Recruiting Forum Football Talk III

[McGeesPub]

“A long, painful, drawn out process builds character, and our fan base will really appreciate that when we finally complete our comeback and achieve that Outback Bowl berth in 2027.”

-PF, probably

 

[90 Vol]

 

[RiotVol]

I don't think Hubbs has ever pretended to know the nuances of football although I am sure he has picked up on some things. I was on Hubbs site when he originally started VQ, and it was with Alliance Sports (before Rivals). It was all about recruiting. I was a student at UT and was always interested in keeping up with recruiting. Hubbs is just a radio guy that happens to own a website. He wasn't really even trained to be a journalist.

He is someone who has connections to information. Even most journalists will tell you that they don't know the X's and O's of the sports they report on- they just have the sources to report.

Oh, I'm not knocking him, really. He just is what he is, and I kind of feel for him. He built up his company and is one of the consistently decent sports journalists in Knoxville. I tell you that I'd much rather pay him than Knox News.

I was just trying to point out that he's got his own s@#$ sandwich to eat in this situation.

 

[shocker]

“have to learn how to walk before you can run” is what we have heard for years. All the while, other teams seem to be doing a light jog with first and second year coaches. If Pruitt needs training wheels at this point, then he is very delayed in his development as a coach.

This should be more embarrassing to the fanbase then any coaching search would provide

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Revisionist history strikes again.

Tee was mediocre..that is the truth and always has been.

 

[BeecherVol]

Trust me I hear you but as a fan I will not be embarrassed at all with the university getting rid of a 3-7 coach. At least it shows we care about winning regardless of who we hire next

Firing Pruitt just means you re not satisfied with him. No different than Jones or Dooley before him.

What you replace him with determines how much you care about winning. The last 3 hires are rather low on the care meter.

 

[drvenner]

Tee was mediocre..that is the truth and always has been.

We won a national championship with him starting every game as QB. That does not equal mediocre, ever. We went 13-0. He made plays that put helped us win it. Not sure why this is so hard for so many of you.

 

[pismonque]

From a poster on VQ...

“ Just spoke to someone very close to Jimmy Sexton. Sexton told him a lot is going on behind the scenes. If Pruitt is replaced, they want the new coach announced very quickly as last search gave UT a black eye. Freeze has not been written off by UT and he would be in play.

I asked a few questions to which he said
“Jimmy is very careful and does not divulge much, even to me.” Believe me, he is real close Sexton.”

I guess this is as likely bs as anything else but it does point out the pickle the UT admin is in (of their own devising of course).

If they fire Pruitt, there's no way in hell they want a public search debacle happening again, so they need to have the new hire in place. On the other hand, if they announce the firing and quickly unveil a new hire and it's not one of the few fan-anointed favorites, they don't want a public Schiano debacle happening again either. Difficult spot.

 

[m1al]

Oh, I'm not knocking him, really. He just is what he is, and I kind of feel for him. He built up his company and is one of the consistently decent sports journalists in Knoxville. I tell you that I'd much rather pay him than Knox News.

I was just trying to point out that he's got his own s@#$ sandwich to eat in this situation.

I'll have mine with all the trimmings please. Maybe it will help mask the taste of the turd we're constantly being fed lately........

 

[VolGee4]

Oh, I'm not knocking him, really. He just is what he is, and I kind of feel for him. He built up his company and is one of the consistently decent sports journalists in Knoxville. I tell you that I'd much rather pay him than Knox News.

I was just trying to point out that he's got his own s@#$ sandwich to eat in this situation.

Yea, I have heard this kind of discussion from journalists in my market. People accuse them of being negative, but they always say that winning helps them as a journalist because more people want to read the news when teams are winning. Hubbs is the same way- more people are interested when UT football is winning (although there is still a lot of interest either way).

I just try to remind people that I don't think Hubbs ever got into it to be a real journalist. He found a niche, and he literally started a website to report on recruiting. But, online media has changed so much over the 20+ years, that he has had to adapt to include more in-depth articles, videos, and a podcast.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

An 8 win SEC team got physically handled by Georgia state last year lol. There is a lot of bad football being played in the SEC.

That is BS and you know it...We would have run them by 50 at the end of the year. That loss was a product of treating the game as a evaluation practice scrimmage instead of a real game.

 

[shocker]

Firing Pruitt just means you re not satisfied with him. No different than Jones or Dooley before him.

