TNHopeful505
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Here's my thoughts.
1. We hired a guy who had no head coaching experience. He then turned around and hired his friends who quite frankly, did not belong in the SEC ranks yet. Neidermeyer and Felton both were out of their league, and compensated for it by cheating. Undoubtedly, Pruitt knew about it, and swept it under the rug, trusting that Neids knew how to cover it up (he was the Director of Recruiting operations at Bama). No doubt, when a 32 year old coach who had never been an on-field position coach gets hired at an SEC school and starts landing 5* recruits, people start taking notice. And not in a good way. Because that typically doesn't just happen. He can't talk to players about his coaching resume or how he has put people in the league, or how he will develop them. It just threw up red flags. Felton surprised me, but Neids did not. That one never made sense. Neids accomplished "too much, too fast," and it was found out. Pruitt's loyalty to his friends cost him dearly this time, because their actions drug him down in the end.
2. Phil stepping down is more important than Jeremy being let go. Phil is a great ambassador for Tennessee, and has done many great things for our university. However, he never should have been in the role of Athletic Director. He had no experience that made him qualified to do so, and yet, due to nostalgia, and our desire to have a familiar face that we believed had our best interests at heart, we chose Fulmer. I am not saying that Fulmer is a bad man, not by any stretch. But Fulmer is a coach, and will always be a coach, and had a hard time letting go, and letting Pruitt and company do his job. Reports of him having Pruitt make him a gameplan folder each week is ridiculous. An AD's job is to hire the coach. Not to advise the coach on gameplan. This was doomed to fail from the get-go, I just refused to see it. Many others did as well. I realize that Phil did not have many options when he took over the search, but seeing himself in Jeremy, and thinking that he could vicariously live through his success was naive, and foolish. I'm thankful that Phil had enough sense to "retire," whether it was his choice or not.
3. I hope the student athletes recognize that integrity and morals are important, and that they understand that what was done is for their own good. That as much as someone may care about them, that if they are doing something illegal, or asking them to accept illegal things, they do not care about them or their future. It is true that some of these guys' eligibility could be in jeopardy, I assume. I know, everyone cheats. But it is one thing for a bagman to contact them behind the coaches' back, but it is another for the coaches themselves to do so. To me, cheating just says "I don't have confidence in my ability to coach you or develop you, so I have to convince you to come with me."
4. I am nearly certain after hearing the Chancellor and President Boyd speak that anyone with NCAA issues is not coming here. Boyd said clearly, "If you can't win the right way, you don't belong here." And he repeated that for emphasis. I believe this means that Freeze is not going to be the coach here. Perhaps one day in the far out future his sins may be forgiven, but we can't comply with the NCAA and try to soften the blow and then hire a guy whose former team JUST came off of sanctions. I also believe that Kiffin won't receive a look due to this, despite his interest. Kiffin has had violations at both Tennessee and USC. I don't know if he has had any while at FAU. Chadwell's violations may cause him not to be considered. I am fairly certain that anyone who comes here will have no past with the NCAA.
5. I am also nearly certain that a coordinator will not be the hire. The reason I state this is because it seems the "culture of noncompliance" was a big sticking point with Boyd and Plowman. I believe that whoever we get will have a history of running a program that did not have NCAA problems. I don't think we will go after someone like Venables or Elliott who have no HC experience. We just learned that doesn't work. In my opinion, the only time a OC/DC works is when that OC/DC is promoted within the same program (Lincoln Riley, Dabo, etc.) I know you can do it on NCAA 14, but not in the real world.
6. As far as the next coach goes, I believe we need a solid stable presence. I don't think we have to make a splash hire. I think we have to make a solid hire. And I think we need a guy who can lock down the instate class of 2022. That will be incredibly important. If we can get someone who can bring in a solid 50% of the Top players in Tennessee, he will be off to a great start. Namely, Simpson, James and Nolan.
7. Concerning the AD, I know it's easy to want Blackburn, but I think that we should aim higher than that. I think there are several ADs at large schools that would be interested in this job. I don't know who any of them are, but I feel like we could find someone with a great amount of success who would be willing to come here and take advantage of what we have to offer. We need to remember that AD is over all sports, not just football, but obviously, someone with strong football and basketball success is preferable.
