In an exercise of being objective, let’s at least talk about some of the good Pruitt has done

#1
KnoxRealtorVOL

KnoxRealtorVOL

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#1
We’re frustrated, and justifiably so, but I do sit firmly in the “Pruitt gets 5 years” camp, mostly because I’m sick of playing musical coaches. We have a decade of evidence that it doesn’t work. To at least see all sides of the picture (and give us a much needed change of pace), let’s talk a bit about some of the good so far in Pruitt’s tenure.

To go ahead and address some pre-rebuttals:

-Yes, I’m aware Butch and Dooley did some good things too.

-No, none of these are job-saving, that’s not what I’m arguing.

-Yes, we seem to have regressed this year and now the bad probably outweighs the good, or it’s close.

The good things:

1. Pruitt got Jennings reinstated. Never forget, the Butch/Hoke admin kicked Jauan freaking Jennings off the team. Pruitt rectified that mistake.

2. Pruitt ended the ridiculously unjustifiable Muschamp curse, and he did it in style by throttling him in 2019.

3. Pruitt ended the SEC West drought. Before Pruitt’s arrival, we hadn’t beaten an SEC West team since Dooley beat Ole Miss in 2010. True story.

4. 8 game win streak, our second longest win steak since 1998.

5. 8-5 record in year 2, our second best record since 2007.

6. Took the actual worst team in Tennessee history and in year 1, when most teams go backwards, improved the W/L and conference record.

7. Brought Cade Mays home (although so far he hasn’t lived up to expectations).


Again, not arguing for Pruitt, but let’s at least not be one-dimensional in our overall opinion of the job he’s done. There have been some really good things here. Flame away, I’m sure it’s coming.
 
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#2
#2
While I'm disappointed this season (like everyone else), I do think we should evaluate Pruitt on a non-Covid season before jumping to too many conclusions. We have a lot of Freshman talent on the roster and none of them had a proper offseason to get prepared. Not that this excuses the terrible QB play, but I feel like it's difficult to really judge much on this season given the completely unique nature of it.
 
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#4
#4
FiremedicVOL127 said:
Let's not forget, he added/required a strength and conditioning program.

And even though he is catching alot of heat and being blatantly hammered the past couple of weeks, he's not making any excuses and putting the blame off him. He's owning it.
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He might be „owning“ the season and not casting blame about that, but I do not like the way he and the administration are trying to shame the assistants into accepting a pay cut. If a coach is willing and able to accept a pay cut, I am very proud and happy for them. But we do not know everyone’s circumstances and must always remember how quickly an assistant can find himself unemployed. A contract is a contract and there is no shame in expecting the school to live up to its end of the bargain. Pruitt is NOT showing leadership in having his staff‘s backs over this and that smells horrible to me.
 
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#5
#5
FiremedicVOL127 said:
Let's not forget, he added/required a strength and conditioning program.

And even though he is catching alot of heat and being blatantly hammered the past couple of weeks, he's not making any excuses and putting the blame off him. He's owning it.
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This is a good point, because I think he could very easily say “We just don’t have a lot of good players. We have some good players, but not enough.”

I mean our best receiver is Palmer. And while Palmer is really really good, he still isn’t making anywhere near the same SEC splash as Elijah Moore, DeVonta Smith, Shi Smith, Terrance Marshall, etc etc.
 
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#6
#6
OrangeTsar said:
He might be „owning“ the season and not casting blame about that, but I do not like the way he and the administration are trying to shame the assistants into accepting a pay cut. If a coach is willing and able to accept a pay cut, I am very proud and happy for them. But we do not know everyone’s circumstances and must always remember how quickly an assistant can find himself unemployed. A contract is a contract and there is no shame in expecting the school to live up to its end of the bargain. Pruitt is NOT showing leadership in having his staff‘s backs over this and that smells horrible to me.
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Huh?? Pruitt defended the ones who didn’t.

Whatchu talkin bout Willis?
 
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#7
#7
He's also landed two very good recruiting classes in a row and could possibly land a 2nd straight Top 10 class.

While you want to see better results in year 3, this is not a normal year, so I'll cut him some slack. But man, something has got to be done at QB. Use a rotation or something. Put Holiday in to do some wildcat. Just something different. Cause what they're doing isn't working.
 
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#11
#11
As someone who thinks Pruitt is in over his head, here are the things that I think Pruitt has done well:

1. He's been good (excluding BYU) in close games

2. He did a good job of keeping the team from imploding after the UF game last year.

3. He's done a good job recruiting (considering the record). He was a little slow in establishing meaningful connections in Middle TN but those started showed up in the most recent recruiting class. This staff did a good job of making inroads into Memphis/Baltimore.

