Honest Conversation with Butch Jones: What happened at Tennessee?

#52
#52
IfDickeyStayed said:
I disagree. I think Pruitt was a better HC than Jones. Pruitt was a dumb redneck from North Alabama, but he also played a much harder schedule than Jones ever did. Pruitt played Saban, Kirby, Florida Dan Mullen, and some decent Mark Stoops teams every year. I think if you gave Pruitt the 2015 and 2016 Tennessee teams and schedule, he would actually win the SEC East one of those years. In 2019, Tennessee started off terribly, but Pruitt did pull them together to win 8 games with basically no QB. Jones needed Dobbs just to get to 8 wins. Jones best SEC record was 5-3 with Alvin Kamara and Dobbs, while Pruitt went 5-3 with Guaratano and Tim Jordan. Pruitt also left the program with decent talent on the roster, while Jones left us with middle schoolers playing on the team. Jones also went 0-8 in conference one year and 4-8 overall. Pruitt never won fewer than 2 SEC games. Also, don't forget that Jones never even beat an SEC West team, and Pruitt won at Auburn in year 1 and beat MS State in year 2.

Now idk what to say about Dooley. He should never have been a football coach
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Pruitt was cheating his butt off and still couldn’t win. What does that tell you? Each had major deficiencies. None of the 3 should have ever been head coach at Tennessee and it’s pretty silly to argue about which one was better.
 
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#53
#53
OrangeBeachVol said:
He was a very good position coach and knew how to evaluate talent.

Here is my conspiracy take on his hiring. Fulmer of course knew Pruitt had no skills as a HC but he thought he could mentor him along the way and in return he would be the de facto HC for a couple of yrs. Have no actual proof of this but see no other reason to hire a coach with no experience for a HC spot.
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lol I have that exact same conspiracy theory. We even got in trouble with Pruitt because someone caught Fulmer on camera coaching the O-line during Spring Camp
 
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#55
#55
GetYouSomeofThat said:
I will never understand the loathing of some Tennessee fans for Butch. He was in over his head and abilities but compared to his predecessor and successor, he was easily heads and shoulders better than those two guys. IMO, he tried to win in the ways he knew how and gave his all, but was never going to over come his shortcomings.

The interview just shines a light on how his personality will likely never allow him to be super successful. His constant reminders about his successes. no matter how small, coupled with the name-dropping that never stops, makes him seem very insecure, which isn't typically a trait of those who reach pinnacles of success.
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He had playoff-caliber rosters in 2015 and 2016, yet lost eight games over those two seasons. That, coupled with always thinking he was the smartest guy in the room when, most of the time, he was the dumbest, is why I loathe him. Dooley and Pruitt were simply in over their heads. Butch actually had a chance to be successful, but his arrogance and micromanagement threw it all away.
 
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#56
#56
I always felt like the biggest downfall for him was firing his strength coach, right before 2016 I believe? It was all downhill after that with highly rated players who never saw the field because they were always hurt and the team became soft...
 
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#57
#57
IfDickeyStayed said:
Nope, Jones was the worst. He literally went 4-8 in year 5, the worst year in the history of Tennessee athletics, possibly ever. At least Dooley and Pruitt never went 0-8 in conference. Jones got so lucky that he found lightning in a bottle with Josh Dobbs, because without Dobbs, Jones probably would have been fired in Year 2. Jones literally won 11 games over 5 years without Joshua Dobbs as his starting QB. That's a (.180) winning percentage without Dobbs. It gets worse. Without Dobbs, Jones only won 1 SEC game in 5 seasons. 13 of Jones's 14 SEC victories came with Josh Dobbs at QB. That means Jones's SEC winning percentage was (.042) without Dobbs under center.

