Recruiting Forum Football Talk II

[revjayp]

Also...to be clear...I am not really a Pruiit guy at this point..but..firing him is a bad idea till he can at least get us back to .500 ball. I think he can recruit and coach that well at least.

He has horrid QBs, a bad, or at least young OL that doesn't allow for a ground and pound game, and a young crap defense, or at least right now it is, that doesn't allow for a ground and pound game either.

Just a decent QB could get us 5 wins at least, but JG and his backups all suck, so there is no help coming from them...at all.

There is no answer right at this point.

All of that is true. Except for one thing.

Georgia St.

I can’t get past that. There was no excuse for it and it was all on Pruitt and company. It’d even be different if it happened in the middle of the season after some tough losses and key injuries. It’d even be different if we then blew out BYU, UTC and then won in the swamp. We’d all say that was just a fluke. But it was the first game of the year. No excuses.

I wanted him to be the guy but that loss just doesn’t sit well and I don’t know how to reconcile it with the way the rest of the season is going.

 

[Weezer]

I disagree with your assumption we won’t have a coaching search. You’re well plugged in - I talk to a few people - and the rumblings are already starting. Start 1-7 and lose to Vanderbilt or UAB and this thing is dead.

I understand the money issue. I really do. But Fulmer can get money thrown around.

Program suicide, IMO. We won't make a dynamic hire and lots of Pruitt's kids will transfer. Especially from this past class. What incentive is there to stay when they've only been here a year and their coach is gone? Transfer portal will become even more popular.

 

[mrmax86]

Hmmm.....

 

[Vfl2407]

All of that is true. Except for one thing.

Georgia St.

I can’t get past that. There was no excuse for it and it was all on Pruitt and company. It’d even be different if it happened in the middle of the season after some tough losses and key injuries. It’d even be different if we then blew out BYU, UTC and then won in the swamp. We’d all say that was just a fluke. But it was the first game of the year. No excuses.

I wanted him to be the guy but that loss just doesn’t sit well and I don’t know how to reconcile it with the way the rest of the season is going.

I totally agree and this made me feel even worse about our coaching staff.
Georgia State 10
Western Michigan 57

 

[JohnnyD1024]

 

[Weezer]

It is crazy to think we shouldn’t fire a coach who wins two games at UT. I can name fove coaches right now who could win 5-6 games at UT next year and would absolutely come here. We need to stop lowering expectations. Bowl games are not to much to ask for at UT.

I don't understand this mentality. Five to six wins is still not good enough. Why replace an unacceptable coach with another unacceptable coach? That's still low expectations no matter how you shake it.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

So Jones, Reid, and Ignont are all gone, I expect Ty & Trey enter the draft, so that leaves us with 3 more names to pop up as healthy scratches before 2020 class is signed.

JG is likely gone as well. I'm a bit surprised by Jones, not as much with Reid or Ignont since they both clearly see the talent at Freshmen for that LB group is already taking their PT.

 

[Big Gucci Sosa]

lol

 

[JohnnyD1024]

Pruitt said that all 3 QB's are sharing reps now.

 

[SamRebel35]

BYU and Georgia State would disagree

 

[smokeyz1]

I do remember. And while it’s probably true that he wanted the Florida job regardless, we should have beaten them to it with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Instead, Currie didn’t meet with him on that Saturday and instead decided to pursue Schiano and the rest is history.

1) Pretty sure Mullen kept delaying the UT interview (Not Currie) because he was waiting on the UF offer. IIRC Currie interviewed him in the next day or two after MSU's final game. The UF Mullen offer came pretty close to the day Currie interviewed him. Let's face it .. Once UF offered, Mullen was going to be UF's next HC.

2) Once Mullen turned us down .. Scianogate happened next.
3) Mike Gundy 3.0 happened and he turned us down AGAIN.
4) Then the Hyams - Brohm hire happened. Don't think we actually interviewed him, but Brohm still turned us down without even interviewing.
5) Dave Dueren was next. he may have taken the job, but social media UT fans didn't want him either so he turned us down.
6) Then Currie flew out to see the Pirate without any approval from his bosses or boosters and Currie got fired. The Pirate would probably have taken the job.
7) Finally Fulmer was hired and picked 3 candidates to interview (Pruitt, Steele, and Tucker)
8) Fulmer hired Pruitt (and it seemed most TN Fans were happy at the time)

Edit: Chad Morris was also interviewed by Currie somewhere in the above timeline, but Morris was never offered the job.

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

Idgaf how many time you or anyone else throws Gstate out there to try to shut down the conversation. The bottom line is that this roster is terrible with the exception of a few and it starts with the QB position. You can scream Gstate until you're blue in the face, makes me no difference and i'm not changing my mind.

So Georgia state has a better roster than us? Our defense gave up 38 points and you are blaming it on the QB.

 

[hotcypress]

I will say that the worst possible outcome for this season is Fulmer taking over as head coach later in the season, even if it's just in the interim. We will lose any ability to hire a decent head coach because they'll just view Fulmer as hungry for the job and ready to step in at any point. We all use the Barry Alvarez example, but it also happened to the Miami Heat during the Shaq and DWade era. Pat Riley just fired Stan Van Gundy and took over. They had to elevate a former video analyst with no head coaching experience to take the job after Riley left (it turned about to be a success because Spoelstra is good, but definitely never viewed as a sure thing).

If the last coaching search was a cluster, having Fulmer make his pick after pushing Pruitt out to coach himself will put this next search in the same arena. Young coaches don't want a daddy-like presence around, and older guys don't want to have someone with similar experience trying to tell them what to do. I've been down on Fulmer as AD since he was hired, and I think this type of scenario (if it took place) would expose one of the negatives of having a former coach at the helm of the AD.

