The coaching search revisited

[patrick]

The answer is High Freeze. Deal should have already been done! But the big $$$ donors can't get their collective asses on the same page. Path is clear but big $$$ donors can't get out of their own way. Pruitt sucks yesterday, today and tomorrow. He deserved to get fired last season and even more so this season.

 

[DownNDirty]

I think the important thing if things go the way I expect them to - be it at the end of this year - or next year - would be to hire a head football coach with HEAD coaching experience that has a proven track record.

And no, that doesn't have to be someone that would be way out in fantasy land like Urban Meyer.

I think a Freeze Warning would be very fun to watch here but many have reservations about him. Personally he may not have the best morals out there but who does and who am I to judge him? I would actually expect if he gets another chance in the SEC be it here or at South Carolina or Auburn he would actually be very well behaved. He knows he can't mess up like he did at Ole Miss.

But even if you take him out of the equation there's several other head coaches that would not demand a premium salary that have a proven track record of turning around bad teams and being very good football coaches and recruiters.

- Jamey Chadwell at Coastal Carolina. He played at ETSU in the late 90s and is proving to be a good head football coach. Yes, it's not at the level of some coaches but at the same time at least he has head coaching experience and has proven he can turn around a bad team or two. Chadwell went 3-9 in Coastal's first year in D1. He's went 5-7 and this year now they are 7-0. They are 25th in total offense this year and 11th in total defense.

- Billy Napier at Louisiana. He took over for Mark Hudspeth who had records of 4-8, 6-7, and 5-7 prior to Napier's arrival. His first year he goes 7-7 even making it to the Sun Belt Championship game. Year two he goes 11-3 and again makes it to the Sun Belt Championship game. Their 3 losses were twice to Appy St and a 10 point loss at Mississippi State. The team was also 10th in total offense and 18th in total defense out of the 130 ranked teams in 2019. In 2020, Napier has now went 7-1 with the loss to Jamey Chadwell's Coastal Carolina team. They beat Iowa State 31-14 to start the year. This guy will be elevated soon to a head coach at a major university. And he has turned the team around.

- Matt Campbell at Iowa State. He took over a horrible team that hadn't had a winning record since 2009. They went 3-9, 2-10, and 3-9 the previous 3 years before he started in 2016. His first year they go 3-9. Year two in 2017 they go 8-5 with wins over then #3 Oklahoma and then #4 TCU. They also beat #19 Memphis to end the year at the Liberty Bowl. In 2018 he goes 8-5 again with big wins over Oklahoma State and West Virginia. Last year they went 7-6 but had a 1 point loss against Iowa, a 2 point loss to Baylor, a TD loss to Oklahoma State, a 1 point loss to Oklahoma, they beat #22 Texas, and had a 10 point loss to Kansas State. Even though they dipped a little his team never got blown out. In 2020 they are 5-2 with losses to Louisiana in what was a big upset and a 3 point loss to Oklahoma State. Again this year they beat Oklahoma. Campbell would demand the highest salary out of any coach I would think Tennessee could realistically get - but he still is within reach.

- Doc Holliday at Marshall. The cheap gatekeeper option. This would be a great fallback option if anything were to go sideways. He's a little older now but still a good recruiter and he could be a solid head coach here for 5 or 6 years to get things back in order and make us respectable again. So far this year Marshall is 7-0 and looking very strong. They are 2nd in the nation in total defense and can also put up some points too. I wouldn't make Holliday my first choice but he would definitely be one I'd zero in on if things didn't go right. He only makes 750k a year now so we could double his salary and still get away with a "cheap" option.

- Kalani Sitake at BYU. Proven to be an up and coming coach. Beat us last year. Beat USC last year. 8-0 so far in 2020 and they just came off of a demolishing of Boise St where they beat them 51-17.

Those are 5 head coaches not named Freeze that I think could get the job done here. Also throw in a wildcard - James Franklin. Yes, Penn State is bad this year. It was going to be a major rebuilding year but the guy can coach. He may be obnoxious but he performed miracles at Vandy when he took them to back to back 9 win seasons. He beat UT 2 out of 3 times there, upset a good Georgia team in year three, and beat the dog out of Florida 34-17. His worst year at PSU until this year was two 7-6 years when he started. Then he went 11-3, 11-2, 9-4, and 11-2 last year. I think this year is an anomaly. I would still very much take him as a head football coach.