Jones also had the worst home loss ever in TN football history in 2017 against UGA, 41-0. He also recruited Jarrett Guarantano to Tennessee and did not recruit Trevor Lawrence. Butch Jones made us a laughing stock and gave us the worst season and losses in TN history. There has never been a worse coach in TN history.
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Actually if we are going to be crystal clear, there has been a worse coach than him. His procurator, Brady Hoke got demolished during that monsoon LSU game and also got dismantled by Vabdy the following weekend

He had a 0 game win% as HC at Tennessee
 
#58
#58
Tnphil said:
Actually a trumpet player....But the band room was just down the hall from the gym, so close.
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UT hired
-A spaghetti eating(under the bleachers during the Bama game) lawyer
-A clarinet pansy
-A dumbass redneck who fell of a turnip truck

Would it kill this university to hire a freaking football coach?
 
#59
#59
To me, Butch's biggest downfall was being an arrogant man. If he surrounded himself with smart people, I think he would have succeeded. Many successful owners may not be the smartest, but they surround themselves with employees who are smart and make them look good.

I think if he stayed being the charismatic cheerleader of the team and had legit coordinators, he would have won something meaningful here. Hell of a recruiter, not a hell of a play caller
 
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#60
#60
allvol17 said:
I actually started to watch this... what is wrong with me? I forgot how irritated I get at the sound of his voice.
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what was actually in the video, the parts that you did watch? I haven't seen anyone actually commenting on the actual contents of the video.
 
#61
#61
It's Vols or nothing! said:
To me, Butch's biggest downfall was being an arrogant man. If he surrounded himself with smart people, I think he would have succeeded. Many successful owners may not be the smartest, but they surround themselves with employees who are smart and make them look good.

I think if he stayed being the charismatic cheerleader of the team and had legit coordinators, he would have won something meaningful here. Hell of a recruiter, not a hell of a play caller
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I had 2 long face to face talks with Mike Debord....He was not only a smart football coach. He was a very nice man. There's a reason he jumped off the Butch Titanic.
 
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#63
#63
Butch said our average attendance was 77,000 when he took the job which is 100% not true
 
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#64
#64
MOOOOONEY said:
Lyle was (is) an arrogant idiot.

His little man syndrome would not let him take the blame for inexcusable losses.

He was an excuse machine

1. The chart
2. Champions of life
3. 5 star heart

The 2015 and 2016 teams were absolutely loaded with talent and he pi$$ed away 2 SEC east titles.

Jones should have been fired after getting embarrassed at home by Alabama in year 3.
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Don't forget the garbage can on the sideline!
 
#65
#65
I knew he was in over his head when reports came out he had the team playing bull in the ring and challenging their toughness during it. One of the reasons we had a team of walking wounded while he was here,stupid stuff like that. Other SEC teams doing thud to protect players this clown was banging them into each other as a tougn guy drill.
 
#66
#66
One thing positive for him, he's the only UT HC to ever put up a victory against Kirby Smart at Georgia.
 
#69
#69
GetYouSomeofThat said:
I will never understand the loathing of some Tennessee fans for Butch. He was in over his head and abilities but compared to his predecessor and successor, he was easily heads and shoulders better than those two guys. IMO, he tried to win in the ways he knew how and gave his all, but was never going to over come his shortcomings.

The interview just shines a light on how his personality will likely never allow him to be super successful. His constant reminders about his successes. no matter how small, coupled with the name-dropping that never stops, makes him seem very insecure, which isn't typically a trait of those who reach pinnacles of success.
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This right here. He was night and day better than Dooley and Pruitt.
 
#70
#70
I haven't watched or read y'alls comments but I'm going to guess that he doesn't accept responsibility and blames someone else.
 
#71
#71
IfDickeyStayed said:
Pruitt left Heupel with Hendon Hooker, Cedric Tillman, Jalin Hyatt, Cade Mays, Cooper Mays, Alontae Taylor, and Darnell Wright? The roster in shambles stuff was way overplayed
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brother there are 22 positions excluding special teams and depth is required at each one. our roster was obliterated.
 
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#74
#74
thehardknoxlife said:
Came in here to see some tldw comments and got a thread full of "I hate Butch because..." replies. Smh
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Butch spent 20 minutes name dropping all the famous football players and coaches he knows. Also said 8 group of five wins equals 10 power 4 wins because it’s harder to win at that level.

He also said Tennessee was the most special place he’s been and said it will always be a part of him, so that was nice. He conveniently didn’t mention his cigar smoking and taunting from the Bama sideline.
 
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