Is Pruitt Tennessee’s last big time chance?

[VFLCodyGBO]

We’ve seen the carousel go round for over a decade now. Each time it seems we fall further and further down.

We started with Kiffin, who was one of the hottest names in the market and by most accounts a real get for a program that was just a couple years removed from playing in the SEC championship game.

Once that mattress fire burned out we went with a Dooley, a mediocre at best head coach who had some success (albeit only when compared to a historically bad program’s track record).

That too fizzled out. Our next move? Butch Jones. A coach that had a fair amount of success at a much smaller school (and also lost to the coach we had just fired). But still a man with head coaching experiences.

Now we have gone to Pruitt. A top tier assistant who has proven his worth in that arena, but has no head coaching experience (maybe at the high school level?? I don’t think so).

What’s next? Tennessee is becoming a school more known for sending head coaches to the ranks of interns than for winning big time ball games. Is Pruitt our last “big fish” candidate?

 

[Boogievol]

I'm hoping he wins ten national championships over the next twenty five years and we won't have to worry about it.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Pruitt wins big here = Pruitt goes to Bama when Saban retires

Pruitt doesn’t win much of anything here = another coaching change in the next 5-10 years.

I know that’s cynical, but it’s the reality. So no, Pruitt is not the long term guy unfortunately. But if he wins big and goes to Bama, we will have our pick of whoever we want.

 

[USMC-TNVOL]

We’ve seen the carousel go round for over a decade now. Each time it seems we fall further and further down.

We started with Kiffin, who was one of the hottest names in the market and by most accounts a real get for a program that was just a couple years removed from playing in the SEC championship game.

Once that mattress fire burned out we went with a Dooley, a mediocre at best head coach who had some success (albeit only when compared to a historically bad program’s track record).

That too fizzled out. Our next move? Butch Jones. A coach that had a fair amount of success at a much smaller school (and also lost to the coach we had just fired). But still a man with head coaching experiences.

Now we have gone to Pruitt. A top tier assistant who has proven his worth in that arena, but has no head coaching experience (maybe at the high school level?? I don’t think so).

What’s next? Tennessee is becoming a school more known for sending head coaches to the ranks of interns than for winning big time ball games. Is Pruitt our last “big fish” candidate?

Since we have Fulmer as AD, I think he finally got us a "real" football coach. That being said, if it doesn't work out, that's going to be a big blow to the image of ever having a reputable football program again. Especially when your AD is a former championship/Hall of Fame coach. I would worry about finding a decent AD to replace Fulmer after the previous decade.

Regardless, I think Pruitt was a wise/best choice after everything that happened. The first year was a mess as Pruitt probably tried to take on too much and not delegate plus our OC didn't help matters, but he probably learned a lot in his trial by fire. With everything in place for a full year and lessons learned, I have some hope that we will move up this year to about 8 wins.

 

[Smokeyone]

Butch and his O were very hot commodity at the time, the talking heads raved about him. He was not ready for primetime. The pressure and limelight burned him. At a school that doesnt have that pressure that gives him a second chance will likely find success for him.

Dooley was a desperate mistake. He has found success as an OC and just dont believe he will find success at a P5 program as a head coach.

If Pruitt doesn't find success here he will be a head coach again. He is a PROVEN D coach and has the pedigree of various successful P5 programs. If he is forced out here he will be a head coach again quickly unless he is given a show cause.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

Pruitt was closer to a minnow than a big fish when we hired him as HC. That doesn't mean he won't succeed (see Dabo Swinney) but let's not re-write history here either.....

 

[Zues1]

I would like to see Pruitt average 9 wins per season over the next five years. Sometime during that period Saban retires. Pruitt will be deamed not good enough for the fat Elephants. They hire their next " Saban" who flounders around with 7-8 wins per year.
During that time line Pruitt really comes into his own in Knoxville and elevates the program into the 12-13 win category and becomes a Knoxville legend. After 25 years he retires with 14 sec titles and 5 national championships. One can dream right?

 

[volgrad500]

No. We are in the SEC. We will always just be the right hire away from being in the playoffs. You can think that is fair or not, but it is the reality. If Vandy somehow managed to hire Dabo, in 4 years they would be competing for the SEC. There is too much money in our conference to ever be that far out of it.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Gut negativism. We got a man in place who will pursue the best for Vols football now. His first effort (Pruit) was the best, and I think a darn good one at the time. With the mess at UT, not many (mainly untainted) coaches wanted to be here. Can't blame them. But if we have to reach beyond Pruitt, PF's next hire will be high profile with a proven coach.

