Pruitt is a terrible hire and here is why

#77
#77
Nice post backed up with specifics. I personally see the same concerns that you have, but I'm trying to be more optimistic. The fact is, no one knows, and I'd much rather have this player's coach type of guy than a guy like Schiano who players don't trust and is only trying to impress his bosses.
 
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#78
#78
Me: "Hey oregonvol, see that glass of water? Is it half full or half empty"?

ov: "May not be water...could be kerosene, or a liquid poison, or even a deadly bio-weapon".

Me: "Ok, it is ONLY harmless water; is it half full or half empty"?

ov: "Id have to get closer for a better look".

Me: "Walk over there, then."

ov: "I'll probably trip, fall and break my arm"?

Me: "It's safe. Go on over and pick it up for a better look".

ov: "Bet the glass has a chip in it and I'll cut myself and bleed out and die".

Me: "You won't. Glass is in perfect condition"?

ov: *walks over and pours out the water*
"There's nothing in the cup".
 
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#82
#82
ALL coaching hires have some risk. Every coaching situation that a coach goes into is different and will have differing outcomes based on multiple factors.

This hire will have a result. That result will vary from poor to excellent.

Asking how a battle ends before it is fought is a waste of time and energy.

Fulmer, Swinney, Osborne, Switzer, Stoops and I am sure others had never been head coaches before taking the jobs at their respective schools.

They all won National Championships.
 
#83
#83
Iam4utalways said:
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.
Click to expand...
I just took exception to your belief that UT can recruit itself. It can't. We suck. I don't care how nice the rims are on the car, if the engine is a 5 HP B&S, nobody wants to ride in it. I am pretty sure there are very few highly touted recruits that will say "Yeah, I know UT sucks, but they have an awesome weight room".

This is why I am a little peeved that Pruitt is staying at GumpU thru the playoffs. He doesn't have any time to waste convincing players and staff to come here.
 
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#84
#84
The only concern I see is the talent disadvantage we are currently at. I know we have had solid recruiting classes, but nothing like Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, etc. If Pruitt can't flip this, then it could be a difficult ride for him as well. I personally think he will, and coach up what talent we do have. No reason to be negative at this point.
 
#86
#86
He impressed Phil so he's a good salesman. He'll recruit very well and we'll have a much tougher FOOTBALL team that doesn't have half of the team on the DL for 80% of the season.
 
#88
#88
Pipe down Nancy, he's the coach. Let's move on. This is a great hire. At this point, Pruitt is like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of this disastrous coaching search.
 
#90
#90
Oregon isn’t saying Pruitt will fail. He is saying that the hiring process was a failure. And yes, the Currie situation is part of that failure.

Guys like Chip Kelly, Dan Mullen and Jimbo Fisher were available this season. Guys with proven records of success. We failed to acquire any of them, or the guys at the next tier like Frost.

You can be excited about Pruitt and still be disappointed in the process that got us here. Pruitt wasn’t the 1st, 2nd or even the 7th choice of our admin or fan base.
 
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#91
#91
look Oregon...not gonna let you ruin this for me and I hope no one else lets you ruin this for them...did you ever look into the mirror and wonder...:)

PS. we got a good one...that's my story and I'm sticking to it...:pepper:

GO VOLS!
 
#92
#92
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...

When smart left for ga the only call saban made was to Pruitt, said it was a no brainer. He's the 4th HC in the SEC from the saban tree.
 
#93
#93
well oregon vol you are so full of crap, if you are that unhappy then stay on the west coast, you have no idea what you are talking about, he has brought 9 of the top def. names to bama an all are playing in the nfl, so get your facts right before you speak
 
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#95
#95
I completely disagree with the OP and I for one am extremely excited about Pruitt being our Coach....but to each their own.
 
#97
#97
Actually, none of the stated points add up to the subject conclusion that it is a "terrible hire." Based on the list of complaints one may assume that the preferred reverse resume would read:
1. Not a proven recruiter.
2. Not a proven DC with at least 5 years experience.
3. Not able to recruit talent equal to potential.
4. Not this guy.
5. But a proven NC as a HC.

The OP is not a rational list, but an irrational complaint list.
 
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#99
#99
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...

All of your arguments seem to hint around the idea that we don't have top 10 recruiting classes nearly every year.
 
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#100
#100
SpaceCoastVol said:
I just took exception to your belief that UT can recruit itself. It can't. We suck. I don't care how nice the rims are on the car, if the engine is a 5 HP B&S, nobody wants to ride in it. I am pretty sure there are very few highly touted recruits that will say "Yeah, I know UT sucks, but they have an awesome weight room".

This is why I am a little peeved that Pruitt is staying at GumpU thru the playoffs. He doesn't have any time to waste convincing players and staff to come here.
Click to expand...

Staying at his old job that is one of our most bitter rivals is junk.

The only reason to bring up facilities is to say that isn't a reason to avoid UT. The only question is can Pruitt get it done and when will he start full time for his full time pay.

If he is announced as HC today, he should wake up in Knoxville tomorrow.
 
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