Recruiting Forum: Football Talk II

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So, are you putting all of this on the university? None of this will be Gruden's fault? He is not an NFL coach first and foremost? Anyone with knowledge has ever given this more than a 5% chance and because your longshot horse didn't win its someone else's fault? IMO, you had a 95% chance of keeping your tee times 2 months ago. As much as I love golf, I will watch the Vols regardless of coach.



I am. If Gruden wants to come and the money is there but the only thing holding him back is the issue of having the control Saban has, then how can you not blame the university? They are obviously shutting on the FB program. Maybe they will start selling season tickets to Organic Chemistry labs and parking passes for the final.
 
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Just some thoughts on who we should go after if Gruden is out.

Butch Jones: No. I really question his ability to recruit and win in the SEC.

Charlie Strong: On paper, is probably the best option. Great recruiter, and has roots in the SEC. Has had success as a head coach. His Louisville team plays tonight against Rutgers. It will be interesting to see what happens, because if they lose then their season will end with 3 straight losses.

Al Golden: No. He is no better than Dooley, IMO.

Jim Mora Jr.: I would be okay with Mora. What he has done at UCLA is very impressive. He has NFL experience and would be a good recruiter. I'd be very interested to see who his OC would be. I don't know how well he would do in the SEC if he brings Noel Mazzone and that type of spread offense.

Larry Fedora: Not my top choice, but I'd be okay with him. He's done well everywhere he has been.

Jimbo Fisher: He can recruit, no doubt, but can he coach? FSU is clearly one of the most talented teams in the ACC but always loses a game they shouldn't. IMO, he is overrated as a coach.

Willie Taggart: I'm not seeing his name mentioned, but I'm a big fan. He can recruit and I love the Stanford/49ers offense he runs. Really underrated IMO. That being said, I don't expect him to be at UT.

Did I leave anyone out?
 
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If the Gruden deal crumbles and if Stoops, Mora, Shaw and such are not available, there are three guys I would hope that we look hard at hiring.

Plan B needs to be James Franklin, Butch Davis, or Bill O'Brien. All three would recruit well quickly at UT and all three would win big quickly at UT.

UT fans need to get over the juvenile stuff about Vanderbilt. What Franklin accomplished there is astounding, especially considering that he has very limited resources, no tradition, and no brand. The man is the best motivator in the collegiate game. He is going to be a superstar somewhere, why not at Tennessee? His name is already being linked to Oregon, should Chip Kelly bolt for the NFL.

Franklin is in my top 3 not named Gruden. We are trying to be Candy academically and if he can win 8 there he should be able to win 7-8 games a year here every year. That's what it seems we are being set up for in this environment, not competing for championships and settling for "middle tier SEC" at best.
 
This makes absolutely no sense. Just how long does it take to set up a room for a press conference? Unless they're wanting to trot the next guy out as soon as he signs on the line.

It's almost like there might be a press conference tomorrow or something,huh?
 
Who do you think can't get it down here?

Obviously Derek Dooley.

I am against a C. Strong hire only because I do not think his resume calls for the salary it would take to get him from UL.

I don't see Stoops as an option. I think Patterson and Petersen are off the table. I get the feeling Jimbo is Harts ace in the hole if Grudenfest ends.


I will support any hire where the coach has proven he can win, rebuild, and motivates his players. He has to be willing to recruit and his ego can not keep him from hiring top notch assistants. I think that would allow us to look at alot of coaches. Alot of people say Golden is garbage. When you can take a team who won 3 games in 3 years and turnaround and win 17 in 2 years, he's doing a hell of a job. Don't just throw top money at a guy though just to point to we made a big hire.
 
Not long ago I thought that even if Hart misses with Gruden & ends up with someone that isn't widely accepted at first that the fanbase would eventually come around & get excited as next season approaches & still support UT & fill Neyland every week.

But now all this stuff is getting so out of control that if Hart doesn't deliver the chosen one I think there's a real possibility of longtime die hard Vol supporters being likely to stay home.

I think with the way things have gone the last 5-6 years fans are on the verge of throwing the towel in if Hart doesn't come through big-time. He simply can't miss on Gruden at this point regardless of "control" or whatever bc this fanbase wont care what the reason was. JMO


Also, fwiw, saw Mel Kiper say CP was the first Jr wr on his board.
 
Florida - Muschamp - Texas DC
Georgia - Richt - Florida St. OC
Vandy - Franklin - Maryland OC
Mississippi St - Mullen - Florida OC
Texas A&M - Sumlin - Houston HC
LSU - Miles - Oklahoma St. HC
Ole Miss - Freeze - Arkansas St. HC
Missouri - Pinkel - Toledo HC

South Carolina - Spurrier - Florida and NFL HC
Alabama - Saban - LSU and NFL HC

This is a list of all the returning SEC head coaches and their jobs before they became an SEC head coach. Out of 10 coaches, only 2 were "home run" hires, Saban and Spurrier. All the others were coordinators or had success at a smaller school as a head coach. With the exception of Pinkel, all have had some degree of success coaching in the SEC.

My point is this, we do not have to have a "home run" hire to win. We just have to make the right hire. Gruden is not the only coach who can win at Tennessee. I would have loved for Gruden to be our coach, but he is not the only answer. There is still hope that we can make a great hire and win in the SEC.