8. I hope that our administration has a plan and has already enacted it. I appreciated how Texas handled their coaching change, firing Herman and announcing Sark shortly after. It obviously was a blow to Herman, but it at least showed a University that knew what it wanted, and knew the right time to pull the plug. That has hardly ever been characteristic of Tennessee. Once again, it seems we have waited too long to do what needed to be done.
9. Truthfully, I believe that Steele will be the coach until the NCAA rules on us. No coach is going to willingly come here not knowing what sanctions they will have to deal with. Any wise coach would wait it out to at least see what the punishments are going to be. I think that the longer that takes, the smaller the chances we have a new head coach come August. I think if it drags out until Spring Practice, then it will be Steele, Chaney, and perhaps Ansley will stay (he is still under contract) through the Fall. I believe that Steele will be given permission to hire assistants on no more than 2 year deals, with a preference for one year deals, approved by the Chancellor, just so we can actually continue to recruit. Also, the longer the NCAA holds out on the one time transfer rule the better for us. Undoubtedly players are upset, and probably would make knee jerk reactions. Hopefully some stability and direction will come, and help settle the ship.
Again....today sucked. I hate that it came to what it did. I also worry that we will have bad penalties. But I hope that the front that Boyd and Plowman put out by saying they were going to clean house appeased the NCAA, and perhaps they will decide that there needs to be no additional penalties. I have a feeling once things are released, we will all be appalled at what has transpired. I hope that we are never again here.
We can debate coaching candidates all we want, but we will never all agree on one. Heck, that's part of the fun of it. But we do all need to support who IS here, because we HAVE to get this hire right. It isn't about 2021, it's about 2028, or 2030. It's about the future of UT football. I want them to get this hire right, and I want to support Kevin Steele as best as we can as he tries to hold together what undoubtedly is a shaken roster with split loyalties, and a recruiting class that feels baited and switched.
Go Vols, and here's to better days.
1. We hired a guy who had no head coaching experience. He then turned around and hired his friends who quite frankly, did not belong in the SEC ranks yet. Neidermeyer and Felton both were out of their league, and compensated for it by cheating. Undoubtedly, Pruitt knew about it, and swept it under the rug, trusting that Neids knew how to cover it up (he was the Director of Recruiting operations at Bama). No doubt, when a 32 year old coach who had never been an on-field position coach gets hired at an SEC school and starts landing 5* recruits, people start taking notice. And not in a good way. Because that typically doesn't just happen. He can't talk to players about his coaching resume or how he has put people in the league, or how he will develop them. It just threw up red flags. Felton surprised me, but Neids did not. That one never made sense. Neids accomplished "too much, too fast," and it was found out. Pruitt's loyalty to his friends cost him dearly this time, because their actions drug him down in the end.
2. Phil stepping down is more important than Jeremy being let go. Phil is a great ambassador for Tennessee, and has done many great things for our university. However, he never should have been in the role of Athletic Director. He had no experience that made him qualified to do so, and yet, due to nostalgia, and our desire to have a familiar face that we believed had our best interests at heart, we chose Fulmer. I am not saying that Fulmer is a bad man, not by any stretch. But Fulmer is a coach, and will always be a coach, and had a hard time letting go, and letting Pruitt and company do his job. Reports of him having Pruitt make him a gameplan folder each week is ridiculous. An AD's job is to hire the coach. Not to advise the coach on gameplan. This was doomed to fail from the get-go, I just refused to see it. Many others did as well. I realize that Phil did not have many options when he took over the search, but seeing himself in Jeremy, and thinking that he could vicariously live through his success was naive, and foolish. I'm thankful that Phil had enough sense to "retire," whether it was his choice or not.
