Coaching strategy differences between CBJ and CJP

#1

Gandalf

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#1
While it is impossible to have a real comparison since this team hasnt played a down yet, I have noticed what others have said are some major differences between coaching styles between Butch and Pruitt.

Supposedly, Butch relied on trick plays and never letting the opponent know the next play. Offensive scheming was vital and the chart was repeatedly consulted like the Waterboy's fictitious Coach Kline's secret notebook - which is frankly hilarious since every play was pretty much give Hurd the ball and run up the center for a 2 yard gain or pass behind the line of scrimmage. This meant that CBJ coached for schemes, concealment and speed? (yes, I know you cant coach speed)

In comparison, the word on Pruitt, based upon his statements and past coaching style, seems to be more in the line of relying on aggression and simply beating people in execution. Even if you had his playbook, Pruitt would still expect his team to win through his players having naked aggression, better execution of a more limited set of fundamental plays and having the talent to make plays when the opportunity arises. So this is what CJP coaches for, aggression, toughness, fundamentals and assignments?

If the above line of thinking is true, then one reason CBJ had such problems is that reliance on scheme was fine in Cincinnati but doesnt work well in the rough and tumble of the SEC. Even GA Tech, with its tricky triple option is only dangerous because it is rare. If it were a steady diet, most SEC teams would compensate well. Pruitt, however, looks like a turn to what could be called a "Smashmouth Spread" on the O side and just flat out smashmouth on the D side. He knows overly complicated trick schemes do not last in the SEC.

What do you guys think? Does this sound like it better describes the differences between their coaching approaches?
 
#3
#3
My one source of excitement with Jones when he came in was that he started preaching "execution". I thought, "well maybe UT found another Cutcliffe". But that's all it ever was- words.

Pruitt is saying basically the same thing. "We're going to outhit the opponent and execute consistently". He seems to be more of a football coach and less of a used car salesman who attended a few coaching clinics to pick up the "lingo". Hopefully we see a team that executes.

There's no doubt that aggression is being favored over finesse now.
 
#4
#4
Whatever Jones' ideas about strategy were, they were eclipsed by his players' utter lack of on-field discipline and maturity. The kickoff of the Texas A&M game summed up his tenure more than any other single play in my view. The new coach has to clean the crap up. No more ejections, personal fouls, moronic celebrating before crossing the goal line. The garbage was an institutionalized part of Tennessee football by the time he left.
 
#8
#8
Having a defense that will not get beat deep on 60+ yard bombs in last 10 seconds of a game vs Not being able to run a two minute drill with a rocket scientist at QB....
 
#9
#9
Even GA Tech, with its tricky triple option is only dangerous because it is rare.

GT's bowl game outcomes in the past decade tend to support your assertion, @Gandalf
L Dec 31, 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl LSU 3 38
L May 1, 2010 Orange Bowl Iowa 14 24
L Dec 27, 2010 Independence Bowl Air Force 7 14
L Dec 31, 2011 Sun Bowl Utah 27 30
W Dec 31, 2012 Sun Bowl USC 21 7
L Dec 30, 2013 Music City Bowl Ole Miss 17 25
W Dec 31, 2014 Orange Bowl Mississippi State 49 34
W Dec 31, 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl Kentucky 33 18

Given weeks instead of days, a team unfamiliar with their style of play may properly prepare for the Jackets' triple option threat.
 
#10
#10
Not trying to come off as a smart a$$, but I truly believe that we will see a difference in most all strategies. Time will tell, but finally having an SEC experienced coach, in my opinion, we be the difference maker
 
#11
#11
GT's bowl game outcomes in the past decade tend to support your assertion, @Gandalf
L Dec 31, 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl LSU 3 38
L May 1, 2010 Orange Bowl Iowa 14 24
L Dec 27, 2010 Independence Bowl Air Force 7 14
L Dec 31, 2011 Sun Bowl Utah 27 30
W Dec 31, 2012 Sun Bowl USC 21 7
L Dec 30, 2013 Music City Bowl Ole Miss 17 25
W Dec 31, 2014 Orange Bowl Mississippi State 49 34
W Dec 31, 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl Kentucky 33 18

Given weeks instead of days, a team unfamiliar with their style of play may properly prepare for the Jackets' triple option threat.