 

[1200DPI]

Can't criticize the ADs all that much for the football hires.

If a really good coach had wanted to come to UT the AD would have hired him.

The coach has to want to come to UT. The AD can beg, genuflect, offer loads of cash and the coach may still find lots of reasons not to come.

 

[sjt18]

One of the reasons I argued for giving Fulmer extra time after the 2005 debacle is that you NEVER know how long you'll be on the coaching carousel before finding the right guy at the right time to return to success. UT has remarkably found the exact wrong guys at the wrong times so it has been worse than it should have been. But it is a matter of time considering the facilities, support, and history of UT.

We just CANNOT afford to be "patient".

 

[The Original Fade]

Thread is silly - of course he’s not the last chance at a big time hire. Very short sighted thinking. All it takes is Pruitt or any coach that follows him to have some success and lay a good foundation. A big name will come if that happens. But Chatt is right. If Pruitt wins big here he is gone to Bama if it becomes available.

 

[westennvol]

We’ve seen the carousel go round for over a decade now. Each time it seems we fall further and further down.

We started with Kiffin, who was one of the hottest names in the market and by most accounts a real get for a program that was just a couple years removed from playing in the SEC championship game.

Once that mattress fire burned out we went with a Dooley, a mediocre at best head coach who had some success (albeit only when compared to a historically bad program’s track record).

That too fizzled out. Our next move? Butch Jones. A coach that had a fair amount of success at a much smaller school (and also lost to the coach we had just fired). But still a man with head coaching experiences.

Now we have gone to Pruitt. A top tier assistant who has proven his worth in that arena, but has no head coaching experience (maybe at the high school level?? I don’t think so).

What’s next? Tennessee is becoming a school more known for sending head coaches to the ranks of interns than for winning big time ball games. Is Pruitt our last “big fish” candidate?

Alabama did this in the 90s.

 

[HooahVol]

Dang it, Westennvol beat me to it. I think there are a lot of similarities to Tennessee now and Bama in the 90's. I am sure after the Mark Price strip club fiasco Bama fans were thinking of throwing in the towel. At the end of the day we are still one of the wealthiest programs and even at 90% average attendance in Neyland still are in the top 10 in the nation in attendance. Unless the fans just completely abandon the program, which is unlikely, we will eventually find our way. We are just in our desert wandering stage to steal a church term.

 

[Mccage]

No. We are in the SEC. We will always just be the right hire away from being in the playoffs. You can think that is fair or not, but it is the reality. If Vandy somehow managed to hire Dabo, in 4 years they would be competing for the SEC. There is too much money in our conference to ever be that far out of it.

Bulls**t

 

[KBVol]

Pruitt wins big here = Pruitt goes to Bama when Saban retires

Pruitt doesn’t win much of anything here = another coaching change in the next 5-10 years.

I know that’s cynical, but it’s the reality. So no, Pruitt is not the long term guy unfortunately. But if he wins big and goes to Bama, we will have our pick of whoever we want.

Never know. Look at Dabo, an Alabama guy, over at Clemson. Two factions regarding his future....1. He’s definitely the first call and heir apparent to Saban once Saban retires and 2. Dabo has had so much success at Clemson, he’s built that program up so high, why would he go follow Saban at Alabama at this point and have to “start over there” when he has his own program rolling and wildly successful?

 

[davethevol]

Dang it, Westennvol beat me to it. I think there are a lot of similarities to Tennessee now and Bama in the 90's. I am sure after the Mark Price strip club fiasco Bama fans were thinking of throwing in the towel. At the end of the day we are still one of the wealthiest programs and even at 90% average attendance in Neyland still are in the top 10 in the nation in attendance. Unless the fans just completely abandon the program, which is unlikely, we will eventually find our way. We are just in our desert wandering stage to steal a church term.

The difference is that Bama wants to win and UT doesn’t care about winning. We have a completely different culture making the decisions behind the scenes.

 

[volgrad500]

Bulls**t

Well, your argument is succinct and difficult to refute. But I'll try.

If you have essentially unlimited resources- which in the context of NCAAF teams in the SEC do, then you have whatever facilities you want, recruiting budge you want, etc. If you are in the SEC, every game you play is on television, so you have as much exposure as anyone in the country. If you are in the SEC, you are playing against top competition and getting players in the league. Those things are essentially what drives recruiting. Therefore, you are essentially only the right coach away form winning the East/competing for the SEC/making it to the playoffs.