Those are the things he's done well. The rest of it, however, hasn't been pretty.
 
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#13
#13
knox-townVOL said:
We’re frustrated, and justifiably so, but I do sit firmly in the “Pruitt gets 5 years” camp, mostly because I’m sick of playing musical coaches. We have a decade of evidence that it doesn’t work. To at least see all sides of the picture (and give us a much needed change of pace), let’s talk a bit about some of the good so far in Pruitt’s tenure.

To go ahead and address some pre-rebuttals:

-Yes, I’m aware Butch and Dooley did some good things too.

-No, none of these are job-saving, that’s not what I’m arguing.

-Yes, we seem to have regressed this year and now the bad probably outweighs the good, or it’s close.

The good things:

1. Pruitt got Jennings reinstated. Never forget, the Butch/Hoke admin kicked Jauan freaking Jennings off the team. Pruitt rectified that mistake.

2. Pruitt ended the ridiculously unjustifiable Muschamp curse, and he did it in style by throttling him in 2019.

3. Pruitt ended the SEC West drought. Before Pruitt’s arrival, we hadn’t beaten an SEC West team since Dooley beat Ole Miss in 2010. True story.

4. 8 game win streak, our second longest win steak since 1998.

5. 8-5 record in year 2, our second best record since 2007.

6. Took the actual worst team in Tennessee history and in year 1, when most teams go backwards, improved the W/L and conference record.

7. Brought Cade Mays home (although so far he hasn’t lived up to expectations).


Again, not arguing for Pruitt, but let’s at least not be one-dimensional in our overall opinion of the job he’s done. There have been some really good things here. Flame away, I’m sure it’s coming.
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Those are definitely some good things he has done. Yet, at the same time, if I'm being objective...the blowout losses to GA, FL, BAMA, UK, ARK coupled with ugly losses to GA ST and BYU then the bad far outweighs the good.

Pruitt needs to realize he is not going to take this team to the next level with JG at QB. JG should have been pulled after the 2nd pick 6 vs UK (you could argue he should have been pulled after the 2nd 1/2 collapse at GA) and he should have been playing HB ever since, our record wouldn't be any worse as we haven't won a game since then but HB would have invaluable experience. Barring a remarkable turnaround, a real miracle, his days are numbered. Even if he returns next year it doesn't matter as player and fan apathy have set in. Nobody believes he is the guy. You just cannot get embarrassed by UK at home in year 3 and be taken seriously as the head coach at the University of Tennessee! To me, the only acceptable finish for Pruitt would be to win out finishing 6-4 with a decent bowl appearance (and win) concluding 7-4 on the season.

This is not a personal attack on JG. I think he's a good kid and endured a lot. He's been a warrior. The problem is JG is consistently inconsistent and when he has a bad game it's often times really bad.
 
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#15
#15
Lane Train 4 said:
Anybody can recruit at UT! Fire that clown now and get a real coach ASAP!
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#19
#19
GameTime said:
The thing that has driven the fan base the most nuts, is Pruitt's continued insistence in JG being the best chance to win scenario....

The fans want to see Bailey....Not JG again.
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I agree on Bailey...but it's not as much about not wanting JG...if he was playing to expectation, I think most would be ok with him starting...but he hasn't, so, we're stuck in no man's land w/ no QB who can lead the team, b/c we've not prepared the other ones, and team mojo is on the same path of our QB performance.
 
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#20
#20
DiderotsGhost said:
While I'm disappointed this season (like everyone else), I do think we should evaluate Pruitt on a non-Covid season before jumping to too many conclusions. We have a lot of Freshman talent on the roster and none of them had a proper offseason to get prepared. Not that this excuses the terrible QB play, but I feel like it's difficult to really judge much on this season given the completely unique nature of it.
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Why can't we evaluate no matter what kind of year it is? Other people are still having success despite how unusual the circumstances are this year.
 
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#21
#21
DiderotsGhost said:
While I'm disappointed this season (like everyone else), I do think we should evaluate Pruitt on a non-Covid season before jumping to too many conclusions. We have a lot of Freshman talent on the roster and none of them had a proper offseason to get prepared. Not that this excuses the terrible QB play, but I feel like it's difficult to really judge much on this season given the completely unique nature of it.
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I agree with the not judging on a covid season but I am disappointed with how he has handled this season. I mean players get an extra year of eligiblity so why not use the games and a tool and put your young players on the field to get in game experience since they will still have 4 years left. When you are getting throttled by teams go ahead and get experience for the young guys so you can have an actual competition next spring. Not getting the young qb reps because of afraid of getting him hurt is a double standard when your running a freshman rb and receiver out there.
 
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