Bargain Bin Hire?

#52
#52
I think it is a combination of both salary and the quality of coach with a heavy lean on the quality side.

These guys end up with top 25 salaries but they are usually 3rd or 4th tier options at best that they hire.

Every hire has come into the job with red flags and obvious flaws based on their previous job.

Kiffin : immaturity with the Raiders
Dooley: losing record with limited experience
Jones: riding Kelley's coattails
Pruitt: no HC experience, rumblings of being difficult to work with

I think there is more dysfunction behind the scenes than any of us here really knows. Throwing Fulmer back into that mix has made it even more difficult to attract a good option. The man is arrogant and had lost his touch for the game 15 years ago.

I am all for terminating Pruitt immediately as it can't get any worse. But I have no realistic expectation of them attracting a top tier coach under the current environment.
 
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#53
#53
BigOrangeTrain said:
Kiffin, Butch and Dooley were bargain bin hires. None. I repeat, NONE of them were qualified to be the HC at TN. Why were they bargain bin? Here is my opinion.

We have not had competent AD leadership in a long time. This is not a coaching problem. It’s a from the very top down problem that still exists.
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What are the qualifications to be head coach at Tennessee?
 
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#54
#54
A bargain bin hire is having to take whatever is there. There has to be mutual interest. Unfortunately no proven coach has shown any interest in coming to this program. As a result of the administration and those in charge, who can blame them. I reflect back when Bama was searching for their savior and offered Saban 4 mil, twice what the next highest coach was offered. Saban had that potential to marshall the available assets of a historic program and build back a dynasty. It would be great if a similar coach could see potential in our program and take that chance. That's what we have been waiting for for the past 15 years.
 
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#56
#56
Boca Vol said:
This isn't a keep Jeremy or FAHR JURMEE thread but I keep seeing this as it pertains to "UT's preferred hiring strategy". But what exactly does that mean?

Is it about who is hired or how much the coach is paid....or a combo of both dependent upon results? If UT managed to go 8-2 or 7-3 this season would the UTAD still be accused of shopping at the bargain outlet for its coach? The money would've been the same? When UT was on an 8-game winning streak was it considered bargain bin?

Did Ole Miss shop at the same bargain outlet when they hired Kiffin? Until yesterday Pruitt & Kiffin made about the same. I hear UT could hire Freeze for cheap. Isn't that bargain bin shopping?

Does it have to do with UT hiring someone who had never been a HC before? Lincoln Riley, Ryan Day, & Dabo had never been HC's before their 1st gig. I don't see anyone referring to those as bargain bin hires. Why? Because they've won. Now they all have fat contracts.

What about schools such as Texas, Michigan, & FSU? Those wouldn't qualify as "Dollar Tree" hires and how's that working out for UM? And how'd that work out for Texas with Hermann and FSU with Taggart?

It seems to be a situational thing. It's a cheap hire if it doesn't work out. But throwing tons of money at a coach isn't necessarily the answer either. IIRC, people had optimism with the Pruitt hire based on his previous success at FSU and Bama. Would anyone have felt better if UT paid Pruitt over $5MM per year? Does anyone, other than OSU, value "The Mullet" enough to have paid him $6.5-$7MM per year and KNOW he could win in the SEC?

What is a bargain bin hire?
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Kevin Sumlin, Tom Herman, Willie Taggart, Charlie Strong....oh wait
 
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#58
#58
BigOrangeMojo said:
I'm not 100% sure we were all-in with Mullen. We had 72 hrs of silence after we first interviewed him. Second (and maybe more importantly), Florida struck out on their first two choices and Sexton still couldnt get us and UF into a bidding war. Sexton couldnt even get Mullen above average buyout provisions.
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Knowing what we know of Sexton, if UT had actually offered $7 million for Mullen, he'd have gotten equal or better from Florida for his client.
 
#60
#60
I suppose a "bargain bin" hire is more of a reflection on the overall return of the investment in the coach hired, rather than what is actually spent to bring in the coach in question.

For example, to me, the Kiffin hire was a bit of both. His record was an improvement over 2008 and he had restored hope to the program, but his immaturity was a distraction and the way he did things often left people scratching their heads.