 

[wuwh_08]

I still think it is a wait and see. I personally see a lot of potential in CJP. We are giving him the resources he need with facility upgrades, coaches and competitive salary but we have to give him time. With time, that is the the hardest part because we all want to win probably no more than CJP...it is his reputation and our program. If we succeed we will pay to keep him. His motivation is developing young men and I don't ever fear that if he has success that the NFL comes calling he won't leave. We argue that we would fear losing him if he has success to Alabama but if he has the same trajectory as Dabo...then I am not worried.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

We started with Kiffin, who was one of the hottest names in the market and by most accounts a real get for a program that was just a couple years removed from playing in the SEC championship game.

Once that mattress fire burned out we went with a Dooley, a mediocre at best head coach who had some success (albeit only when compared to a historically bad program’s track record).

Louisiana Tech has historically been one of the better G5 programs; Dooley actually underperformed there compared to the program's historic success rate. Dooley was always a terrible hire.

I always thought Kiffin was, as well, when Mike Leach, Gary Patterson, and a few other big names could've easily been convinced to come to Knoxville. The only thing Kiffin had done at that point was get fired at Oakland for running a complete disaster. Albeit, there might have been some mitigating factors (i.e. some of it was Al Davis' fault), but still ... stupid to hire someone at a Tier 1 college program just because they spent 1 year in the NFL and failed miserably.

Both the Kiffin and Dooley hires were examples of hiring someone completely unqualified for the job. Butch is the only excusable one as he did have a good track record at Cincinnati, but flopped here.

 

[99gator]

Well, your argument is succinct and difficult to refute. But I'll try.

If you have essentially unlimited resources- which in the context of NCAAF teams in the SEC do, then you have whatever facilities you want, recruiting budge you want, etc. If you are in the SEC, every game you play is on television, so you have as much exposure as anyone in the country. If you are in the SEC, you are playing against top competition and getting players in the league. Those things are essentially what drives recruiting. Therefore, you are essentially only the right coach away form winning the East/competing for the SEC/making it to the playoffs.

I mostly agree with this. There are several schools in the SEC that I believe have a ceiling though. I think the more time that passes in a certain situation, some schools may join that group. As an example, I think Arkansas now has a ceiling. Arkansas is never winning at the highest level as long as they are a member of the SEC

But, Tennessee is a school that does not have that ceiling. I think the right coach at Tennessee can accomplish any goal a program might have

 

[Hacksaw]

One idiot pulls his mattress out of his dorm room and sets it on fire and from then of for years after we're all a bunch of mattress burners.

 

[volgrad500]

I mostly agree with this. There are several schools in the SEC that I believe have a ceiling though. I think the more time that passes in a certain situation, some schools may join that group. As an example, I think Arkansas now has a ceiling. Arkansas is never winning at the highest level as long as they are a member of the SEC

But, Tennessee is a school that does not have that ceiling. I think the right coach at Tennessee can accomplish any goal a program might have

I honestly am not sure why you would say that. What in your opinion is the limiting factors that would prevent an Arkansas from winning at the highest level, but not a TN?

 

[superdave1984]

Can't criticize the ADs all that much for the football hires.

If a really good coach had wanted to come to UT the AD would have hired him.

The coach has to want to come to UT. The AD can beg, genuflect, offer loads of cash and the coach may still find lots of reasons not to come.

You should see a doctor. UT could have hired Gary Patterson in 2008. They didn't. They could have hired Chris Petersen back in 2005 after Phil had a bad season and lost to vandy. They didn't. They could have hired somebody other than Doily. They didn't.
The UTAD has historically been afraid to make the big hire. They hired Kiffin because he was a splashy hire who brought a big name staff. They ignored the fact he was unstable and was not a winning coach. The team in red went big and got Saban when nobody else could. It takes guts to win. Maybe Phil has it, maybe he doesn't. Time will tell. I agree that Dabo will be the first person called when Saban retires followed by whichever of the rest his former assistants has done the best. From listening to Pruitt talk, he seems like a guy, like Dabo, who wants to build his own, not take over one already built. He wants to prove himself. We shall see.

 

[99gator]

I honestly am not sure why you would say that. What in your opinion is the limiting factors that would prevent an Arkansas from winning at the highest level, but not a TN?

The nature of the divisions makes it more likely for Arkansas to have bad seasons year after year after year.

The East isn’t like that and a lot what Tennessee has experienced is self inflicted. There is no reason for a power school in this division to be this bad this long with two baked wins on the schedule (Vandy/KY).

If Arkansas is winning, it not only means Arkansas is doing something right, it means the folks at Alabama, LSU, Auburn, and A&M are screwing up.

Same for Missouri. In order to win, they have to do things right, but Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina have to help them.