How long should we give Pruitt?

[hog88]

There's a bit of a cancer in our society, where we enter into agreements, relationships and arrangements already considering the possible end states.

"Til death do us part," has become "Get a pre-nuptial agreement," and, "He's our coach," has become, "how long do we give him"?

We'd all be better off if we stopped thinking of relationships as time-bound things. Consider them, by default, as open-ended, potentially-forever things.

Even if that sometimes proves not to be true, the relationships should be a lot healthier for the supportive mindset.

This isn’t a relationship, he’s an employee of UT and in a production business. If he doesn’t produce you have to cut him lose.

 

[OJ]

Honestly I've seen a lot of different opinions. I'm just curious how many years and why that long. What expectations do you have over these years? We didn't start out great but I do see a lot of positive coming from Pruitt. A lot of characteristics that over time could mold a solid football team. So how long do you give him before you jump off the bandwagon?

How long did your parents give you before giving up?

 

[SaintLouisVol]

There is no hard time line. The answer is as long as we don't see regression.

You will know when he has hit his summit. It's no different that Jones really. Jones improved the program each of the first three years he was here. While many of the concerns critics had turned out to be true, he did make progress and deserved a 4th year. Following his 4th year, it was pretty obvious that he had hit his summit, but at the same time, it difficult to fire a coach that produced back-to-back nine win seasons, especially in light of the buyout that went along with it. His 5th season ultimately disclosed his nature, and so, he was done.

Pruitt deserves another year as long as the team is improving. It's far too difficult for me as an outsider to say how quickly that progress should be.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

This isn’t a relationship, he’s an employee of UT and in a production business. If he doesn’t produce you have to cut him lose.

When two or more people interact, it's always a relationship.

Some relationships are romantic. Others are business relationships. But they're all relationships.

We ought to treat each other more like we WANT to be in a relationship and less like we're angling for how to come OUT of it the best.

 

[livefaith]

I cannot even believe I am seeing this thread 60 game minutes into Pruitt' s career at UT. It's the equivalent of the groom checking out the bridesmaids while he is standing at the alter kissing the bride.

:-D You Win! Post of the year. Close down the website Freak. :-D

 

[hog88]

When two or more people interact, it's always a relationship.

Some relationships are romantic. Others are business relationships. But they're all relationships.

We ought to treat each other more like we WANT to be in a relationship and less like we're angling for how to come OUT of it the best.

Learn that in B school?

 

[bpalmer28]

I think you're overestimating the effect of a messagboard discussion.

What's your theory on how we've developed the reputation as the worst "eat your own" fanbase in the country?

 

[GrizzlyVol]

Fix what? The 2000's are the 2nd best decade in school history. Look it up. And Hamilton was sabotaging the program as has been reported by many insiders. Hammy wanted to hire someone that would respect him since none of the current coaches did as he was just a lacky for so long. Hammy worked Haslem telling him to not let Phil break all of his coach's (Neyland's) records. So Hammy did everything to hurt the program as he did with baseball and eventually basketball. All well documented. The Hall of Famer would not have had to fix anything had Dickey still been the AD.

For starters I don't need to look anything up I lived it, every single Saturday at Neyland or away games. The fixing I was talking about was the offense, we struggled big time with grasping Dave Clawsons offense but it would've got better if given the time but he didn't get that time. I agree on the AD, Hamilton was a stooge

 

[VolsSportsFan]

What's your theory on how we've developed the reputation as the worst "eat your own" fanbase in the country?

According to whom? How are we different than any other major college fanbase?

 

[GrizzlyVol]

We didn't hire them when Fulmer resigned. Our AD and boosters were dazzled by Kiffin and Co. with the whole USC East sales pitch wherein Monte was hailed as a defensive genius (and maybe he once was), Lane was the offensive wunderkind, and Orgeron would lead a cadre of super recruiters to skim cream from coast to coast. We had options in 2008. Respected, established, successful, and (most importantly at the time) HUNGRY coaches were willing to take this job. A lot of those same people we could've hired in 2008 wouldn't give us the time of day in 2009 or 2012.

Fulmer had time to fix it after 2005, and he didn't. We starting missing on too many good prospects and hitting on too many busts, much like people now say Butch did. We had academic issues that gave the eggheads in academia too much control over the AD and got us in hot water with the NCAA. The disciplinary issues were pervasive enough to give rise to the Fulmer Cup. Throw in the kind of coaches that our then rivals were hiring (Saban, Richt, and Meyer) and suddenly we found ourselves at the proverbial gunfight with a butter knife. Some times the good ole days weren't quite as good as our memories trick us into thinking they were.

I'm fully aware Kiffin was after Fulmer but thank you for lending your expertise, The past also wasn't as bad as your letting on but we'll just agree to disagree

 

[ksgovols]

What's your theory on how we've developed the reputation as the worst "eat your own" fanbase in the country?