Other options I'm sure people will throw around that I don't think are realistic - but great coaches - would be Luke Fickel at Cincinnati and Tom Allen at Indiana. I think if Fickel goes anywhere he's heading back to the Big 10 to Michigan or Penn State. Ditto for Allen if he leaves Indiana. He's from Indiana and has turned them into one of the best teams in the entire country in just a few years at a school that should be mind numbingly hard to win at.

If we made a move I just don't want another assistant coach. I want someone who has head coaching experience AND that has taken teams from being so-so or awful to good. All of my candidates that I'd go after fit that bill.

 

[Jackcrevol]

Agree but people now a days are too young to remember the rebuilding jobs in the 70s and 80s where Tennessee lost to Army and Rutgers and Virginia etc. The new generations think anything less than a 4 year rebuild is worthy of immediate firing. And what’s worse is they incorrectly assume some “hot” coach who is doing well with weak schedule at a completely different situation would do better.
I remember when people on this board wanted the likes of Fleck, Franklin, Leach, Tubberville, Ferentz, Harbaugh, Kelly, Chizik, Miles, Richt, Fuente, Rodriguez, Cristobal, Hawkins, Brohm, Johnson, Frost, etc and they are all fired or struggling

There is no “dream” coach that would win big here or anywhere else. They are ALL a game of hit and miss.

joke was growing up. dont get pulled over on way to Knox, Police are liable to give you a Vols ticket.

 

[Rickyvol77]

Really?

He won at Rutgers!

Between Schiano, Pruitt, Butch or Dooley, who would you rather have?

None of the above. And he had one decent year at Rutgers playing a pillow light schedule and still got outcoached by Butch

 

[Rickyvol77]

You do realize Kiffin is in year one and Pruitt is in year three, and Pruitt has ten times the amount of talent Kiffin does to work with? It's disingenuous to even compare the two.

10 times the talent? That’s a laughable statement

 

[Rickyvol77]

joke was growing up. dont get pulled over on way to Knox, Police are liable to give you a Vols ticket.

The fact that most people on here can’t see Matt Campbell as a high-ceiling coach just accentuates why UT can’t hire a coach worth a d@mn.

A guy who’s 31-27?

 

[Rickyvol77]

Rutgers just lost to Illinois.

ILLINOIS!!!

Schiano’s record was padded by being in an easy conference when he was originally HC. I hope he’s learned a thing or two from the NFL/OSU, because he has an uphill battle.

 

[EZE]

A guy who’s 31-27?

You wouldn’t be interested in an up-and-coming coach at 34-24-1 at a middle-tier school in the Big Ten, either. And therein lies the problem with many in our fan base...you can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes a record like that exemplifies a coach who can do more with less.
And trust me, there isn’t much “more” to work with at a school like Iowa State.

Since 1950 (I didn’t feel like going back further), Campbell and Earl Bruce are the only HCs to have winning records at ISU. Even Johnny Majors had an overall losing record while there.

 

[jrwvol]

It’s pretty simple...if you don’t have an elite defense, you better be able to score points. UT’s offensive staff pretty much all came from programs with elite defenses so they didn’t have to be creative to score points. My biggest issue is you have an RPO offense where the QB is no threat to run...Pretty easy to defend.

 

[Rickyvol77]

You wouldn’t be interested in an up-and-coming coach at 34-24-1 at a middle-tier school in the Big Ten, either. And therein lies the problem with many in our fan base...you can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes a record like that exemplifies a coach who can do more with less.
And trust me, there isn’t much “more” to work with at a school like Iowa State.

So explain his record and play against FCS teams there. Or is Drake and Northern Iowa too much talent for Iowa St too? What has he done? One upset win vs Oklahoma? He is 0-4 vs his biggest rival and this year he got cut stomped by a sun belt team at home

 

[EZE]

So explain his record and play against FCS teams there. Or is Drake and Northern Iowa too much talent for Iowa St too? What has he done? One upset win vs Oklahoma? He is 0-4 vs his biggest rival and this year he got cut stomped by a sun belt team at home

He’s had a winning conference record every season but the first (5-1 this season). And only second coach since at least 1950 to post a winning record at ISU.

A school like Florida will be smart enough to hire him, and he will be a star. Tennessee simply isn’t smart enough to make a hire like this (including many of the fans). Look at the OP...the Florida guy gets it.

And BTW, that Big Ten coach was Nick Saban.... But, hey, he didn’t win all of his games at Michigan State, so it’s no wonder that he sucks, right Einstein?

 

[Rickyvol77]

He’s had a winning conference record every season but the first (5-1 this season). And only second coach since at least 1950 to post a winning record at ISU.

