Who Deserves the Blame?

#78
#78
FLVOL_79 said:
Blame him once he has all of his own players. Until then he isnt the mercy of botches poor recruiting and development..
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Sort of agree. It is progressive. Last year, you can blame Jones quite a bit. His players. His development. His bad culture. His poor injury management. This year you have to give more of the blame/credit to Pruitt. At a minimum he's had time to make a significant cultural shift and make gains in S&C/development.

Next year... he pretty much owns it. If there are 4th and 5th year players still around and not replaced... that's on him. He has not found and developed 2nd and 3rd year players capable of replacing them.
 
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#79
#79
Fatman Photos said:
I get it, a lot of you don't like Pruitt and never will no matter how/what he does.
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People just want the rush and excitement of a coaching search, fake insiders, and grumours..a staple of Tennessee football for the past 10 years.
 
#80
#80
Cartervol said:
The administration is solely to blame. They either didn't want to commit to winning , which meant opening up the check book or doing whatever it is ( use your imagination) Bama, Clemsuck and a few others are willing to do. There is no magic. They do whatever it takes to keep up with the Jones's and Tennessee has either been unwilling to do so or didn't want to spend the money necessary.. I'm hoping Fulmer has put all the liberal dipshats in their place and has educated them on how big boy football is played and conducted. It's either that or remain in the rear view mirror.
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IMHO, Fulmer's failure was that when he needed to be more of a micromanager... he utterly failed at it. His real problem was that he became too loose with discipline both on and off the field... both with his staff and his players. The player issues were ridiculous. His staff outside a couple of years when Cut returned just weren't held accountable. Chavis was renowned for NOT recruiting. By the 2000's a staff member who didn't recruit well was a major liability yet Fulmer tolerated it. The decline of offensive production under Sanders was easy to see... Fulmer not only tolerated it but seemed to promote Sanders as a rising star until forced to face the issue.
 
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#81
#81
Behr said:
So are you saying we can't win more than 5 or 6 until the rebuild is complete?
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Not at all. If it happens it’s going to be gradual improvement rather than sudden.

Scratch and claw to 6 or maybe 7 wins this year.

8 or 9 in 2020.

In the 2021-22 seasons you finally have a full roster capable of actually winning against the real SEC teams like Alabama and Georgia.
 
#82
#82
Whether it be terrible athletic department decisions or terrible coaching by Dooley or Jones, there's plenty of blame to go around for the past decade of irrelevance.
 
#84
#84
Jack Burton said:
We won’t get to 8 or 9. 6 wins aren’t a given with this team either.

It’s a 5 year rebuild and we’re only about 1.5 years in so far.
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This is slightly more pessimistic than my prediction.

I predict that we will win 6 games and make a bowl game. Anything above that is exceeding expectations.

However, I agree in that I don't see this as an 8 or 9 win team at all, especially given the roster we have. If we somehow do win more than 8 games, Pruitt deserves a raise and should win coaching awards.
 
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#85
#85
Matt2496 said:
This is slightly more pessimistic than my prediction.

I predict that we will win 6 games and make a bowl game. Anything above that is exceeding expectations.

However, I agree in that I don't see this as an 8 or 9 win team at all, especially given the roster we have. If we somehow do win more than 8 games, Pruitt deserves a raise and should win coaching awards.
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I’m not so down that I don’t think we can get to 6 wins. I just don’t think it’s the base level and that we’ll coast to it. Some are stating that 6 would be a disappointment but in reality it’s still a step forward for the program.
 
#88
#88
hog88 said:
If it takes five years we hired the wrong guy?
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I think the hole is so deep it would take anyone not named Saban, Dabo, or Urban 5 years. Essentially the first signed class was one half of the foundation. The 2019 class the 2nd part. We need a new more years to be a truly competitive SEC team top to bottom and I think that point is 4 years from now. Doesn’t mean we won’t gradually improve but it won’t be sudden either.
 
#91
#91
Jack Burton said:
I think the hole is so deep it would take anyone not named Saban, Dabo, or Urban 5 years. Essentially the first signed class was one half of the foundation. The 2019 class the 2nd part. We need a new more years to be a truly competitive SEC team top to bottom and I think that point is 4 years from now. Doesn’t mean we won’t gradually improve but it won’t be sudden either.
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Is this fanbase that patient? More importantly, are recruits that patient? If the best we can hope for in year three is a couple upsets, then I don't think we can expect many recruits to seriously consider playing in Knoxville.
 
