Basilio Still Thinks Pruitt is Likely Gone

Okay, I'll humor Basilio. Even IF Steele has been hired as a potential stopgap.....who cares? Like think about it for a moment, how is this situation any better than just keeping Pruitt? So, we're setting things up on the off-chance that a few months from now the investigation gets bad enough that we need to fire Pruitt and can hire Steele as a stopgap to "keep the program from collapsing."

Okay....so why are we not just firing Pruitt now and hiring an actual head coach to keep the program from collapsing? If anything, having Kevin Steele as an interim head coach at any point next season does just as much damage as keeping Pruitt for 2021.

The decision to not fire Pruitt this off-season is a monumental screw up and ensures that we're going to be bottom feeders through at least 2025 since we all know the next coach we hire will inevitably be another "up-and-comer" who needs 3 years to "get his guys" in here before we're allowed to evaluate him.
 
He also wouldn't let Jennings back on the team. Idiot. San Diego State hired him back a second time.
JMO but clearly JJ had to be dismissed after what he did. Happy he straightened himself out, made it back on the team, and had a successful senior season. Not defending Hoke as a coach but any real leader in that position would have done the same with JJ.
 
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JMO but clearly JJ had to be dismissed after what he did. Happy he straightened himself out, made it back on the team, and had a successful senior season. Not defending Hoke as a coach but any real leader in that position would have done the same with JJ.
Yep that’s *just* your opinion.
 
Honestly I don’t see it as a bad move either. Especially if we just call him interim head coach and only pay him 450k. You give him a year to see what he can do and if not, you get out of it cheap and can afford to spend money on the next hire
I agree; with the caveat that if we could get Freeze or Fisher right now we need to pull the trigger this year.
 
Okay, I'll humor Basilio. Even IF Steele has been hired as a potential stopgap.....who cares? Like think about it for a moment, how is this situation any better than just keeping Pruitt? So, we're setting things up on the off-chance that a few months from now the investigation gets bad enough that we need to fire Pruitt and can hire Steele as a stopgap to "keep the program from collapsing."

Okay....so why are we not just firing Pruitt now and hiring an actual head coach to keep the program from collapsing? If anything, having Kevin Steele as an interim head coach at any point next season does just as much damage as keeping Pruitt for 2021.

The decision to not fire Pruitt this off-season is a monumental screw up and ensures that we're going to be bottom feeders through at least 2025 since we all know the next coach we hire will inevitably be another "up-and-comer" who needs 3 years to "get his guys" in here before we're allowed to evaluate him.

Pruitt has his interview tomorrow and will have to answer the hard questions. Nobody is saying that Steele is going to be the interim for a long time if (99% likely) Pruitt is dismissed in the next few days. I don't think they will take long to get the new coach in place. I'm just hoping it's Kiffin, Chadwell, Freeze, or Napier and not Doug Marrone or Adam Gase.
 
Pruitt has his interview tomorrow and will have to answer the hard questions. Nobody is saying that Steele is going to be the interim for a long time if (99% likely) Pruitt is dismissed in the next few days. I don't think they will take long to get the new coach in place. I'm just hoping it's Kiffin, Chadwell, Freeze, or Napier and not Doug Marrone or Adam Gase.
I don’t want Gase but anyone else on that list would be better. Yes even Marrone surprisingly.

Chadwell is an interesting one getting more attention lately. Kids really play hard for him and he just won AP coach of the year (not a bad thing when trying to creating some excitement and recruit to start something new). With the right staff under him like Steele etc he might be good plus he presents himself really well. Good in front of a mic I mean without cornbread
 
I love how everyone at VN thinks like GOT writers. Fulmer didn’t hire Steele to have a back pocket option for when they Red Wedding Pruitt. They hired Steele because it was a perfect opportunity given the fact we got him on a 2 year contract at chump change due to his firing from Auburn. However, Pruitt had say in this hire and, for once, it was a smart move on his part. He might suck as a HC, but he’s not a dumb, business minded guy. You don’t make it to this level if you don’t know how to play the business game. In other words, JP isn’t going to jump on board hiring the guy who’s set to replace him. JP will be our coach going into next year, this hire pretty much confirms that.
Have you ventured out into the real world lately? The world is pretty much a cut throat place now and everything is so weird, you can’t help but think it’s a conspiracy. So yeah, I can understand why some people would think this. Not to mention our administrations astonishing record of letting things spiral into a chaotic tailspin. To be honest, if the hiring of Steele was in fact a fallback option to firing Pruitt, with it potentially being at a very bad time, it might be the first smart, calculated move I’ve seen from this university, concerning football, in quite some time.
GBO!!
 
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Basilio had John Adams on from the Sentinel today. Some of Adams columns have burned my sausage over the years but them talking about the potential coaches UT may go after today was absolute solid gold. The back and forth of Adams and Dr Sinclair on who admires Doug Marrone more was fantastic (spoiler, neither does). Well worth listening to. Might be the most entertainment I've got about TN football in months.
Titans Bill, is that you?
 
Investigation goes really bad, Pruitt's gone, Steele HC with Fulmer giving a guiding hand. Investigation shows nothing for cause firing, Pruitt is here for one more year, Steele takes over 2022 w Fulmer giving a guiding hand.

Steele was Fulmer's second choice last time. So he's got him in position for a seamless takeover now.
That’ll how this feels. I can’t help thinking he’s gone without that extension last September, which means UTAD is going to throw away the 2021 season over about $6 million. They must think COVID protocol will still be in effect this Fall. There’s no way you bring back Pruitt if you’re actually hoping to sell out Neyland. Now, we get to add on the belief that Pruitt is a shady recruiter but we’re going to stick with him if some lawyers don’t think they can win a breach of contract lawsuit. This has to be the worst program in America.
 
Honestly I don’t see it as a bad move either. Especially if we just call him interim head coach and only pay him 450k. You give him a year to see what he can do and if not, you get out of it cheap and can afford to spend money on the next hire

Unless Fulmer gets him a raise with a hc contract and big buyout, which, I wouldn't be surprised at that. I think Steele is here to be hc, which it appears he would be worse than Pruitt according to his hc record.
 
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Unless Fulmer gets him a raise with a hc contract and big buyout, which, I wouldn't be surprised at that. I think Steele is here to be hc, which it appears he would be worse than Pruitt according to his hc record.
Ed O was a flop as a head coach before LSU. I’m not for Kevin Steele but weird things have happened before.
Edit: 16-28 record before LSU...
 
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By not making a move now, I think Fulmer will be the coach some time next year, all just my opinion. Either that or Steele hc
If I see Fulmer with a headset I’ll just watch NFL for the fall. Barry Alvarez wannabe.
 
We've seen that Saban and Jimbo can run a successful program just fine and dandy without Pruitt. Hell, Saban had 0 staff members on his team this year vs their last title. It simply doesn't matter who coaches for him, the result is the same. It was that way with Bryant, Neyland etc. Great coaches have great programs no matter how high their assistant turnover is and assistants on those programs are no more likely to succeed than any other assistant. As a rule, many of them are less likely to succeed because the head coach has such a great system and great football mind they make their assistants look way better than they actually are. We see it in the NFL with Belichick assistants too.
That's actually a good argument. I yield.
 

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