Recruiting Forum Football Talk III

[engineerVOL]

Is Hugh Freeze a less accomplished version of Gus Malzahn who simply never stayed at Ole Miss long enough for the fans to get tired of him the same way that Auburn fans are tired of Gus?

I think so and think he would do well here. He’s more run-based with his passing philosophy. Freeze rarely did anything with his backs. I like Gus as an option and think he values defense a little more than Freeze.

 

[Kingston Vol]

This is what I was going to say-- and it's about the only path that hasn't been tried. His interest has been gauged many times by many people close to him-- including Peyton and Fulmer. IDK if he's even the right guy, and IDT he cares about one more ride at UT or anywhere else. He certainly isn't pining for a rebuild or looking for a new challenge, but I think he might find coaching Arch intriguing. But Arch may not be interested in coming to UT-- and his family isn't going to push him here. So there would be multiple humps to overcome.

Basically, Cut's happy where he is and where he's at in life.

Right, I know they've tried and I legitimately think he's very happy just coaching ball at Duke.

But we're at a breaking point - and a begging point.

Like you said, I don't know if he's the right guy for this job right now, but he is theoretically a guy they could get a deal done with behind the scenes if he were interested.

 

[Blake25p]

Ironically that was the same thought about Cut when we had the chance to hire him after Kiffin bolted. Hammy told him he couldn't bring his staff over so the discussion ended up being moot, but there was a lot of talk here like "Eh, I dunno, he might only stick around a couple years then retire, he has a history of heart trouble, we'd have to plan for both him and someone to succeed him."

11 seasons later, he's still at Duke.

Tennessee had two "outs" very early in the post-Fulmer era. We could have hired Patterson instead of Kiffin, and we could have had Cut instead of Dooley. We failed epically both times, and it's like we've been trapped ever since.

I wonder where this program would be right now had we hired Cut instead of Doofus.

 

[KB5252]

I get what you are saying, but he checks so many boxes...
-proven winner
-stability (8-10 wins no matter what)
-will bring in a winning staff

If not for his last year in Miami, it would be a no brainer... he's just not a sexy hire

Some of those teams had championship talent and he underachieved. He wouldn't have the same recruiting base here. Outcome would likely be worse than what we saw in Miami.

 

[05_never_again]

I wonder where this program would be right now had we hired Cut instead of Doofus.

I don't think we'd be one of the upper eschelon programs in the country, but we would be respectable. I don't think Cut would have had multiple losing seasons here, for example - he's only had a handful of those at Duke, which is an ACC doormat. We wouldn't be 3-5 against Vandy over the last 8 years, or 6-7 against South Carolina.

 

[thunderduck17]

Hire Cut, bring in Jason Witten as "OC". Let Witten learn under Cut and Fulmer. I'm fairly confident Witten wants to be the HC here in the future. Let him be under Cut for a few years then hand him the reigns.

If Wit could be a solid HC, that would be our best case scenario. VFL with HUGE name recognition. Would prefer a scenario like this to just handing him the head job with no coaching experience.

 

[itsme]

Here comes Cutcliffe or Fleck....

Cuttcliffe would be a great hire. He would be at a big program with Arch Manning on the come up. I will take that in a heartbeat. Cutt should have been here a long time ago.

 

[Memphisvol87]

I wonder where this program would be right now had we hired Cut instead of Doofus.

Honestly, my opinion of course, probably ready to make a change. However he would have spared us the embarrassment of the last decade including the Kentucky and vandy losses, no Georgia state type losses either.

 

[05_never_again]

Auburn is delusional though. I’d kill for Gus’s record and performance.

I'm really conflicted about Auburn and Gus. On one hand, I totally get why they are frustrated with him. On the other hand, I tell all the Auburn fans I know that they are really lucky they haven't been like Tennessee since Saban arrived at Alabama, and they probably should be grateful they've been as good as they have been. That's the greatest coach in CFB history at their in-state rival, and they've always been the little brother program in that state.

 

[itsme]

Hire Cut, bring in Jason Witten as "OC". Let Witten learn under Cut and Fulmer. I'm fairly confident Witten wants to be the HC here in the future. Let him be under Cut for a few years then hand him the reigns.

If Wit could be a solid HC, that would be our best case scenario. VFL with HUGE name recognition. Would prefer a scenario like this to just handing him the head job with no coaching experience.

Just because you played at a high level doesn't mean you can coach at a high level. Pass on Witten until he is more proven.