#92
#92
SmilezDavis said:
Is this fanbase that patient? More importantly, are recruits that patient? If the best we can hope for in year three is a couple upsets, then I don't think we can expect many recruits to seriously consider playing in Knoxville.
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I spoke with several college prospects in my area and they don't have Tenn on their list.
 
#93
#93
SmilezDavis said:
Is this fanbase that patient? More importantly, are recruits that patient? If the best we can hope for in year three is a couple upsets, then I don't think we can expect many recruits to seriously consider playing in Knoxville.
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was talking about this a little in another thread/forum.

the issue of patience....why should anyone have it?

i look at it like this. for fans, we've been thru the 10+ year debacle. that's baggage we bring to every new season. and we're bringing it with is again this year. that's not Pruitt and co's fault. it is their job to fix it though.

there's little reason to have faith in the "brand" that is TN football. it's done nothing but let us down for more than a decade. so the typical "show me" or "we've been down this road before" attitude is understandable.

where i've decdided to draw the line is on what i think does make "this time" different. there's no Mike Hamilton or Dave Hart running things. no Bahama Jon....

1. and this may be most important...the athletic department, admininstration and football program are all on the same page as far as goals, purpsoe, standards and direction. that has not always been the case....and has been discussed a lot over the years.
2. if that's not most important, then this is.....we're investing in the right resources to turn this around--PEOPLE. can't emphasize this enough. be it analysts, on field staff, recruiting, medical staff, s&c etc....they're ponying up like....well, never before.
3. this staff, on paper, is fantastic. you can say what you will about pruitt as a head coach, a lot still in the TBD column on that front, but no one argues with the level of coaches/teahcers/recruiters we have on this staff as a whole.


none of that guarantees anything--they still have to go actually do it, that's on pruitt, staff and players.

but if you're looking for a reason to be patient, or answers to "why, after 10 years, should anyone expect me to be patient for another 3-4 years?" well, these are the things i'd say. i'm willilng to get to year 4 to see what this thing looks like.

as for recruiuts, recruiting can take a turn in a single off season. but overall i like this staff's approach to it, regardless of the rating of the players they bring in (and they've brought in some big ones already).
 
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#96
#96
Jack Burton said:
I think the hole is so deep it would take anyone not named Saban, Dabo, or Urban 5 years. Essentially the first signed class was one half of the foundation. The 2019 class the 2nd part. We need a new more years to be a truly competitive SEC team top to bottom and I think that point is 4 years from now. Doesn’t mean we won’t gradually improve but it won’t be sudden either.
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We should be competitive in year 3.
 
#97
#97
hog88 said:
We should be competitive in year 3.
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I guess you’ll have to define “competitive” for the purposes of the discussion. To me, that’s within 7 to 10 points of the opponent until late in the 4th quarter. At that point talent and depth really determine the winner. In year 3 I still don’t expect to be there verses Alabama or Oklahoma.

In year 3 I also don’t expect to lose by 25+ a handful of times either. Gradual progress year over year.
 
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#98
#98
Anything less than 7 wins should make the seat warm going into 2020. The ooc schedule is a joke. KY will be worse than last year and the only way we lose to Vandy is if the team quits on the staff again. Win those six and take 1 of 3 from SC, MO and MSU. That should be the baseline. 8 wins would be a good season and 9 or more is overachieving.
 
#99
#99
hog88 said:
Yeah it is. If we are judging success at 8-9 wins per year and it takes CJP 5 years to get there, he was the wrong hire.
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No it's not.

I consider rebuilding to be exactly where Pruitt wants it, and it may take him 5 years to get there, and I believe we can have alot of success between now and then.

I've always found it funny how some folks around here can't help themselves from saying things like "By God if Pruitt doesn't (whatever by whenever) then he's the wrong hire". It's so definitive, but so many variances.
 
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#100
#100
Behr said:
No it's not.

I consider rebuilding to be exactly where Pruitt wants it, and it may take him 5 years to get there, and I believe we can have alot of success between now and then.

I've always found it funny how some folks around here can't help themselves from saying things like "By God if Pruitt doesn't (whatever by whenever) then he's the wrong hire". It's so definitive, but so many variances.
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There are variables such as freak in-game injuries. I think/hope we all understand that. However, we are dealing with a first time head coach and I don't see much reason why he needs any more time to prove himself than what Dooley got. If thing are in the capper after 2020 season, we have to be prepared to move on. The way some posters here opine, they're ready to make CJP coach for life, which is the same thing they did with Butch.
 
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