A school like Florida will be smart enough to hire him, and he will be a star. Tennessee simply isn’t smart enough to make a hire like this (including many of the fans). Look at the OP...the Florida guy gets it.

And BTW, that Big Ten coach was Nick Saban.... But, hey, he didn’t win all of his games at Michigan State, so it’s no wonder that he sucks, right Einstein?

So Matt Campbell is a .500 coach who gets housed in year four by La Lafayette but is gonna win NCs at a “larger” P5 school?

 

[lilesrt]

Yeah, but Kiffin has a much better QB and WRs that can get separation.

Yes. And Pruitt has had 3 years to get his own weapons and has failed to do so. He’s not good at anything. Sad, but true.

 

[EZE]

So Matt Campbell is a .500 coach who gets housed in year four by La Lafayette but is gonna win NCs at a “larger” P5 school?

Nobody will be a guaranteed success at UT...I don’t care who you hire. But, I think he has as good a chance as anyone.

 

[nomads-11]

Here is my thing. College football is returning to the days when I used to watch Oklahoma play Texas or Texas play Nebraska or Oklahoma play Nebraska. Throw in Notre Dame and maybe USC and that was it. It came down to essentially a few games a year that ended up deciding the Champion. The rest were entertainment, and irrelevant. Fast forward....we seem to be back at it, albeit its more of a track meet than a cloud of dust. Every year you can pencil in Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State.....after that Penn State, Georgia or Oklahoma or program X for that year. Get to the CFP, Clemson wipes the floor with one and Bama the other. Or Georgia does it.....to get to the CFP and Alabama still takes them out.

Say what you want, but Mullin and FLA isn't happening IMO. Certainly not this year playing as they have. GA has won the East the past 3 years....Mullin will probably this year, no matter though. But he's going to get his clock cleaned in the CFP. I'm saying that the traditional HC-DC-OC model actually needs to be completely re-thought. To break up the top 3,4 or 5 one has to break the model/tradition. You're going to have to get outside of the box to break this stalemate at the top.

There is little difference in college football...at the end of the day...as far as the champion goes.....between the old 70s and today. It still comes down to less than a handful of programs that'll win it. That's boring to me on the one hand....but crazy to think everyone is trying to catch lightening in the bottle emulating it. This latter part boggles the mind.

 

[Rickyvol77]

Nobody will be a guaranteed success at UT...I don’t care who you hire. But, I think he has as good a chance as anyone.

Fair enough on your opinion

 

[VolArmy74]

He’s had a winning conference record every season but the first (5-1 this season). And only second coach since at least 1950 to post a winning record at ISU.

A school like Florida will be smart enough to hire him, and he will be a star. Tennessee simply isn’t smart enough to make a hire like this (including many of the fans). Look at the OP...the Florida guy gets it.

And BTW, that Big Ten coach was Nick Saban.... But, hey, he didn’t win all of his games at Michigan State, so it’s no wonder that he sucks, right Einstein?

Some of our fanbase thinks if you don't win the national title at the worst programs in CFB, it shows you're not a good coach.

 

[Rickyvol77]

Some of our fanbase thinks if you don't win the national title at the worst programs in CFB, it shows you're not a good coach.

And some fans think going 9-3 in the MAC or Sun Belt with a good offense means you can coach at a national powerhouse

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

I find it funny how home run hires are so rare for UT and not for anyone else.

I know it’s paranoia on my part but I sometimes wonder if Jimmy Sexton hasn’t intentionally blackballed us from his A-list so he doesn’t have to worry about getting accused of favoritism to his alma mater. There was a rumor that we were assigned Schiano because Sexton had declared he’d be the next client to get a hfc job, and then the Mullen hire by UF upset the applecart.

 

[VolJarhead]

I don't see Pruitt fired this year even if he doesn't win a game.

 

[Remy]

I think the important thing if things go the way I expect them to - be it at the end of this year - or next year - would be to hire a head football coach with HEAD coaching experience that has a proven track record.

And no, that doesn't have to be someone that would be way out in fantasy land like Urban Meyer.

I think a Freeze Warning would be very fun to watch here but many have reservations about him. Personally he may not have the best morals out there but who does and who am I to judge him? I would actually expect if he gets another chance in the SEC be it here or at South Carolina or Auburn he would actually be very well behaved. He knows he can't mess up like he did at Ole Miss.

But even if you take him out of the equation there's several other head coaches that would not demand a premium salary that have a proven track record of turning around bad teams and being very good football coaches and recruiters.