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

I don't think we'd be one of the upper eschelon programs in the country, but we would be respectable. I don't think Cut would have had multiple losing seasons here, for example - he's only had a handful of those at Duke, which is an ACC doormat. We wouldn't be 3-5 against Vandy over the last 8 years, or 6-7 against South Carolina.

We would never have anything less than 8 wins with Cut except for maybe his first year. He gets the most out of players and develops them well. Plus, it’s not like the East has some great coaches. Cut would be right up there with Mullen.

 

[SLICKYINC]

Hire Cut, bring in Jason Witten as "OC". Let Witten learn under Cut and Fulmer. I'm fairly confident Witten wants to be the HC here in the future. Let him be under Cut for a few years then hand him the reigns.

If Wit could be a solid HC, that would be our best case scenario. VFL with HUGE name recognition. Would prefer a scenario like this to just handing him the head job with no coaching experience.

One would think if Witten wanted to be any kind of coach he would have started that process a couple of years ago.

 

[TN-POSSUM]

He walked into a ready made championship team at LSU. Saban literally won national championship 2 seasons before. He WAS able to keep the momentum, so that’s good. But we ain’t 2005 LSU.

Our team is not championship caliber.

I get that but LSU didn't fall off much after Saban's recruits left. My original point was.... I've at least witnessed Les Miles have 11 years of success in the SEC, during the Urban Meyer, Nick Saban era. I don't know if he could do it here or not, but I think he's a Barnes type hire. An older coach, that's had success at the highest level, that just needed a change of scenery. I don't know how much fire Miles has got left but I felt the same way when Barnes was hired.

 

[RiotVol]

Hire Cut, bring in Jason Witten as "OC". Let Witten learn under Cut and Fulmer. I'm fairly confident Witten wants to be the HC here in the future. Let him be under Cut for a few years then hand him the reigns.

If Wit could be a solid HC, that would be our best case scenario. VFL with HUGE name recognition. Would prefer a scenario like this to just handing him the head job with no coaching experience.

I would love to see Witten back home. His brother is crushing it at Elizabethton.

 

[Newman]

 

[LA Vol]

yeah...ironic doesn't begin to cover it.

and i remember being for hiring Cut back then. the "you can't bring your staff" deal was, to me, an effort to cut ties with the fulmer era all together.....MH et al was hell bent on that.

Hammy was cheap. Hart was cheap. Cheek was cheap. That's why some say UT is cheap, even now, when every single decision maker is different, top-down. This admin has given the program and coaches everything requested, but fans still say UT admin is "stupid," "cheap" and "incompetent." Randy Boyd is far from stupid, he certainly isn't cheap and no one who knows him or has worked with him calls him incompetent.

 

[itsme]

if you were to hire Cut now, you know that is only a stop gap move, and you simply have to have another move already planned for 2-3 years down the line. and not the framework of plan or an idea of a plan...an actual plan. becuase you're gonna be doing the hire a coach thing yet again...soon.

so how you build the roster, your recruiting philosophy etc...all has to be lined up for the immediate future with Cut, and the "after cut" future as well.

and to me, that sounds like a lot to align for a program that has sucked azz at doing this for as long as we have.

but wth. we've tried err'thing else. what could it hurt at this point lol?

Hire Cutt to right the ship, bring discipline back and the old mentality. Have Tee on staff to eventually take the job.

 

[Kingston Vol]

Stunner of the day: we've all decided we should hire Cut.

Can't wait for @Bassmaster_Vol to come in here and ruin it.

 

[Jimmy Football]

Hammy was cheap. Hart was cheap. Cheek was cheap. That's why some say UT is cheap, even now, when every single decision maker is different, top-down. This admin has given the program and coaches everything requested, but fans still say UT admin is "stupid," "cheap" and "incompetent." Randy Boyd is far from stupid, he certainly isn't cheap and no one who knows him or has worked with him calls him incompetent.

Proof’s in the pudding. Get it fixed, Boyd.

 

[Johncarter53]

 

[Jack Burton]

Recruits are bailing as expected. Have we replaced Pruitt yet?

 

[Smokeytom]

Cut coaching up Bailey and Salter? Yes please

 

[Bassmaster_Vol]

Stunner of the day: we've all decided we should hire Cut.

Can't wait for @Bassmaster_Vol to come in here and ruin it.

Like your other suggestions, that would be stupid

 

[Kingston Vol]

Like your other suggestions, that would be stupid

You never let me down.

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

Stunner of the day: we've all decided we should hire Cut.

Can't wait for @Bassmaster_Vol to come in here and ruin it.

It’s working well for Wisconsin hiring school alums. He would be the perfect hire for what we are dealing with right now.