Other than 5 football coaches in the last 11 years, 4 AD's and however many Chancellors and Presidents and power struggles on the BoT? The old plumber's addage that 'crap runs downhill' applies here I think. The fanbase's frustration has been well earned.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Honestly I've seen a lot of different opinions. I'm just curious how many years and why that long. What expectations do you have over these years? We didn't start out great but I do see a lot of positive coming from Pruitt. A lot of characteristics that over time could mold a solid football team. So how long do you give him before you jump off the bandwagon?

I swear some of you fans are misnamed. Instead of Vols fans, you should be called Vols quicksand. How about backing off until we see what happens when the coaches have a chance to recruit and coach a team that really is their own? It sure beats looking for the slightest excuse to go into firing mode.

 

[TN_Transplant]

I get your sentiment and it begs the question whether UTK fans are okay with just being better than what we've been the past 10 years or so, or are we going to demand that the AD do whatever is necessary to get us back to the top of the SEC?

Well, we have to walk before we can run. We aren't going to go from the past 10 years back to the 90's in a season.

Let's get back to SEC championship appearances before we demand winning the National Championship every year.

After what we've been through, an occasional down year paired with an occasional up year is not so bad. Johnny Majors had a few as well. The '86 season wasn't great compared to the '85 season. The '87 season we won 10 games. The '88 season we went 5-6.

Just saying, Johnny and Phil accounted for over 30 years of Tennessee football. And those were some good years, but they weren't winning a National championship ever year, or an SEC championship every year.

I am just saying that those down years were made up for by the good years. Even the down years were competitive (for the most part). Now, the up years are the exception. And now the down years, we aren't competitive.

I'll take being a competitive team who loses some close ones over a pushover.

 

[GrizzlyVol]

You could say he’s a proven defensive coach, maybe even a proven defensive coordinator but he’s far, far from a proven head coach yet.

The reality is that barring back to back 3 or 4 win seasons Pruitt will get 5 years because Fulmer’s fate rides with Pruitt’s. We’ll have a good idea if the guy is going to be a good HBC by the end of this season and if he’s not competing for the east in year 3 it’s time to cut bait. Won’t happen but that’s the way it should be.

That's what I said proven coach not proven head coach, he hasn't had time to prove anything as head coach yet, but here we are in this thread. I don't agree with the 3 year should cut bait but that's called a different in opinion. That's what make these boards fun we all have different opinions

 

[OneVolNation]

Same here. I don't think anyone can genuinely question his heart for the young people of Tennessee, the University athletics, the people of Tennessee period, and obviously Tennessee football.

No offense to the creator of the thread (can't remember who it is) because I'm sure they probably didn't think it through that deeply, but if you look at it one way it's almost kind of disrespectful to AD Fulmer to entertain the topic of this conversation at this point, considering that Coach was his first choice after he officially took over the reigns of the Athletic department. I believe we can trust him to do what's best for Tennessee football because that's what he wants too. Having said that, I think Coach Pruitt has worked hard at developing the players from where the team was last year to where we'll see improvement throughout the season. The whole team attitude and culture has improved. The players look hungry and willing to work. I think they'll get it together sooner rather than later.

Last Saturday looked like the difference between a roster of seniors who all played together for at least a couple of years under the same Coach and that coach's system at WVU on one side and then pretty much brand new everything for everyone at Tennessee. That's exactly what it looked like too, just a team's first game under their new coach and in a new system so everything wasn't automatic reflex from the last 4 seasons, right?

I was happy the offense was moving the chains and sustained that glorious drive that went nearly the distance of the field to start taking care of business in the red zone. That 4th and goal touchdown answered a big question as far as in-game head coaching personality for me. That was a statement drive and showed us the Vols under Pruitt can punch it in when they decide to do it. But yeah, we could have got skunked 63-0 and even though it would have been much worse, it would still just be one loss and only the first game of the season. I think that all spells still too premature to seriously question some kind of ultimatum or coaching era time box.

See, here's the thing about Pruitt that I have a hunch about from what I think I can read of him to this point.

He's a coach's son and a former player who lives and breathes football, for one. So more than likely he has a personal pride with a certain minimum threshold tied to the results of his record at Tennessee with his professional name attached that won't allow him to accept much less than the level of effort from his players, his staff, and himself that it will take as a team to move everything in the right direction.
I think he'd probably be miserable to the point of feeling physically ill until his team is winning consistently. You know it's got to feel awkward for him already just coming from all those championship seasons at other schools under someone else's well-oiled machine to then finally leading his own team and starting out with the loss. That imbalance on his head coaching record probably feels like a pebble in his shoe.

If I have Coach Pruitt pegged, he'll find at least a dozen more ways than necessary to give the team a better position to win entering the Florida game than last week with no previous game film. He doesn't seem the type to sit around and wallow or whine about less talent on the roster than at his previous stops. I'm thinking he's someone who will stand up and find out what needs to be done and then make sure he gets the job done. As far as respect, he's not letting players walk over him trying to be best buddies and all, because they respect him for coaching them up to play their best football. We didn't get to see it so soon as the first game, but everyone could tell they knew what they were doing out there and they weren't as unprepared or outmatched as the 2nd half score suggested. Tennessee won the 2nd quarter. Just need to win that same quarter along with the other 3 now for a full four quarters. Hey, I know that's out on a tangent about the last game, but that's really the only one in the books that he's got under his belt so far.

