Recruiting Forum Football Talk [RIP 9.3.2019]

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#23,726
#23,726
InVOLuntary said:
Some caller on Ainge's show said Osborne was into it with a coach on Saturday night too. Said players had to separate them. Ainge says there is about 20 players over there that have not bought in.
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Interesting, I remember Osborne being one who was happy about the Pruitt hire.
 
#23,729
#23,729
utvols88 said:
I do. Hes taking the blame publically. That's what a good leader does. Fact is, he doesn't fumble the ball, he doesnt prance out there soft like the OL did, he doesnt make the decision to be selfish like the majority of these players have.
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Well, someone beat me to the response. Good post.

A coaching staff can teach execution during practice until the cows come home, but eventually, the players have to perform on Saturdays. So, yes, I disagree with Pruitt's statement.
 
#23,732
#23,732
InVOLuntary said:
I've never said there were not issues with players. The problem is if anyone dares question the coaches some of you wet your panties. I've said multiple times there's blame to be spread all around.
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And I'm saying criticizing this staff having to deal with these players is stupid. The blame is on the bunch of guy who came to UT to play school not football. I think they were sold on a country club atmosphere, and I believe they resent Pruitt demanding focus on the thing they were brought here to do.
 
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#23,734
#23,734
InVOLuntary said:
Typical McGill over reaction. No one is calling for them to be fired. There's absolutely nothing wrong pointing out when they screw up. But they make major bank so let's make sure we don't dare critisize them. Now the kids that bleed and sweat on the field for a scholarship, they're fair game.
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I think he’s talking about in the FF. Many there are ready to move on. Many stupid people post there.
 
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#23,735
#23,735
jjay2518 said:
Tell that to Kiffin with the 280 lb walk on Sullins twins starting. There are lots of issues with the roster but the offensive gameplans have been lacking.
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The Sullins twins were fundamentally sound football players, they were just small. At least they knew who to block and got in the way.
 
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#23,739
#23,739
utvols88 said:
I do. Hes taking the blame publically. That's what a good leader does. Fact is, he doesn't fumble the ball, he doesnt prance out there soft like the OL did, he doesnt make the decision to be selfish like the majority of these players have.
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I don’t buy much of that. I get that there is a lack of talent on the roster, but some of you are building it up that there is a full blown insurgency of sleeper agents dedicated to undermining Pruitt. If that’s really the case, he’s got to weed them out better.

I think the lack of talent reason is a much better look for the staff’s coaching ability than softness or selfishness.
 
#23,741
#23,741
McGeesPub said:
I don’t buy much of that. I get that there is a lack of talent on the roster, but some of you are building it up that there is a full blown insurgency of sleeper agents dedicated to undermining Pruitt. If that’s really the case, he’s got to weed them out better.

I think the lack of talent reason is a much better look for the staff’s coaching ability than softness or selfishness.
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You are so full of crap. You couldnt wait to jump on these guys.
 
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#23,742
#23,742
roosterjbh said:
Interesting, I remember Osborne being one who was happy about the Pruitt hire.
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Getting less PT than Pruitt’s guys like AT and Thompson may have soured him.

I’ve been kinda worried about how some upperclassmen wouldn’t react to losing PT and games for a while. We’ve probably just got some guys that need to go.
 
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#23,744
#23,744
HankHill said:
Helton had a bad game calling plays. Think he was tight.
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agree. the play calling was not great. the only thing i wonder about is how much of the game plan got tossed once we were down 3 scores before we knew what hit us?

there definitely wasn't a plan b, and we had no answers for protection or generating a run game. there were a lot of mistakes made by a lot of players too.

we've heard pruitt talk about getting guys to understand what they're supposed to do and why. i don't get the feeling we have enough guys that understand the "why". which goes to recognitiion and diagnosing....all the "if/thens" that go a long with all the pre snap stuff, and the in play recongition of what is happening and how to counter it.

and not have to think thru those things as they are happening....vs. just doing it.

the coaches have their work cut out for them. that's for sure.
 
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#23,745
#23,745
Ulysees E. McGill said:
The OL is a freaking discombulated mess with no answer..Do you guys really not see how that severely retards gameplanning?
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Yes, it’s a mess, and yes, it severely limits game planning and play calling. Imo that’s MORE reason to not be so predictable and call some quick hitter pass plays on 1st down when the D is expecting run. Being predictable makes it WORSE on the OL. Doesn’t have to be elaborate scheme changes, just change up the play calls.
 
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#23,746
#23,746
CAN THE OFFENSE GET FIXED? EVEN A LITTLE?
Tennessee is four games into the season with a completely new offensive system and some personnel issues up front. It’s beyond obvious to everyone at this point that the Vols have some problems in the offensive line. It’s less than obvious if there’s any reason to hope those problems can be fixed, or even minimized in 2017.

Tennessee averaged a mundane 2.9 yards per rush against the Gators. That was more than a little disappointing compared to what Kentucky managed to accomplish. Yes, it’s apparent right now that Kentucky is a better football team than Tennessee, but watching the manner in which the Wildcats dominated that Gators’ front seven and comparing it to how the Vols’ struggled is a disappointing measuring stick for everyone associated with Orange to look at right now.