I'm not trying to say that we didn't really want Gruden or anything like that. My point is that Gruden is not the only answer and there is still hope that we can get this right.
 
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With Cheek and Martin here, no one will be given Saban type control.

2 individuals who can't see the forest for the trees. I'm sure both of them blabber on about being an institution for higher learning, all the while failing to see what drives the revenue to allow them to accomplish their goals. They obviously suck at running a business as evidenced by the ADs reserve, and no account of all of the funding they have received. That or they are doing something they shouldn't be doing with the money that has been funded to them all these years. That would be the only logical reason as to why they would be resistant to change in an area where it is obviously needed.
 
Obviously Derek Dooley.

I am against a C. Strong hire only because I do not think his resume calls for the salary it would take to get him from UL.

I don't see Stoops as an option. I think Patterson and Petersen are off the table. I get the feeling Jimbo is Harts ace in the hole if Grudenfest ends.


I will support any hire where the coach has proven he can win, rebuild, and motivates his players. He has to be willing to recruit and his ego can not keep him from hiring top notch assistants. I think that would allow us to look at alot of coaches. Alot of people say Golden is garbage. When you can take a team who won 3 games in 3 years and turnaround and win 17 in 2 years, he's doing a hell of a job. Don't just throw top money at a guy though just to point to we made a big hire.

It may not take as much as you think. I'd say he would love to get back into the SEC.
 
Charlie Strong: On paper, is probably the best option. Great recruiter, and has roots in the SEC. Has had success as a head coach. His Louisville team plays tonight against Rutgers. It will be interesting to see what happens, because if they lose then their season will end with 3 straight losses.

Cstrong is worst case scenario for me - he is a terrible game manager, his defenses at Lville are pathetic, and he hasnt beaten a quality opponent in his time there

a guy that is a great recruiter and has proven nothing at any other facet of coaching is the exact opposite of what we need

the NFL is saying we had at least 5 NFL guys on this year's roster (more if you count who will go next year) - our problem is not talent - our problem is 100% coaching, motivation, game management, scheming, etc

this is where strong struggles so please Mr. Hart don't strong us - we need a freakn football coach
 
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Did the AD come out and say Nick Saban wasn't coming? Serious question because I don't recall either way.

I don't either, to be honest. Saban was emphatic enough that I don't think the AD had to say anything. I'm not saying Hart holds a presser to put rumors to bed, but you get Gruden to say no publicly or "leak" it to enough news sources that people don't expect it. Even the less passionate fans who don't passionately follow UT think Gruden is likely to happen, and Hart needed to do a better job of keeping expectations down if he wants to sell tickets next year.
 
Golden, Fisher, Strong, Mora, Fedora, Jones and Marrone. I dont understand Golden at all, i think he would really struggle here recruiting. Strong i think would recruit great here, would be very important who he surrounded himself with. I think Jones could do a great job here as would Mora. I dont want Fisher, Davis, Petrino or Golden here, but it doesnt matter what i think. Those are just my opinions.

I'm looking at those names...then looking at the amount boosters are willing to put up, and the $18Mil just released to the AD...and I just can't see any of those guys demanding the sums of money being thrown around. Common sense says someting isn't adding up.
 
Did I say it was all the University's fault? Did I say only Gruden is acceptable? No I did not. However, if they roll out Golden or Butch Jones I don't think I'll be there next season. We'll probably go ahead and buy the tickets and sell them all together before the season. I'm a huge fan and I'm diehard but enough is enough.

I'm not a fan of Fisher or Fedora either.

Hire Strong, give him the $ to put a great staff together & lets move along.
 
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Cstrong is worst case scenario for me - he is a terrible game manager, his defenses at Lville are pathetic, and he hasnt beaten a quality opponent in his time there

a guy that is a great recruiter and has proven nothing at any other facet of coaching is the exact opposite of what we need

the NFL is saying we had at least 5 NFL guys on this year's roster (more if you count who will go next year) - our problem is not talent - our problem is 100% coaching, motivation, game management, scheming, etc

this is where strong struggles so please Mr. Hart don't strong us - we need a freakn football coach

That's weird b/c Louisvilles defense is top 20 in the nation.

Correction: UL is ranked 26th in overall defense.

Also ranked 44th in overall offense, 27th in the nation in + TO margin, & 19th in TOP
 
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Cstrong is worst case scenario for me - he is a terrible game manager, his defenses at Lville are pathetic, and he hasnt beaten a quality opponent in his time there

a guy that is a great recruiter and has proven nothing at any other facet of coaching is the exact opposite of what we need

the NFL is saying we had at least 5 NFL guys on this year's roster (more if you count who will go next year) - our problem is not talent - our problem is 100% coaching, motivation, game management, scheming, etc

this is where strong struggles so please Mr. Hart don't strong us - we need a freakn football coach

Really?
 
I am 100% all-in w/ Gruden being our next coach; however, if for some reason he is not, then as much as I can't stand him at Vandy, Franklin would be the next choice IMHO. You can't knock what he has done there and what he sells in 2 short years. He would win big at UT IMO. With that said, come home Gruden!!
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