I'm having a hard time with this one. My knee-jerk reaction is to answer 'Yes: Over $100'.
Here is my quandary:
- I genuinely like the guy. He's down-to-earth and real. I believe that with Pruitt - what you see is what you get. I know that the issue with some of you is that you don't like what you see, but the truth is - I do. His candid nature is very refreshing to me.
- I feel like we have invested three years in his HC development and I really hate to see that time and financial investment go to waste.
- He's had three years so far. I think about what he has had to deal with:
- He's never been a head coach. He has had to learn what it takes to be one. Seeing what it takes and doing it are different. It was expected to be a steep learning curve - without a doubt it has been one. This lesson has been through the school of hard knocks. Honestly - I feel like it is still a work-in-progress. I'm just not sure how long we here in VolNation are willing to wait.
- A roster filled with gigantic holes where the most important pieces are. This was always going to take years to fix.
- As much as I hate to say it, UT had developed a culture of losing. Changing this culture may have been his biggest challenge, It may have taken a step backwards this year.
- A pandemic that scrubbed the off-season of what many of us believed could be a water-shed year, what with a talent-laden OL, a returning tailback in the vein of an Alvin Kamara, and most importantly, a hot-shot freshman QB who most believe has the talent to be really good.
Now the other side of the coin for me:
- I see some of VolNation refer to him as a Gomer. No coach is EVER going to make all fans happy, but IMO all that matters is results on the field. If he was winning championships we would be calling him a Genius - not a Gomer.
- I feel like the current roster is much better now than three years ago, but we aren't completely there yet. I also really believe that he connects with his players. I'm just not sure that is enough. If the next recruiting class takes a step backwards, that could be the final straw.
- Three years. Is that long enough given all of the circumstances? You can compare records of other coaches in similar circumstances, but I'm not sure that ANY coach has had to deal with all of this, all at the same time. Does the pandemic grant him a pass for another year?
- With all of that said, I just don't understand the decision to continue to play JG at QB this year after all of the turnovers. If he were a RB putting the ball on the carpet that many times, he would never play another down. This is not intended to be another down-with-JG comment, but I'm sorry - I just don't get it. Why would ANY head coach continue to do that. This one is hard for me to get past.
That leads me back to my quandary. Would I take Hugh Freeze over Pruitt? My honest answer is yes, but VolNation - I just don't see it happening. I remember the rush to get rid of Fulmer so we could land Lane Kiffin while he was available. We all know how that turned out. I believe Fulmer will have no part of it.