Pruitt calls out Tennessee's O-line, demands summer step-up

#1

Gandalf

The Orange/White Wizard
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#1
Pruitt calls out Tennessee's O-line, demands summer step-up

Its almost like Pruitt is eagerly reading my posts here on VN! ......or not....but at least he clearly has the same mindset and is publicly stating what is obvious to anyone watching. Sadly, I think a number of the players are just what we have and we are going to have to wait till the new recruits have a year or two under them before we get into real contention. Without a solid O line, JG and RBs cant really drive the run or throwing game and 3 and outs gas the D for the 4th QTR. Hope Pruitt and Chaney and the new guys coming in light a fire under people.
 
#3
#3
Pruitt calls out Tennessee's O-line, demands summer step-up

Its almost like Pruitt is eagerly reading my posts here on VN! ......or not....but at least he clearly has the same mindset and is publicly stating what is obvious to anyone watching. Sadly, I think a number of the players are just what we have and we are going to have to wait till the new recruits have a year or two under them before we get into real contention. Without a solid O line, JG and RBs cant really drive the run or throwing game and 3 and outs gas the D for the 4th QTR. Hope Pruitt and Chaney and the new guys coming in light a fire under people.
I think you and only you are special to Pruitt. He values your insights and whatever virgins you have access to...for general sacrifices and stuff.
 
#5
#5
Publicly calling out the O-line isn't going to solve anything. Recruiting better linemen and coaching them up is! Even coaching up the ones we've got will help more.
 
#8
#8
Publicly calling out the O-line isn't going to solve anything. Recruiting better linemen and coaching them up is! Even coaching up the ones we've got will help more.
The problem is at least two fold. We have not had the size/talent to compete for the last 3-4 years and, in addition, the oline has not had very much experience. It appears that e may be on tract to solving the size/talent issue and only time will solve the experience issue. Even with Wright comming in this Summer, won't solve the experience issue this Fall. If the Oline dosen't improve as the season moves along, then the problem is likely confined to the players. The Oline coaching will have to be looked into in depth. I think the defense was better than I have seen in the last 3-4 years.
 
#10
#10
This whole ordeal can’t be that we have crappy players on the line. A lot of these guys were recruited heavily, even the ones that have been here 2+ years.
Under Butch, Trey Smith was an anomaly. Coleman Thomas and Venzell Boulware (high end 3 stars) types made up our core. Jack Jones was an outlier and played as much as Chance Hall...not much. “Crappy players” is being generous.
 
#12
#12
Publicly calling out the O-line isn't going to solve anything. Recruiting better linemen and coaching them up is! Even coaching up the ones we've got will help more.

This is my biggest concern. There were so many fundamental errors last year. If our guys were playing hard and just being physically beat/stunted/etc than I could attribute the bulk of it to inferior talent. But we weren't lined up correctly, we completely whiffed drive blocks with the guy right in front of our guy, and stood and watched linemen rush by. I'm not saying we have the return of the Tennessee Valley Authority on campus by a long shot, but a LOT of this is simply lousy coaching and development. Meanwhile, this guy gets good ink and a fat paycheck.......is he the answer? I'm not even close to being convinced at this point. But he does seem to be the one guy CJP will not cut when he otherwise cleaned a lot of house over the offseason. Time will tell.

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#14
#14
This is my biggest concern. There were so many fundamental errors last year. If our guys were playing hard and just being physically beat/stunted/etc than I could attribute the bulk of it to inferior talent. But we weren't lined up correctly, we completely whiffed drive blocks with the guy right in front of our guy, and stood and watched linemen rush by. I'm not saying we have the return of the Tennessee Valley Authority on campus by a long shot, but a LOT of this is simply lousy coaching and development. Meanwhile, this guy gets good ink and a fat paycheck.......is he the answer? I'm not even close to being convinced at this point. But he does seem to be the one guy CJP will not cut when he otherwise cleaned a lot of house over the offseason. Time will tell.

View attachment 202016
I attribute the WHIFFS to bad habits ingrained from previous teaching as well as physical limitations that are being recruited over. He’s produced good to great OL’s throughout his career but he ain’t gonna do it here, huh?
 