- Jamey Chadwell at Coastal Carolina. He played at ETSU in the late 90s and is proving to be a good head football coach. Yes, it's not at the level of some coaches but at the same time at least he has head coaching experience and has proven he can turn around a bad team or two. Chadwell went 3-9 in Coastal's first year in D1. He's went 5-7 and this year now they are 7-0. They are 25th in total offense this year and 11th in total defense.

- Billy Napier at Louisiana. He took over for Mark Hudspeth who had records of 4-8, 6-7, and 5-7 prior to Napier's arrival. His first year he goes 7-7 even making it to the Sun Belt Championship game. Year two he goes 11-3 and again makes it to the Sun Belt Championship game. Their 3 losses were twice to Appy St and a 10 point loss at Mississippi State. The team was also 10th in total offense and 18th in total defense out of the 130 ranked teams in 2019. In 2020, Napier has now went 7-1 with the loss to Jamey Chadwell's Coastal Carolina team. They beat Iowa State 31-14 to start the year. This guy will be elevated soon to a head coach at a major university. And he has turned the team around.

- Matt Campbell at Iowa State. He took over a horrible team that hadn't had a winning record since 2009. They went 3-9, 2-10, and 3-9 the previous 3 years before he started in 2016. His first year they go 3-9. Year two in 2017 they go 8-5 with wins over then #3 Oklahoma and then #4 TCU. They also beat #19 Memphis to end the year at the Liberty Bowl. In 2018 he goes 8-5 again with big wins over Oklahoma State and West Virginia. Last year they went 7-6 but had a 1 point loss against Iowa, a 2 point loss to Baylor, a TD loss to Oklahoma State, a 1 point loss to Oklahoma, they beat #22 Texas, and had a 10 point loss to Kansas State. Even though they dipped a little his team never got blown out. In 2020 they are 5-2 with losses to Louisiana in what was a big upset and a 3 point loss to Oklahoma State. Again this year they beat Oklahoma. Campbell would demand the highest salary out of any coach I would think Tennessee could realistically get - but he still is within reach.

- Doc Holliday at Marshall. The cheap gatekeeper option. This would be a great fallback option if anything were to go sideways. He's a little older now but still a good recruiter and he could be a solid head coach here for 5 or 6 years to get things back in order and make us respectable again. So far this year Marshall is 7-0 and looking very strong. They are 2nd in the nation in total defense and can also put up some points too. I wouldn't make Holliday my first choice but he would definitely be one I'd zero in on if things didn't go right. He only makes 750k a year now so we could double his salary and still get away with a "cheap" option.

- Kalani Sitake at BYU. Proven to be an up and coming coach. Beat us last year. Beat USC last year. 8-0 so far in 2020 and they just came off of a demolishing of Boise St where they beat them 51-17.

Those are 5 head coaches not named Freeze that I think could get the job done here. Also throw in a wildcard - James Franklin. Yes, Penn State is bad this year. It was going to be a major rebuilding year but the guy can coach. He may be obnoxious but he performed miracles at Vandy when he took them to back to back 9 win seasons. He beat UT 2 out of 3 times there, upset a good Georgia team in year three, and beat the dog out of Florida 34-17. His worst year at PSU until this year was two 7-6 years when he started. Then he went 11-3, 11-2, 9-4, and 11-2 last year. I think this year is an anomaly. I would still very much take him as a head football coach.

Other options I'm sure people will throw around that I don't think are realistic - but great coaches - would be Luke Fickel at Cincinnati and Tom Allen at Indiana. I think if Fickel goes anywhere he's heading back to the Big 10 to Michigan or Penn State. Ditto for Allen if he leaves Indiana. He's from Indiana and has turned them into one of the best teams in the entire country in just a few years at a school that should be mind numbingly hard to win at.

If we made a move I just don't want another assistant coach. I want someone who has head coaching experience AND that has taken teams from being so-so or awful to good. All of my candidates that I'd go after fit that bill.

Always on my list is David Shaw out at Stanford. He was Harbaugh's OC there and elevated to HC when he left. Has had a significant degree of success there. a tough guy, must be a top notch recruiter to get talent to come there as Stanford is basically Vandy on the left coast. I think he would be challenged and take a job at a place like UT.