What you replace him with determines how much you care about winning. The last 3 hires are rather low on the care meter.

The law of averages has to be on our side when it comes to choosing the right coach and the best part is if we did it this year we are not competing with a Texas or Michigan

 

[LA Vol]

"For cause" is when you have slam-dunk, incontrovertible evidence, and even then the coach is going to retain counsel and threaten suit. And that will air all dirty laundry and hang people out to dry way up the chain. Nothing ever happens in a vacuum.

UT promptly and thoroughly investigated to see what was out there. And the answer is-- no cause. And no negotiated buyout unless Pruitt wants out right now-- which it appears he does not.

 

[rikberry31]

what exactly does "accepting the less than mediocre program" really mean for a fan?

it gets tossed around here all the time and has for years.

if you don't accept it, then what do you do? stop being a fan? if so, then i'd say pretty much every one here accepts it. lol.

In today’s world “not accepting it” and “doing something” means unending griping and whining and believing you can speak things into existence.

 

[90 Vol]

Don’t be surprised when we are 5-7

I see 3 sure wins on our schedule for next year.

 

[jpope9]

“have to learn how to walk before you can run” is what we have heard for years. All the while, other teams seem to be doing a light jog with first and second year coaches. If Pruitt needs training wheels at this point, then he is very delayed in his development as a coach.

yep, arkansas and missouri seem to be able to jump right out to a jog while we are pulling hamstrings while stretching.

 

[RiotVol]

Trust me I hear you but as a fan I will not be embarrassed at all with the university getting rid of a 3-7 coach. At least it shows we care about winning regardless of who we hire next

It would be interesting to poll the administrators of the university to see if they get that a big chunk of those fans are potential students, parents of students, or donors. The thing that will cattle prod them back to some kind of reality is when annual giving and enrollment declines, the athletic department budget declines, and the AD starts walking into the "Power Tower" asking for money they don't have.

All of these things are connected, and probably the thing that gave me a little flicker of hope was the day I read Boyd's bio. I'm hoping he gets that for big state schools in the south, sports REALLY matter, and isn't just simply spouting the platitude about it being "the front porch." It is THE marketing weapon in the south.

 

[KB5252]

If Pruitt is fired it wont happen by Fulmer's decision. To this point there apparently isnt enough influence to make it happen. That may or may not change.

If Pruitt stays, I dont think you will see Fulmer release a statement saying so.

The fact that it hasn't happened to this point leads me think the pendulum will not swing far enough for Pruitt to be fired this year. At this point I'd be surprised if we let him go.

 

[UTK]

That is BS and you know it...We would have run them by 50 at the end of the year. That loss was a product of treating the game as a evaluation practice scrimmage instead of a real game.

Outside of the SC game, we barely scrapped by the other Ws. And we only did so becuase a group of Butch Jones players didn't want to go out as complete losers. Those are just the facts.

 

[shocker]

In today’s world “not accepting it” and “doing something” means unending griping and whining and believing you can speak things into existence.

But the alternative is being okay with what we have? Not seeing your guys point in this thing...

 

[Volsfaninva917]

"For cause" is when you have slam-dunk, incontrovertible evidence, and even then the coach is going to retain counsel and threaten suit. And that will air all dirty laundry and hang people out to dry way up the chain. Nothing ever happens in a vacuum.

UT promptly and thoroughly investigated to see what was out there. And the answer is-- no cause. And no negotiated buyout unless Pruitt wants out right now-- which it appears he does not.

So in other news Trey Wallace is FOS, imagine that

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

There’s gonna be a lot of salty Tennessee fans crysterbating to the Vols when we win 8-9 games with Pruitt at the helm next year.

Not me...I want him to pull off a good season. I don't believe he can do it now, but I hope he does.

But..it doesn't matter what the record next year is, most of the fanbase hates him and wants him gone no matter what now...they are fully invested in his failure.

 

[90 Vol]

Isn’t 3-7 enough embarrassment? Why should we care about the embarrassment of a coaching search...

It is, but that last coaching search was an epic $hit show.

 

[hep]

Not me...I want him to pull off a good season. I don't believe he can do it now, but I hope he does.

But..it doesn't matter what the record next year is, most of the fanbase hates him and wants him gone no matter what now...they are fully invested in his failure.

His failure doesn’t start next year, it’s been going on for a while now.

 

[Blake25p]

The fact a decision hasn’t been made tells you how much of a joke this administration is.