We had 8 months to prepare for it and they ran for 535 yards, scored 41 points, and had more than a 2:1 advantage in time of possession....
 
#12
#12
Butch...was lost on game day, atrocious from the sideline, and often a poor manager of time on the game clock.

Pruitt...is yet to be seen as a head coach.
 
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#13
#13
Butch’s comment about the last play vs SC was something like, everybody knew what was coming, that was one of our problems his last two years. All a team had to do is watch the film. His conservative nature made our offense and defense very predictable.

If we line up the way they expect and then run the play they expect, why should we expect to have better results? App St gave us all we wanted due to us running the obvious play based off film study.
 
#15
#15
- Lyle had an unusually high amount of practice injuries. So far, we have had very few in-practice injuries under Pruitt.

- Lyle was a snake-oil salesman. One who danced around the truth. Pruitt on the other hand seems like a straight-shooter.

- Lyle tried to run a PAC-12esque "finesse" offense in the SEC and it utterly failed. Pruitt is bringing a more direct, physical offensive scheme.

- Lyle had an utterly inept AD to have to deal with. Pruitt has Fulmer, the greatest coach in recent TN history, to rely on for advice.

I could keep going on and on.
 
#16
#16
- Lyle had an unusually high amount of practice injuries. So far, we have had very few in-practice injuries under Pruitt.

- Lyle was a snake-oil salesman. One who danced around the truth. Pruitt on the other hand seems like a straight-shooter.

- Lyle tried to run a PAC-12esque "finesse" offense in the SEC and it utterly failed. Pruitt is bringing a more direct, physical offensive scheme.

- Lyle had an utterly inept AD to have to deal with. Pruitt has Fulmer, the greatest coach in recent TN history, to rely on for advice.

I could keep going on and on.

I would argue that Auburn runs a “finesse” type offense and has been extremely successful in the SEC. Butch was/had inept schemes and play calling.
 
#17
#17
I would argue that Auburn runs a “finesse” type offense and has been extremely successful in the SEC. Butch was/had inept schemes and play calling.

They've only had two really good seasons out of the 5 that Malzahn has been there, and that was the same offense that lost to UCF in embarrassing fashion. No national titles either.

Far from "extremely successful" IMO.
 
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#18
#18
They've only had two really good seasons out of the 5 that Malzahn has been there, and that was the same offense that lost to UCF in embarrassing fashion. No national titles either.

Far from "extremely successful" IMO.

Ok, maybe “extremely successful“ wasn’t the exact term to use, what I was trying to say was they have been successful using an offense similar to what Butch attempted to run.

If you have to have a national title to have a successful offense then Memphis’ offense was terrible.
 
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#19
#19
What is mind boggling is CBJ arrived and we had a athletic deficit. We were a bit soft and really slow. In his first two years CBJ preached toughness and brought in speed. I remember him bringing in the marines or special forces or somebody to toughen them up. The players were supposedly getting stronger and faster. It did seem that in year two and three we were both stronger and faster. Then by year 4 we were soft as a marshmallow again.

Was CBJs early success “year two” just carry over from the previous coaching staffs work?

I agree CJP will build his team on toughness and accountability, while CBJ just talked about it.

I’ll take this opportunity to apologize for supporting CBJ. I know he was not the best coach, but liked that he kept the players accountable for schoolwork etc. I though he was a players coach. As long as he was making progress on the field I was happy. I now realize he was not a players coach and was setting a poor example. I am sorry.

