Mike Leach describes conversations with Tennessee in 2017: 'It was like something out of Shakespeare'

#27
#27
SGMVols said:
And when he faces the top teams in his conference he gets shut down anyway. Only scored 15 in their loss at home to Washington last year, which was also Leach’s sixth loss in a row to them.
Click to expand...

But if he was at TENNESSE he would give Saban and Smart Fits every single game. Fits I tell ya. Fits. Garundamnteeit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: a vol n tears, UT_Dutchman and VFL-82-JP
#29
#29
Behr said:
Meh, I'm probably the only one but Im glad that didn't happen. I would have taken him over Pruitt at the time, but I'm happy with Pruitt now.
Click to expand...
Leach would have been fun and given great press conferences. He would have run it up on some people and we'd have routinely had more wins than losses, but he'd have regularly come up short against the big boys. That's his MO, it wouldn't have been good enough for Tennessee fans. We may not be any better with CJP, but at least we don't know his ceiling in advance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cobbwebb0710, VFL-82-JP and Behr
#30
#30
And around and around it goes.

I realize Pruitt lacks the sizzle and pure entertainment value of Dooley 2.0 but he actually had to do the thankless job of rebuilding our SEC program from the practice fields on up. It took a hard nosed blue collar SEC football guy to do that not an intellectual iconoclast. The Pirate would have sunk our ship.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TrumpedUpVol
#31
#31
Glocker_Alum_2005 said:
Curry had to go. On Leach, 15 yrs ago when Big 12 was a Power/Run first conference, Leach had some entertaining 7-8 win teams, but that was ceiling. I think Pruitt has model to put us back toward top of SEC, but he's gotta recruit better, with that model/style.
Click to expand...

The guy had Texas Tech #2 in the country and won 11 games at WSU. Guys that win far beyond the historical norms at a school can coach.

Still cant believe we passed on 2 of those coaches in 2017.

Cue @The Original Fade ...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Titan05
#32
#32
To quote Shakespeare, there was something rotten in Denmark when it came to our athletic department in 2017....
 
#37
#37
Woke said:
And around and around it goes.

I realize Pruitt lacks the sizzle and pure entertainment value of Dooley 2.0 but he actually had to do the thankless job of rebuilding our SEC program from the practice fields on up. It took a hard nosed blue collar SEC football guy to do that not an intellectual iconoclast. The Pirate would have sunk our ship.
Click to expand...

Ship has been sunk bro. It’s down there with Cthulhu.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolunteerHillbilly
#38
#38
VolunteerHillbilly said:
Texas Tech AP Poll History
Click to expand...

They beat Texas the same day we lost to USCe. Hammy fired Fulmer that next day. I was out in Dallas that day (my wife lived the last 18 months of HS with a big TCU booster family out there and she was visiting them). Was very interesting that Sunday with all those TCU boosters worried we were going to hire Patterson....
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolunteerHillbilly
#39
#39
BigOrangeMojo said:
2008 after they beat Texas (I married a Longhorn so I really enjoyed that)...
Click to expand...

Ah, my bad. I was thinking they finished at #2.

I guess we'll see, but I still think we're better off with Pruitt in the long run.
 
#41
#41
Behr said:
Meh, I'm probably the only one but Im glad that didn't happen. I would have taken him over Pruitt at the time, but I'm happy with Pruitt now.
Click to expand...

I almost always agree with you. I do partially this time. I am glad Pruitt is at UT and think we will be winning the SEC East, Championship, and be in the playoff picture within the next 3-4 years with Pruitt. But, Meh doesn't come close to describing 'The Pirate'!!! You give him a staff that can recuit top 10-15 classes and a great DC and he could win in the SEC East and be as successful or more than Pruitt. I love Chaney and think he will be a very solid OC. But, let's be real here. Chaney is no Leach, not yet, anyway. If Chaney elevates the OL, JG, and the offense tremendously, you will be right. We definitely got the right guy!!! The recruiting ( with Pruitt, Niedermeyer, Tee, and others) and D (with Pruitt, Ansley,Rocker, and Rumph) will be solid, even this year with no returning players on the DL.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Behr
#42
#42
I rarely disagree with DG, but find myself doing so in this thread.

What do we have with Pruitt? Don't know yet.

What would we have with Leach? We would have Dooley-style humour (they both love talking about the Germans in WWII) with Richt-like results (always the bridesmaid...).

It's easy to say right now that we Tennessee fans would be happy with anything moderately better than where we are right now. But it's not true. We went 9-4 in back-to-back seasons recently, and very few were happy about it.