I think the offense can get better simply from getting more comfortable with what they’re doing in a new scheme, but after watching this offensive line operate for four games now, I’m not sure how much familiarity is going to matter. I’m also pretty certain that whatever kind of improvement they do make isn’t going to be overly obvious in the next three weeks against the defensive fronts they’re going to see.
Opening things up on first down is going to be a popular topic this week among pundits, and sure, I’m on board with thinking that might help some. I don’t think throwing it first down a couple of more times would have made 28-points worth of difference on Saturday night though.

Jarrett Guarantano didn’t have a strong outing against the Gators (7-of-18, 164 yards, 2 INT) but he also didn’t get a lot of help. As Pruitt said on Saturday night, if you let guys keep running and hitting the quarterback when he’s not looking, he’s going to drop the ball sometimes.

Guarantano is definitely at the stage of his career where he needs help from those around him; from his offensive line, his receivers and his play caller. He had a lot put on him Saturday night, and no, he wasn’t able to make the kind of plays this offense needs, but he also didn’t get much help.

It’s a broken record at this point but nothing is going to improve with this offense until they can block some people and hold onto the football.
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IS THIS TEAM ANY BETTER THAN LAST YEAR?

A month ago I would have dismissed this question as even being worth consideration. Of course they would be better than the 4-8 team that didn’t win an SEC game a year ago. Now, I’m not so sure.

Let me add off the top that my assessment has nothing to do with Jeremy Pruitt. Back in August I don’t think I fully appreciated the personnel issues he was dealing with. I had overestimated the talent on the roster and attributed many of last year’s shortcomings to lack of player development, injuries and a team that had tuned out its head coach by November.

What I lacked back in August was a full appreciation of where this roster is at in comparison with its SEC peers and just what Pruitt inherited in terms of talent. And unfortunately I’m not talking about the Alabamas, Georgias and LSU’s of the world. Nope, we’re talking about Kentucky, Vandy, Missouri and South Carolina.

Those are four teams in the East that Tennessee has historically looked at as four wins one the schedule before the season even starts. Those days are over. Long over.

With the possible exception of Vanderbilt, Tennessee won’t be favored against any of those four eastern division opponents. Saturday night’s result was disappointing enough in and of itself, but the real downer for fans should be what it says about how Tennessee stacks up against the rest of the SEC. It doesn’t say anything good.
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IT’S ABOUT TO GET UGLY

The four game stretch that Tennessee is about to embark on looked daunting enough back in the summer before anyone had played a down of football. Now the next four—particularly the next three at Georgia, at Auburn and home to No. 1 ranked Alabama—look positively unpleasant.

After what we saw on Saturday there’s little reason to think that the Vols aren’t about to be on the receiving end of three ugly losses. That seems unavoidable.

My question is, how does Pruitt handle his football team over the next month? Can he keep things from snowballing if the Vols suddenly find themselves in the middle of a five game losing streak?

His comments after Saturday nights loss indicated that he was head coach with some serious concerns about ‘fixing his football team.’ He also sounded like someone who didn’t think all the problems were related to X’s & O’s, but also consisted of a team with no confidence and no idea how to go about the business of winning an SEC football game.

It’s hard for me to think that these next three weekends are going to present opportunities for Tennessee to generate a lot of confidence based on results. Which begs the question, can Pruitt keep them together?

Four games into a season where he’s been stuck with questionable roster, I don’t think fans have any basis at all to question Pruitt, at least not based on results. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from in games in terms of aggressiveness and sideline demeanor. I think this group of guys needs the fire that he’s bringing to the job.

I think that this head coach has the pulse of this football team and I also think he has a full grasp of how this next month could play out. I wouldn’t judge Pruitt on wins and losses in the next four games, but what you see from his team in terms of demeanor, comportment and in-game discipline.

I could be wrong, but I think you’ll see Pruitt keep this team together and I think they’ll find out some things about themselves in the next month. I don’t think they’ll win a football game, but I’m betting Pruitt hits October knowing which members of his program he can count on moving forward.
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-- Rob Lewis
 
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#23,747
#23,747
McGeesPub said:
I don’t buy much of that. I get that there is a lack of talent on the roster, but some of you are building it up that there is a full blown insurgency of sleeper agents dedicated to undermining Pruitt. If that’s really the case, he’s got to weed them out better.

I think the lack of talent reason is a much better look for the staff’s coaching ability than softness or selfishness.
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What? I am not suggesting we have a bunch of mutiny guided players.
 
#23,749
#23,749
LaagerVol said:
Yes, it’s a mess, and yes, it severely limits game planning and play calling. Imo that’s MORE reason to not be so predictable and call some quick hitter pass plays on 1st down when the D is expecting run. Being predictable makes it WORSE on the OL. Doesn’t have to be elaborate scheme changes, just change up the play calls.
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I don't understand why that's so hard to understand.
 
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#23,750
#23,750
Darth_Shiveman said:
Getting less PT than Pruitt’s guys like AT and Thompson may have soured him.

I’ve been kinda worried about how some upperclassmen wouldn’t react to losing PT and games for a while. We’ve probably just got some guys that need to go.
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unfortunately, yes, that's true. there's a lot of guys on this roster with names we all recognize, that just aren't very good, and haven't "gotten it" like we think they should, or thought they would. and i'm not sure they ever will.
 
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