It would be nice to know what went on behind the scene during CBJ reign. Despite decent recruiting the thing never gelled. Butch had some faults, but I also have to believe the administration failed him. Why hire such poor coaches unless they just wouldn’t give him the money. If he could get more money why not hire the best? What a cluster f...

It would be nice if one of our so called sports writers would do some in-depth investigative reporting on this.
 
#21
#21
What is mind boggling is CBJ arrived and we had a athletic deficit. We were a bit soft and really slow. In his first two years CBJ preached toughness and brought in speed. I remember him bringing in the marines or special forces or somebody to toughen them up. The players were supposedly getting stronger and faster. It did seem that in year two and three we were both stronger and faster. Then by year 4 we were soft as a marshmallow again.

Was CBJs early success “year two” just carry over from the previous coaching staffs work?

I agree CJP will build his team on toughness and accountability, while CBJ just talked about it.

I’ll take this opportunity to apologize for supporting CBJ. I know he was not the best coach, but liked that he kept the players accountable for schoolwork etc. I though he was a players coach. As long as he was making progress on the field I was happy. I now realize he was not a players coach and was setting a poor example. I am sorry.

It would be nice to know what went on behind the scene during CBJ reign. Despite decent recruiting the thing never gelled. Butch had some faults, but I also have to believe the administration failed him. Why hire such poor coaches unless they just wouldn’t give him the money. If he could get more money why not hire the best? What a cluster f...

It would be nice if one of our so called sports writers would do some in-depth investigative reporting on this.
He followed Kelly in his first two stops and was set up for success. Jones isn't a bad guy in spite of the clichés and ridiculous salesmanship... on just about everything. He reminds me of the Bill Paxton character in True Lies.

Jones was just hired for a job bigger than his ability and skills. Just judging from his tenure... IMO he will never have the talent to run a program at this level. It just isn't in him.

He didn't hire poor coaches. Shoop was the hottest DC in CFB. He'd been successful everywhere else... but then failed under Jones. It wasn't the assistants.
 
#22
#22
While it is impossible to have a real comparison since this team hasnt played a down yet, I have noticed what others have said are some major differences between coaching styles between Butch and Pruitt.

Supposedly, Butch relied on trick plays and never letting the opponent know the next play. Offensive scheming was vital and the chart was repeatedly consulted like the Waterboy's fictitious Coach Kline's secret notebook - which is frankly hilarious since every play was pretty much give Hurd the ball and run up the center for a 2 yard gain or pass behind the line of scrimmage. This meant that CBJ coached for schemes, concealment and speed? (yes, I know you cant coach speed)

In comparison, the word on Pruitt, based upon his statements and past coaching style, seems to be more in the line of relying on aggression and simply beating people in execution. Even if you had his playbook, Pruitt would still expect his team to win through his players having naked aggression, better execution of a more limited set of fundamental plays and having the talent to make plays when the opportunity arises. So this is what CJP coaches for, aggression, toughness, fundamentals and assignments?

If the above line of thinking is true, then one reason CBJ had such problems is that reliance on scheme was fine in Cincinnati but doesnt work well in the rough and tumble of the SEC. Even GA Tech, with its tricky triple option is only dangerous because it is rare. If it were a steady diet, most SEC teams would compensate well. Pruitt, however, looks like a turn to what could be called a "Smashmouth Spread" on the O side and just flat out smashmouth on the D side. He knows overly complicated trick schemes do not last in the SEC.

What do you guys think? Does this sound like it better describes the differences between their coaching approaches?
How much time ya got? good summary I think.
 
#23
#23
Pounding it in from the 6 inch line vs lining up in the shotgun and throwing an INT

You gotta give Butch a point or two for keeping the opponent off balance on that one. No way UF could have prayed for such a gift. But, then again throwing it into double coverage ... maybe they knew how dumb he was. Who has two defenders covering a fade on 1st & goal from the 1/2YL?

That was the moment that I finally knew we were doomed with CBJ, and tapped out emotionally.
 

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