 

[ChattaTNVol]

I don't know if it's fixable or not. Nobody does. We all have our suspicions, but we're not even halfway through Year 2. I still think there are things that can be tried this year to limp our way to a few more wins. So yes, fix the fixable is my mantra. Every game matters, and every win helps. And no, it's not going to be good enough. Not at Tennessee.

What I think isn't going to happen is a coaching search this year. So I find little value in talking about that. Barring something completely unforeseen, UT is going to give Pruitt another year and another recruiting class and see where we are in Year 3. If we didn't want a rookie HC that was going to have to learn OTJ, we shouldn't have hired one. We shouldn't have given him a handcuff deal. But we did, and we are where we are. We're going to have to see it through a bit longer.

I think Pruitt could still work out. I'm not as optimistic as I was but I can still see a path forward. The only problem is the mistakes that he is making are sort of shooting himself in the foot and impeding his progress. He boasted all off season about his jump in improvement from year 1 to year 2, yeah the team too, but he also applied that concept to himself as a head coach. Then he brings his team out unprepared for Georgia State. If they came out and played that first game the way they played against BYU I have no doubt the outcome would have been vastly different. As it is the Georgia State game has lingering effects on everybody and unlike what he said, it's not the same as losing to WV to open the season last year.

I've listened to some guys who work on coaching searches and what they consider a good fit may not be the same as what many fans think. Long story short we should be looking for someone who has schemes that can compete against our schedule, someone who can hire objectively good coaches to develop and execute those schemes, and someone who can recruit at the level necessary to compete with our schedule. Being good at fan engagement would be a bonus..

I think Pruitt could still end up being a good fit here. That doesn't mean I don't want to fire him right now. I don't trust him as much as maybe I once did and I don't know if that's going to change. I'm not going to change. He'll have to win a lot of people back based on his performance and critical to that performance as you have previously noted is his ability to recruit, even in the face of his shooting himself in the foot from time to time. jmo.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Man we've got a lot of new posters in here lately...

 

[JohnnyD1024]

1) Pretty sure Mullen kept delaying the UT interview (Not Currie) because he was waiting on the UF offer. IIRC Currie interviewed him in the next day or two after MSU's final game. The UF Mullen offer came pretty close to the day Currie interviewed him. Let's face it .. Once UF offered, Mullen was going to be UF's next HC.

2) Once Mullen turned us down .. Scianogate happened next.
3) Mike Gundy 3.0 happened and he turned us down AGAIN.
4) Then the Hyams - Brohm hire happened. Don't think we actually interviewed him, but Brohm still turned us down without even interviewing.
5) Dave Dueren was next. he may have taken the job, but social media UT fans didn't want him either so he turned us down.
6) Then Currie flew out to see the Pirate without any approval from his bosses or boosters and Currie got fired. The Pirate would probably have taken the job.
7) Finally Fulmer was hired and picked 3 candidates to interview (Pruitt, Steele, and Tucker)
8) Fulmer hired Pruitt (and it seemed most TN Fans were happy at the time)

Schiano was Currie's top choice from the beginning and had no back up plan.

 

[Weezer]

So Georgia state has a better roster than us? Our defense gave up 38 points and you are blaming it on the QB.

I don't think we were prepared in any way for that game. Coaching was absolutely a part of that. So was horrible QB play, an inexperienced DL and the absence of Bituli and BT. Lots of blame to go around for that game IMO.

 

[ChattaTNVol]

C'mon guys. It's just good business.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I don't think we were prepared in any way for that game. Coaching was absolutely a part of that. So was horrible QB play, an inexperienced DL and the absence of Bituli and BT. Lots of blame to go around for that game IMO.

Gooden too. What bugs me most now in hindsight is you knew you lost 3 starters on defense and you still didn't simplify the game plan to put yourself in a better situation against the team on the field you played.

 

[KPT_VFL]

What did it say?

 

[UTSuave’]

I am a little disappointed Chaney's big brain hasn't kicked in yet.

SAME! I think we may have put the wagon before the horse on his creativity.

 

[mrMet]

Fantasy football guys help me out. Pick two of these to play. It’s a PPR league (1 point per reception). Mike Thomas (without brees), Sammy Watkins, Larry fitz, Brandin Cooks

 

[JohnnyD1024]

What did it say?

 

[Weezer]

The absolute most Tennessee thing that could happen is we fire Pruitt and hire another coach we fire after 2-3 years. Then, 10 years from now, we're still horrible and Pruitt wins a NC as a head coach at another program.

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

This is one of the biggest issues with Tennessee football. You parade around about Tennessee's average recruit rankings as to why Tennessee should be good. Have you watched any of the games? How many players are no longer on the team or never played a meaningful snap at Tennessee?

If there was no such thing as recruit rankings, would people seriously be watching the team the past few years and saying "yeah we have a lot of talent"? If you have a good roster you beat teams like Ga St even if coaching is bad. Look at the Charlotte game from last year, I did not see much of a talent difference on the field.

The SEC set a record in the last NFL draft for players drafted and not one of them was from Tennessee. I think Tennessee has not had a player selected in 3 of the last 5 drafts. I do not really like piling on the players but I am not sure Tennessee has a lot of guys that would play for other power 5 teams.

I disagree. Look at the top teams in college football. Damn near all of them are finishing with top 15 classes. There is a direct correlation. I think we have talent, our issue is coaching and development of those players.