Simple truth is, we are a program that has celebrated championships, and we're not going to be happy until we're back at LEAST competing for championships. Maybe not even until we start winning them again.

And we know by his long track record as a head coach in less-demanding conferences that Mike Leach doesn't get to conference championship games. He gets close sometimes, tantalizingly close every once in a while (one time in his ten seasons at Texas Tech, and once so far in his seven seasons at Washington State). But he doesn't deliver championships.

So, sure, he'd be entertaining...if we could stop gnashing our teeth long enough to chuckle. Mostly, though, he'd be ridden out of town on a rail after four or five seasons without getting to Atlanta.

That's just who we are. And that's who Mike Leach is. We don't fit together.

Go Vols!
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolsGrad1989, GhostVol, Smokey X and 1 other person
#43
#43
Behr said:
Ah, my bad. I was thinking they finished at #2.

I guess we'll see, but I still think we're better off with Pruitt in the long run.
Click to expand...

I would have had concerns with Leach's cultural fit, the pressure, recruiting, and SEC defenses. I would have hired him but there were concerns.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Smokey X, Behr and KBVol
#44
#44
Behr said:
Meh, I'm probably the only one but Im glad that didn't happen. I would have taken him over Pruitt at the time, but I'm happy with Pruitt now.
Click to expand...
Right there with you Behr. Some aspects of Leach clearly would’ve been fun here, mainly his offense and his personality/pressers. But I think that long-term, Pruitt was the better choice. We’ll see.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DWright39, VolsGrad1989, Smokey X and 2 others
#45
#45
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Leach would have been fun and given great press conferences. He would have run it up on some people and we'd have routinely had more wins than losses, but he'd have regularly come up short against the big boys. That's his MO, it wouldn't have been good enough for Tennessee fans. We may not be any better with CJP, but at least we don't know his ceiling in advance.
Click to expand...

Why people continue to believe Leach is this really good coach is beyond me. He has benn at Texas Tech and Washington State. If he was that good, he would have gotten many better offers. Think of the job openings in the past 5-6 years. UF, UGA, LSU, Oregon, FSU, Miami, TAMU, Texas, UCLA, Nebraska, South Carolina, PSU, OSU, Michigan. And not one hired him. He would have failed at TN. He is where he belongs. At a school with little to no expectations or pressure and a fairly easy schedule.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vols&Vettes, Behr and VFL-82-JP
#46
#46
orangelo said:
False, WSU was the 27th ranked defense in the country in a high scoring PAC 12, much higher than UT. His defenses are better than people give him credit for.
Click to expand...
Come on now, that was a major anomaly. He finally found a good DC last year after years of fielding one bad defense after another. Perhaps he would’ve/could’ve brought him with him, perhaps not.

Also, I’m also not so sure that defending finesse PAC-12 offenses is the same as defending SEC offenses. Not a chance that those PAC-12 defensive fronts measure up with the better/best SEC defensive fronts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vols&Vettes and Behr
#47
#47
BigOrangeMojo said:
I would have had concerns with Leach's cultural fit, the pressure, recruiting, and SEC defenses. I would have hired him but there were concerns.....
Click to expand...
At the time, he seemed like a good potential hire compared to all the other losers Currie was going after (“I’m a man, I’m 40!” was never remotely serious about Tennessee). But in the end, Pruitt winds up being the choice and fit for Tennessee imo.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Behr
#48
#48
KBVol said:
Come on now, that was a major anomaly. He finally found a good DC last year after years of fielding one bad defense after another. Perhaps he would’ve/could’ve brought him with him, perhaps not.

Also, I’m also not so sure that defending finesse PAC-12 offenses is the same as defending SEC offenses. Not a chance that those PAC-12 defensive fronts measure up with the better/best SEC defensive fronts.
Click to expand...
Was the year before an anomaly too when they were ranked in the 30s? Once again above UT. His DC was good enough to leave in 2017 for a higher profile job. I guess His defense didn’t suck too bad then. Plus the good DC he FINALLY found probably would have come with him.
 
Last edited:
#49
#49
Take away the first quarter fiasco and OK gave Bama all they wanted. I think the Air Raid run with the right personnel and coupled with an SEC defense that can actually get some stops could win the conference. Like Jack Burton posted elsewhere, we will not beat Bama or Georgia running the same offense with less talent. If you know a licking I coming, you might was well go down swinging. Or you can just be a wuss and try to kill clock and keep the final score "respectable". Last season we did go for it on 4th some, and that was encouraging. But there were a lot of times when it looked like we were just trying to get to locker room. If we're gonna get waxed by 25 ppg in half or more of games played, I want to see a wide open offense going for chunk plays.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vettefool and Mtnvol80
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top