3. I hope the student athletes recognize that integrity and morals are important, and that they understand that what was done is for their own good. That as much as someone may care about them, that if they are doing something illegal, or asking them to accept illegal things, they do not care about them or their future. It is true that some of these guys' eligibility could be in jeopardy, I assume. I know, everyone cheats. But it is one thing for a bagman to contact them behind the coaches' back, but it is another for the coaches themselves to do so. To me, cheating just says "I don't have confidence in my ability to coach you or develop you, so I have to convince you to come with me."
4. I am nearly certain after hearing the Chancellor and President Boyd speak that anyone with NCAA issues is not coming here. Boyd said clearly, "If you can't win the right way, you don't belong here." And he repeated that for emphasis. I believe this means that Freeze is not going to be the coach here. Perhaps one day in the far out future his sins may be forgiven, but we can't comply with the NCAA and try to soften the blow and then hire a guy whose former team JUST came off of sanctions. I also believe that Kiffin won't receive a look due to this, despite his interest. Kiffin has had violations at both Tennessee and USC. I don't know if he has had any while at FAU. Chadwell's violations may cause him not to be considered. I am fairly certain that anyone who comes here will have no past with the NCAA.
5. I am also nearly certain that a coordinator will not be the hire. The reason I state this is because it seems the "culture of noncompliance" was a big sticking point with Boyd and Plowman. I believe that whoever we get will have a history of running a program that did not have NCAA problems. I don't think we will go after someone like Venables or Elliott who have no HC experience. We just learned that doesn't work. In my opinion, the only time a OC/DC works is when that OC/DC is promoted within the same program (Lincoln Riley, Dabo, etc.) I know you can do it on NCAA 14, but not in the real world.
6. As far as the next coach goes, I believe we need a solid stable presence. I don't think we have to make a splash hire. I think we have to make a solid hire. And I think we need a guy who can lock down the instate class of 2022. That will be incredibly important. If we can get someone who can bring in a solid 50% of the Top players in Tennessee, he will be off to a great start. Namely, Simpson, James and Nolan.
7. Concerning the AD, I know it's easy to want Blackburn, but I think that we should aim higher than that. I think there are several ADs at large schools that would be interested in this job. I don't know who any of them are, but I feel like we could find someone with a great amount of success who would be willing to come here and take advantage of what we have to offer. We need to remember that AD is over all sports, not just football, but obviously, someone with strong football and basketball success is preferable.
8. I hope that our administration has a plan and has already enacted it. I appreciated how Texas handled their coaching change, firing Herman and announcing Sark shortly after. It obviously was a blow to Herman, but it at least showed a University that knew what it wanted, and knew the right time to pull the plug. That has hardly ever been characteristic of Tennessee. Once again, it seems we have waited too long to do what needed to be done.
9. Truthfully, I believe that Steele will be the coach until the NCAA rules on us. No coach is going to willingly come here not knowing what sanctions they will have to deal with. Any wise coach would wait it out to at least see what the punishments are going to be. I think that the longer that takes, the smaller the chances we have a new head coach come August. I think if it drags out until Spring Practice, then it will be Steele, Chaney, and perhaps Ansley will stay (he is still under contract) through the Fall. I believe that Steele will be given permission to hire assistants on no more than 2 year deals, with a preference for one year deals, approved by the Chancellor, just so we can actually continue to recruit. Also, the longer the NCAA holds out on the one time transfer rule the better for us. Undoubtedly players are upset, and probably would make knee jerk reactions. Hopefully some stability and direction will come, and help settle the ship.
Again....today sucked. I hate that it came to what it did. I also worry that we will have bad penalties. But I hope that the front that Boyd and Plowman put out by saying they were going to clean house appeased the NCAA, and perhaps they will decide that there needs to be no additional penalties. I have a feeling once things are released, we will all be appalled at what has transpired. I hope that we are never again here.
We can debate coaching candidates all we want, but we will never all agree on one. Heck, that's part of the fun of it. But we do all need to support who IS here, because we HAVE to get this hire right. It isn't about 2021, it's about 2028, or 2030. It's about the future of UT football. I want them to get this hire right, and I want to support Kevin Steele as best as we can as he tries to hold together what undoubtedly is a shaken roster with split loyalties, and a recruiting class that feels baited and switched.
Go Vols, and here's to better days.