#15
#15
This is my biggest concern. There were so many fundamental errors last year. If our guys were playing hard and just being physically beat/stunted/etc than I could attribute the bulk of it to inferior talent. But we weren't lined up correctly, we completely whiffed drive blocks with the guy right in front of our guy, and stood and watched linemen rush by. I'm not saying we have the return of the Tennessee Valley Authority on campus by a long shot, but a LOT of this is simply lousy coaching and development. Meanwhile, this guy gets good ink and a fat paycheck.......is he the answer? I'm not even close to being convinced at this point. But he does seem to be the one guy CJP will not cut when he otherwise cleaned a lot of house over the offseason. Time will tell.

View attachment 202016
Can't make chicken salad out of chicken $hit. There are some poor performing players on the OL. That is the truth....a few may not even be SEC starters, outside of TN.
 
#17
#17
Sadly, the O&W game is probably a wake-up call that we're still at least a year away from having a serviceable O-line. Some of the newcomers have great potential, but being a starting O-linemen as a true Freshman in the SEC is very tough. There's a reason most SEC schools starting OL is littered with 3rd, 4th, and 5th year players.

I do think if we get things right in the summer and find the right mix, maybe the starting OL can be better than we expect, but we're still in the position where an injury or two could throw everything to crap very quickly.
 
#18
#18
Publicly calling out the O-line isn't going to solve anything. Recruiting better linemen and coaching them up is! Even coaching up the ones we've got will help more.

What he is talking about isn't coaching - its motor. And I think he was not happy with the EFFORT that the OL put in for the OW game. What he is calling out (IMO) is the lack of want to by more senior players, not the lack of talent. Could be wrong about that but that was my take.
 
#19
#19
This is my biggest concern. There were so many fundamental errors last year. If our guys were playing hard and just being physically beat/stunted/etc than I could attribute the bulk of it to inferior talent. But we weren't lined up correctly, we completely whiffed drive blocks with the guy right in front of our guy, and stood and watched linemen rush by. I'm not saying we have the return of the Tennessee Valley Authority on campus by a long shot, but a LOT of this is simply lousy coaching and development. Meanwhile, this guy gets good ink and a fat paycheck.......is he the answer? I'm not even close to being convinced at this point. But he does seem to be the one guy CJP will not cut when he otherwise cleaned a lot of house over the offseason. Time will tell.

View attachment 202016
No idea how good/bad Friend will turn out to be , so not a defense of him.

But, we've had 3 OL coaches in 3 years, all trying to improve the (roughly) same group of guys. At least certainly a large majority of Butch Jones culture leftovers.

After 3 different instructors, I'm just not buying that it's all this guy's fault.
 
#20
#20
I don't think it's this new coaching staff, (yet). Last year was their first year to work with the crap we have. Hell, I don't think the Chatta Mocs would let half of our guys transfer there when they get recruited over and transfer. Give this staff a break. You can't make a Pillsbury doe boy look and play like an SEC caliber player when the talent is just not there. And we know it's not. We all knew when Pruitt got here from our other coaching debacles that the first year doesn't really mean a lot. This is the first full year these guys will have with this staff. Let's give them that and see what comes out of fall camp. If it still sux. Keep recruiting and get a new O-line coach. Time will tell. Go Vols!
 
#21
#21
Headline sounded more harsh than Pruitts statements.. He sees things they need to work on and challenged them to do so.. Just like he did every position group.. They all can improve. The Oline is 1 to 2 years away from being a dominant one doesn't matter who is coaching.. It takes time and consistency and no injuries to turn this around.. It will get better. GOVOLS
 
#23
#23
Guarantano won’t last another whole season. Pruitt needs to open the QB competition to see who might give us the best chance to win games. If JG starts all season we won’t win but 6 maybe 7. If Maurer is given a shot or a other back up comes up and shines we might win 7-8 if we got lucky. The OL has to vastly improve this summer or the seat is gonna start warming up in 2020....
 
#25
#25
Publicly calling out the O-line isn't going to solve anything. Recruiting better linemen and coaching them up is! Even coaching up the ones we've got will help more.

Trey Smith 5 star
Wanya Morris 5 star
Darnell Wright 5 star
R Johnson 4 star
N Niehulus 4 star
M Tatum highly recruited 3 star
Question; Did the O-line look so bad when Maurer was in??
O-line is not nearly as bad as it seemed the past 2 years. Dlinemnen just pin their ears back on JG because he doesnt scramble and he holds the ball too long. Why is he holding it so long? Because he isn't processing the play fast enough. The opponent knows this and so does our O-line. Understand that anytime JG takes the field, the offense as a whole does not feel like they can score easily. None of them believe in him.
 

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