire compared to some people.

Our expectations have been watered down so much where our motto is “Well he’s not that bad and is better than the last previous coach we fired.”

We’ve been through this twice already but people tend to ignore it for whatever reason.
 
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#47
#47
oregonvol said:
I know battered vol syndrome is a real thing and people here just want to feel positive about whatever they get at this point, but I don't feel that we've benefitted in any way by ignoring logic and facts over the years, so I figured I would point out why other schools weren't interested in Pruitt and why it won't work out here.

Let's tackle the "virtues" posters will reiterate ad nauseam:

1. "He's a great recruiter!"

Well, he has traditionally been at schools that have great recruiting. Has he really been the impetus behind it, or just part of a team?

Also, weren't we told the exact same about Dooley? Didn't Dooley come from a similar recruiting background?

Also, does it really matter so much that your head coach was a great recruiter as an assistant? If that were the case, wouldn't other Power 5 schools immediately go for the best recruiting assistants for their head jobs? Or are we just smarter than the rest of them? Does anyone actually believe that?

Haven't we gone down this road again and again? How many top recruits have we singed over the years that weren't properly developed or utilized? Haven't we learned, at this point, that a coach is much more valuable than a recruiter?

2. "He's just like Kirby Smart!"

Actually, looking at the differences between the two resumes is enlightening. Smart was Saban's defensive coordinator for 8 years. Pruitt has only been a defensive coordinator for 5 years total. He has only been Saban's coordinator for 2 years. So, we are certainly looking at less experience.

In fact, one looks at Pruitt's time as a coordinator, and the fact that he has never been at a school for more than 2 years, and you realize that he has very little experience developing personnel. This is a guy you want to rebuild with? By contrast, Kirby Smart was Saban's top assistant as he built the Alabama dynasty. That's far different than being a hired gun that is inserted into already established staffs and programs.

Do you really believe that every Alabama defensive coordinator will make an effective head coach just because Smart has done well this year? That doesn't seem like a good bet. We've seen plenty of successful coordinators fail over the years, guys with more consistent resumes and longer periods of production.

3. "He's a great defensive mind!"

Is he? He has had very good defenses. He's also always had a talent advantage.

The thing I don't understand about Tennessee is that, while the administrations' mouthpieces in the local media keep telling us how hard it is to recruit and win here against the likes of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, etc…we never really try to hire a coach with a history of getting more out of less. Pruitt definitely continues that trend.

If you believe that he will be able to out-recruit the rest of the SEC, then I guess there is cause for hope. But hasn't that been what we've pinned our hopes on in coach after coach? Why would we think the result will be different this time?

One of the best measures of a coach is what they do in the big games and against teams of similar talent. Since Pruitt has never been the head guy, we have to go by his coordinator experience. In his biggest games (his two national championship appearances) Pruitt's defense has given up an average of 33 points (by contrast, Kirby Smart's defenses never allowed more than 21 points in the national championship game, and averaged 11.7 points allowed per NC game). That's not really the work of a defensive mastermind, especially considering the incredible talent he had at his disposal.

4. "We couldn't get anyone else!"

Well, that may be true. If so, though, that is due to the administration not the fans or the program. Accepting that result and supporting that administration does nothing to improve the state of the program. Haven't we learned anything at this point? Isn't "getting behind the new coach" and having patience the exact reason Dooley and Jones got big extensions, resulting in ridiculous buyouts?

If you truly couldn't get anyone who had a decent chance of winning here due to our administrative mess, wouldn't it be wiser to install an interim until we fixed the mess? Committing longterm to a weak hire simply doesn't make sense for anyone, save those hoping to continue bilking the fans while selling false hope. Sure, an interim would probably kill the recruiting class. But is it better to waste 1 year or 3-4 years?

5. "We got to give him a chance! He hasn't coached a game yet!"

Yes, we're back to that familiar point where the unknowable future is our new coach's best quality. Of course, no one can say for certain that Pruitt will fail, but given that there is so little evidence that he will succeed, it's a sucker's bet to think he'll ever be anything more than average here.
Click to expand...

Must be tough going through life with your glass always half empty.
 
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#49
#49
SpaceCoastVol said:
:crazy::crazy::crazy:
Click to expand...

World class facilities. Winning tradition. Put Tn back in the map. Immediate PT.

Sure the HC and staff will have to actually have to hit the recruiting trail, but that's for any new HC.

Sounds like ours will be coaching the gumps thru New Year.
 
#50
#50
Jeez dude, let it go and be thankful someone...anyone took over this dumpster fire.
 
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