james_govols
To live is to be haunted.
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2013
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This is long, sorry.
I keep seeing threads that want to fire Pruitt or the entire coaching staff. I think this type of thinking is somewhat flawed from a big picture standpoint. Let me explain:
Let’s say I owned a business. We’ll say that I own a restaurant. I keep hiring chefs that are okay chefs. Well, the customers think my food tastes awful. They don’t want to eat here. So as a good business owner I have some decisions to make. I need to bring in some great chefs to keep customers coming back, and I need to figure out a way to get these great chefs to my restaurant.
I’m not going to lie, my apathy levels hit an all time high during the last coaching search. I still haven’t recovered. I’m not even that upset about Tennessee being 0-2 to start this year. I see the problem of this program being a lot bigger than just who the coaching staff is.
The UT administration and AD are the restaurant owners from my prior example. If they were running a business, they would have already went bankrupt and closed doors. They are either unable, or unwilling, to bring in great chefs. They keep bringing in coaches that have no real success on their own (CBJ had some I guess).
So, while people keep wanting to fire Pruitt, or any head coach we have, I say this line of thinking is irrational. The problem is a lot deeper than this. I have no faith in the Tennessee administration to make a great hire. If we get rid of Pruitt, Butch, or Dooley, then we will just end up with another guy of similar caliber.
So why can’t the administration/AD bring in a top level coach? There has to be a reason that big name coaches don’t consider Tennessee as a destination. Remember Butch being like Tennessee’s 5th choice? Big coaches don’t want to come here. Why?
I don’t know the answer to that, but it’s not my job to know the answer to that or how to fix it. That’s the Athletic Department’s job to fix this issue. They need to figure out what is keeping great coaches from coming to Tennessee. Trust me, it’s not because we have no talent. There is more than this. When Urban went to Ohio State, he demanded facility upgrades, chefs to cook for players, etc. Big name coaches know what it takes to be successful, and they want the university to cater to them. Maybe this is the issue. Tennessee makes the money.
Regardless, I’m tired of blaming everything on the coaches. It’s stupid. They make mistakes. They may not be good enough to make us a respectable program again. However, when do we start blaming the people hiring these coaches?
I’m telling you guys and gals, until Tennessee is willing to fix whatever issues keep great coaches from coming here, we will be a dead football program. It’s been over ten years now and the administration still hasn’t figured out how to run a successful business. The AD needs to think long and hard about how they can bring in high caliber coaches. The Tennessee AD makes a lot of money. They pay a ton of buyouts because they are horrible at running this business. It's not rocket science: figure out a way to make UT attractive to top level coaches, then when one comes available pursue him. Other programs do it all the time.
The way this adminstration and AD runs the program is shameful. Until they figure out how to run a successful business, Tennessee football is dead. It doesn't matter if we fire Pruitt.
I keep seeing threads that want to fire Pruitt or the entire coaching staff. I think this type of thinking is somewhat flawed from a big picture standpoint. Let me explain:
Let’s say I owned a business. We’ll say that I own a restaurant. I keep hiring chefs that are okay chefs. Well, the customers think my food tastes awful. They don’t want to eat here. So as a good business owner I have some decisions to make. I need to bring in some great chefs to keep customers coming back, and I need to figure out a way to get these great chefs to my restaurant.
I’m not going to lie, my apathy levels hit an all time high during the last coaching search. I still haven’t recovered. I’m not even that upset about Tennessee being 0-2 to start this year. I see the problem of this program being a lot bigger than just who the coaching staff is.
The UT administration and AD are the restaurant owners from my prior example. If they were running a business, they would have already went bankrupt and closed doors. They are either unable, or unwilling, to bring in great chefs. They keep bringing in coaches that have no real success on their own (CBJ had some I guess).
So, while people keep wanting to fire Pruitt, or any head coach we have, I say this line of thinking is irrational. The problem is a lot deeper than this. I have no faith in the Tennessee administration to make a great hire. If we get rid of Pruitt, Butch, or Dooley, then we will just end up with another guy of similar caliber.
So why can’t the administration/AD bring in a top level coach? There has to be a reason that big name coaches don’t consider Tennessee as a destination. Remember Butch being like Tennessee’s 5th choice? Big coaches don’t want to come here. Why?
I don’t know the answer to that, but it’s not my job to know the answer to that or how to fix it. That’s the Athletic Department’s job to fix this issue. They need to figure out what is keeping great coaches from coming to Tennessee. Trust me, it’s not because we have no talent. There is more than this. When Urban went to Ohio State, he demanded facility upgrades, chefs to cook for players, etc. Big name coaches know what it takes to be successful, and they want the university to cater to them. Maybe this is the issue. Tennessee makes the money.
Regardless, I’m tired of blaming everything on the coaches. It’s stupid. They make mistakes. They may not be good enough to make us a respectable program again. However, when do we start blaming the people hiring these coaches?
I’m telling you guys and gals, until Tennessee is willing to fix whatever issues keep great coaches from coming here, we will be a dead football program. It’s been over ten years now and the administration still hasn’t figured out how to run a successful business. The AD needs to think long and hard about how they can bring in high caliber coaches. The Tennessee AD makes a lot of money. They pay a ton of buyouts because they are horrible at running this business. It's not rocket science: figure out a way to make UT attractive to top level coaches, then when one comes available pursue him. Other programs do it all the time.
The way this adminstration and AD runs the program is shameful. Until they figure out how to run a successful business, Tennessee football is dead. It doesn't matter if we fire Pruitt.
That long eh? Hah
