How can Kiffin take a bad Old Miss team and get the players to buy in?

#27
#27
Kiffin knows how to elevate an offense, especially the Qb. He’s also a good playcaller. Those two things combined have led to his rebels scoring a lot of points this year.
I think he’s overrated as a playcaller (he coat us two games in his only year), but what he did with Crompton should never be forgotten. Probably the best QB coach in the league.
 
#28
#28
Ole Miss has a 4-5 record and you are saying their players have bought in?

Hahhahahahahahahah!

His offense may average say 45 but his defense would give up 55 a game.

Yeah, that's the kind of guy we want.

Then, he'd leave us in a year or two.

When will the "We want Kiffin" lunacy end?
To pine for a coach that dumped us for Hollywood after one year shows you just how dire our current situation is.
 
#31
#31
Ole Miss has a 4-5 record and you are saying their players have bought in?

Hahhahahahahahahah!

His offense may average say 45 but his defense would give up 55 a game.

Yeah, that's the kind of guy we want.

Then, he'd leave us in a year or two.

When will the "We want Kiffin" lunacy end?

In year one, with less talent, and a tougher schedule he won more games than UT.

Before he got there they went 4-8 with wins over New Mexico and SE Louisiana.

He also played every opponent within 2 scores. So they had a chance to win every game

To pretend that’s not impressive is insane
 
#32
#32
In year one, with less talent, and a tougher schedule he won more games than UT.

Before he got there they went 4-8 with wins over New Mexico and SE Louisiana.

To pretend that’s not impressive is insane
He also won back-to-back CUSA titles at FAU. That is pretty hard considering none of those teams usually stand out.
 
#36
#36
Interesting fact: 2 of 3 first year head coaches in the sec had better records than CJP this season. The third one beat us head to head.

So each of these teams was terrible a year ago. Each fired their head coach. Yet each was still better than UT this season

Leach: 4-7
Kiffin: 4-5
Pittman :3-7 (beat UT)

Conclusion: Pruitt blows
 
#38
#38
Kiffin is not a great head coach.

He is bright, very smart at offensive football, and a good motivator. That makes him an excellent assistant coach.

His leadership style energizes college-age men better than many other coaches. He seems to be about the process with them...focuses on enjoying the ride while doing your best. He is able to teach and develop players without losing sight of the fun of the game.

But he has significant character flaws. Which aren't that critical when he has a boss keeping him in line, but are amplified when he's the guy in charge with no dampener around.

Most importantly for the discussion of Tennessee football, Kiffin has probably reached a plateau in his career. He has been a head coach for most of the past 14 years. He will continue to improve a bit as the years pass, all people do if they're trying, but the big strides have already been made.

What he misses as a head coach is enough to keep him from ever reaching the pinnacle of the sport. He's not a championship coach.

Okay, that's Kiffin. Final note on him as we transition to Pruitt: Lane is, to date, a better head coach than Jeremy.

Pruitt's leadership style is more mechanical, results-oriented. The reward in his cosmos is not having fun, it is achieving tangible results. This will cause him to be less popular with his players than a guy like Kiffin. When players talk about Pruitt, they'll use words like "respect" more often than "like." You can't love a machine.

Not saying Jeremy doesn't have any personality. He does, and it comes out at times. He truly cares for his players; and they can feel that. It's just not a joyous thing, more a down-in-the-dirt, depression-era farmer kind of vibe. We Will Endure is going to be playing in the background of a Pruitt practice, while Girls Just Wanna Have Fun might be Lane's theme song.

That leadership style has not (yet) paid off for Pruitt. Indications are his coaching staff are divided to some extent (we outside the building will never know how much or little). That's a signal that some of his assistant coaches don't share this basic mindset. He will need to find coaches who can thrive in his world; it won't work any other way.

As for the players, I think they'll be fine. They can thrive under just about any style of head coach, if they want to be there, want to win, and are willing to subsume their personal will within the will of the team.

Of huge significance is this: Pruitt is still learning two key things: how to be a head coach, and how to win with players that aren't always more elite than the fellas on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Those are two big learning curves, and he's taking them both on simultanously.

Will he be able to adjust? We don't know. Many here have written him off, saying it is evident he can't do it. I'm not so sure. Time is the only thing that will tell.

Fulmer clearly agrees. He wants to see Pruitt take at least one more step. So no matter what each of us may want, we're all gonna see that.

Given that fact, rather than bitch and moan about our head coach, might as well adopt more of a wait and see attitude.

Finally, Jeremy Pruitt is a human being. He is flawed, just like you and me. He grows and learns, just like you and me. He deserves to be treated with basic human dignity just like you and me. And, as long as he's our head coach, we should all be wishing him the best. We should all WANT him to be a championship caliber coach for the Vols, whether we're convinced he can be at this point, or not.
 
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#41
#41
I was in Tuscaloosa at the game Kiffin coached. Heading into the 4th we were in striking distance and the team rallied around Kiffin on the sideline and were jumping, shouting and fired up. Pulled off an onside kick taking ball away from Julio Jones and set UT up for potential winning FG. Haven't seen that kind of enthusiasm from a UT team in a long time. Unfortunate that Kiffin did not hang around and mature as he could have been the ticket.
 
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#42
#42
You said he was a really good coach. 65-39 is not what I call a really good coach. That’s a 60% winning percentage. Nothing special
He's coached 1 year at Tennessee, 3.5 at a USC under probation, FAU, and now Ole Miss. That's a really good record considering where he's been, and where we've been lately
 
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#43
#43
He's coached 1 year at Tennessee, 3.5 at a USC under probation, FAU, and now Ole Miss. That's a really good record considering where he's been, and where we've been lately

Despite the scholly limits, he had a full class of juniors and seniors every year he was at USC and they still left him on the tarmac (literally)
 
#44
#44
In year one, with less talent, and a tougher schedule he won more games than UT.

Before he got there they went 4-8 with wins over New Mexico and SE Louisiana.

He also played every opponent within 2 scores. So they had a chance to win every game

To pretend that’s not impressive is insane
They obviously had a better QB but thats nothing new, they had a better Qb then us before Kiffin. Carrol & Ta'amu were better then what we had. They didnt play a tougher schedule then we did. We played Uga, Fla, Bama, A&M, Auburn. They played Bama, Fla and got blown out just like us. Played Auburn pretty much the same as us and lost by more to Ark then we did. They didnt play UGA or A&M they got State & LSU who both are rebuilding. Which 2 u think are harder?? They would be 3-6 with our schedule. I think them being able to score points might inflate opinions but they still sucked just like us.
 
#49
#49
Ole Miss has a 4-5 record and you are saying their players have bought in?

Hahhahahahahahahah!

His offense may average say 45 but his defense would give up 55 a game.

Yeah, that's the kind of guy we want.

Then, he'd leave us in a year or two.

When will the "We want Kiffin" lunacy end?
Kiffin will get his defense. Year one likely to be .500. Vols year 3 and 3-7. Get a grip. He’s a good if not great coach. Unfortunate he left.
 
#50
#50
Kiffin is iight years ahead of foolmer and pruitt.
As for Kiffin vs Fulmer, you're a fool.

When Lane wins multiple Power 5 conference and national championships, get back with us. When he joins the 100-win club, ring a bell. When his lifetime win % reaches 75%, let us know (hint: it's not currently even 70%. Or 65%).

Until then, your take is just foolish.
 

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