 

[MSCE09]

Honestly thinking that at this point we aren't getting off the mat. Not playing conventionally at least. Lane I think was the last coach to realize that we are a huge underdog now. He found ways to hide weaknesses and play up against better talent. But he also realized that this wasn't a top 25 job and left. For Tennessee to be competitive again I think we need a cocky attitude changing coach that embraces the challenge and doesn't think he can just be Saban. We need someone Bruce Pearl, Lane Kiffin, James Franklin type coach to come in here with a strut to turn it around. They probably also need to run an offense that doesn't require 5 star recruits to be successful. Freeze could be that guy, I don't know if the SEC or UT admin would allow it.

 

[VolNRaleighNC]

Honestly thinking that at this point we aren't getting off the mat. Not playing conventionally at least. Lane I think was the last coach to realize that we are a huge underdog now. He found ways to hide weaknesses and play up against better talent. But he also realized that this wasn't a top 25 job and left. For Tennessee to be competitive again I think we need a cocky attitude changing coach that embraces the challenge and doesn't think he can just be Saban. We need someone Bruce Pearl, Lane Kiffin, James Franklin type coach to come in here with a strut to turn it around. They probably also need to run an offense that doesn't require 5 star recruits to be successful. Freeze could be that guy, I don't know if the SEC or UT admin would allow it.

Call up Jimmy Johnson and bring back the swagger of The U!

 

[Roustabout]

Let’s rewind the clock a little.

• How quickly we forget. The last coaching search was a mess from the get go. It resulted in an AD getting fired and Fulmer having to come to the rescue in the first place.
• The hires from that year have been an epic fail. The “A” list were Chip Kelly and Scott Frost. I’ll cut Frost some slack because I think he had more work to do than anyone else, but it’s still a fail at this point. Dan Mullen was largely viewed as a shoulder shrug hire. Not bad, but not all that great either. Jimbo has had some success and A&M has gotten better every year. The only guy to win a championship at this point…..Mario Cristobal. Yep, Cristobal. But, there are a lot of Willie Taggarts in that group.
• I think people need to remember what a home run hire is at this point. Once in a blue moon, you have a guy build a dominant program at a doormat. But, that’s extremely rare. You’re normal “home run hire” is a guy like Matt Campbell who hasn’t won anything, but has done as well or better than anyone else who’s coached where he is. Campbell isn’t going to win the Big XII, so judging him that way is not fair. IMO, this is the kind of candidate you need to look for. A head coach, with experience, who has overperformed where he is even if the results don’t appear to be spectacular on the surface. He's 40 years old. He's been a head coach at 2 places. His first head coaching gig was at 32 years old.

Pruitt has failed, IMO. But, why would I pass judgment that way? Is it because he hasn’t won a championship? No. Is it because he’s 0-8 against Florida, Georgia, and Alabama? No.


He has failed because he has not separated Tennessee from the “other” pack out there in the league. By failing to do that, Tennessee did not go bowling in 2018. They robbed themselves of a better bowl in 2019. What bowl do they go to at 9-3 instead of 7-5? And they are going to fail to go to a bowl game this year. That isn’t because of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. That’s because of Vanderbilt, Georgia State, BYU, Kentucky and Arkansas.


At this point, they were supposed to be clearly better than the also rans of the league and they aren’t. The other obvious thing is to start naming things Tennessee does really well or does at the level they need to. I can’t think of any.


But, the reality is the “home run hire” is a fantasy, not just at Tennessee, but everywhere.

JMO

There’s no sure thing. That Matt Campbell candidate is Tom Herman. He had Houston at elite level and even in talks to possibly be in the Big 12. He’s certainly struggled at Texas.

 

[Roustabout]

Honestly thinking that at this point we aren't getting off the mat. Not playing conventionally at least. Lane I think was the last coach to realize that we are a huge underdog now. He found ways to hide weaknesses and play up against better talent. But he also realized that this wasn't a top 25 job and left. For Tennessee to be competitive again I think we need a cocky attitude changing coach that embraces the challenge and doesn't think he can just be Saban. We need someone Bruce Pearl, Lane Kiffin, James Franklin type coach to come in here with a strut to turn it around. They probably also need to run an offense that doesn't require 5 star recruits to be successful. Freeze could be that guy, I don't know if the SEC or UT admin would allow it.

Absurd. Kiffin has lamented his decision in public numerous times. UT is most certainly a top 25 job. Is it easy, no. But we are in the era where Ole Miss, Miss State and South Carolina have been top 10. They have no where near the resources we do.

Mullen was the guy, but the UT bad luck kept coming. Sure the admin slow played, but what are the odds the Florida job comes open the same year and the AD is his buddy? If the UF job doesn’t open, Mullen is here and we’re likely solidly back.