Dooley was the perfect example of a bargain bin hire, nothing else needs to be said (except, perhaps, that the bamboo needs watering and shower discipline is strong). 🙄

Butch is a interesting case. He came in with a good resume (strongly constructed by Brian Kelly), but also showed improvement in his first three seasons. The fact that Tennessee faded down the stretch in 2016, plus the debacle that was 2017 (along with Butch being Butch) perhaps exposed the real Jones and therefore finished him off.

And now we have Pruitt. Man, did we want to believe he was the one. In the beginning, he sounded like an SEC coach and had the resume and rings to suggest that his time was here. The wins in 2018 over Auburn and UK (remember, the Cats were good that season) showed potential. Then...Georgia State happened. Arguably the worst loss in school history (Chattanooga 1958, North Texas 1975, Rutgers 1979, and Wyoming 2008 are debatable), followed by a give away loss to BYU opened up the debate. Then...an 8-game win streak over two seasons quieted some of the noise (extensions to Pruitt and Fulmer notwithstanding). Then...a six game losing streak followed, featuring some of the worst football many Big Orange fans have ever seen their team play (along with other distractions). At this point, I'm not sure what category Pruitt's hire falls under...bargain bin or roller coaster. I suppose a bit of both.
 
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#65
#65
Bargain Bin hires refer to quality and the commonly associated cheaper cost.

aTm went for quality and refused to let cost get in the way.

Tennessee hires no name losers as cheap as possible. Then we sit around until they get a huge buyout 3-5 years later.

Basically, just like everything else in life, you either pay more upfront for more stability and quality or you do what UT does.
 
#66
#66
Tennessee has wasted enough money to buy a couple of great coaches because of the wait and see, hope and pray they work out philosophy.

When there are coaches out there that would love to return Tennessee to relevance.
 
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#68
#68
Boston Vol said:
What are the qualifications to be head coach at Tennessee?
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A proven winner in a big time P5 conference. Not necessarily national championships. But have a solid overall winning record, good conference and division record. Some division and conference titles. More importantly, showing the ability to develop players and demonstrate solid and sound X’s and O’s.

None of the coaches we have hired since Fulmer check those boxes.
 
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#70
#70
Bargain Binning is like throwing $#!T against the wall and hoping it sticks. Most likely it hangs on at first. But eventually begins sliding down the wall until it hits the floor bottom with nowhere left to go.
As in the Tennessee careers of Dooley, Jones, and Pruitt.
 
#71
#71
Boston Vol said:
No he told Mike Hamilton to go to hell when Hamilton called after Kiffin bolted. Patterson wasn’t interested after the previous years coaching search.
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Correct, we reached out after Kiffin left. It was more diplomatic than you are implying but ultimately Patterson said no for the following reasons:

(Note, wife lived with TCU booster her last 2 years in HS. Shes still close to them.)

1. There were hard feelings from prior search. We did soften our stance on the assistants (namely Fuente) after Andy Dalton had a good 2009.

2. Mike Sherman was stinking up the joint at A&M and Patterson thought he might be in play there in the near future.

3. Patterson had really good team (Andy Dalton returning)

4. Franchione left TCU for Bama and got blindsided by NCAA stuff at Bama. Fear this might be the case after Kiffin.

5. He didnt care for or trust Hammy.

6. Money gap still existed and combine that with 1-5 and this was an easy decision for Patterson.

With all that being said, many within the TCU program who thinks Patterson would have listened to a strong offer since the 2012 realignment had not happened and there were issues about long term viability of the MWC.
 
#73
#73
BigOrangeTrain said:
A proven winner in a big time P5 conference. Not necessarily national championships. But have a solid overall winning record, good conference and division record. Some division and conference titles. More importantly, showing the ability to develop players and demonstrate solid and sound X’s and O’s.

None of the coaches we have hired since Fulmer check those boxes.
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So neither Gary Patterson or Brian Kelly were qualified to be the UT coach after Fulmer was fired? Good to know.
 
#74
#74
I think Cornbread will officially be done after we lose to Kentucky again next season he should be done now but Phil is hoping he can learn and grow into a competent coach by his 6th season.
 
#75
#75
terrypedigo said:
I don't know how old you are, but at Tennessee the GOOD OLD BOY'S have to agree on the hire where they can run the program, and the elite coaches know this and won't come here, i'm a 53 year fan the GOOD OLD BOY'S run Tennessee.
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The good ol boys have run it in the ground and the wheels are off.
 
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