Just to give an answer for the sake of giving an answer though, I think he gets at least as many seasons as what the last coach got to make a case that he's got what it takes as the head coach of Tennessee to lead the team to competing for championships. I think that's fair no matter how one looks at it with time to get all his own players coached up in his system.

So, I humored you and did my part to answer a question that I told you I believe is way too early to even think about asking. On a similar train of thought, while everyone's still got their crystal ball out, let me ask you this, how soon do you think could (realistically) be the minimum number of seasons before Tennessee seriously contends for the East division crown?




TL;DR Coach Pruitt is AD Fulmer's choice so we trust that the man who brought us our last National Championship knows how to manage personnel on the way to our next one. I see your question about how long here and raise you one about how many seasons minimum of Coach Pruitt and Staff's player development and recruiting before Tennessee's contending for the East division?

 

[TheOrangeElite]

How long did your parents give you before giving up?

A solid ten minutes.

 

[Behr]

What's your theory on how we've developed the reputation as the worst "eat your own" fanbase in the country?

The only place I've seen or "heard" that was here, by Vol fans.

 

[bpalmer28]

According to whom? How are we different than any other major college fanbase?

Everyone man. We had a freaking peteition to fire Coach Martin for crying out loud. If y’all don’t think we’re worse than other big fan bases you’re delusional. Things like this thread are why we’re the laughing stock of college football.

 

[TheOrangeElite]

Same here. I don't think anyone can genuinely question his heart for the young people of Tennessee, the University athletics, the people of Tennessee period, and obviously Tennessee football.

No offense to the creator of the thread (can't remember who it is) because I'm sure they probably didn't think it through that deeply, but if you look at it one way it's almost kind of disrespectful to AD Fulmer to entertain the topic of this conversation at this point, considering that Coach was his first choice after he officially took over the reigns of the Athletic department. I believe we can trust him to do what's best for Tennessee football because that's what he wants too. Having said that, I think Coach Pruitt has worked hard at developing the players from where the team was last year to where we'll see improvement throughout the season. The whole team attitude and culture has improved. The players look hungry and willing to work. I think they'll get it together sooner rather than later.

Last Saturday looked like the difference between a roster of seniors who all played together for at least a couple of years under the same Coach and that coach's system at WVU on one side and then pretty much brand new everything for everyone at Tennessee. That's exactly what it looked like too, just a team's first game under their new coach and in a new system so everything wasn't automatic reflex from the last 4 seasons, right?

I was happy the offense was moving the chains and sustained that glorious drive that went nearly the distance of the field to start taking care of business in the red zone. That 4th and goal touchdown answered a big question as far as in-game head coaching personality for me. That was a statement drive and showed us the Vols under Pruitt can punch it in when they decide to do it. But yeah, we could have got skunked 63-0 and even though it would have been much worse, it would still just be one loss and only the first game of the season. I think that all spells still too premature to seriously question some kind of ultimatum or coaching era time box.

See, here's the thing about Pruitt that I have a hunch about from what I think I can read of him to this point.

He's a coach's son and a former player who lives and breathes football, for one. So more than likely he has a personal pride with a certain minimum threshold tied to the results of his record at Tennessee with his professional name attached that won't allow him to accept much less than the level of effort from his players, his staff, and himself that it will take as a team to move everything in the right direction.
I think he'd probably be miserable to the point of feeling physically ill until his team is winning consistently. You know it's got to feel awkward for him already just coming from all those championship seasons at other schools under someone else's well-oiled machine to then finally leading his own team and starting out with the loss. That imbalance on his head coaching record probably feels like a pebble in his shoe.

If I have Coach Pruitt pegged, he'll find at least a dozen more ways than necessary to give the team a better position to win entering the Florida game than last week with no previous game film. He doesn't seem the type to sit around and wallow or whine about less talent on the roster than at his previous stops. I'm thinking he's someone who will stand up and find out what needs to be done and then make sure he gets the job done. As far as respect, he's not letting players walk over him trying to be best buddies and all, because they respect him for coaching them up to play their best football. We didn't get to see it so soon as the first game, but everyone could tell they knew what they were doing out there and they weren't as unprepared or outmatched as the 2nd half score suggested. Tennessee won the 2nd quarter. Just need to win that same quarter along with the other 3 now for a full four quarters. Hey, know that's out on a tangent about the last game, but that's really the only one in the books that he's got under his belt so far.

Just to give an answer for the sake of giving an answer though, I think he gets at least as many seasons as what the last coach got to make a case that he's got what it takes as the head coach of Tennessee to lead the team to competing for championships. I think that's fair no matter how one looks at it with time to get all his own players coached up in his system.

So, I humored you and did my part to answer a question that I told you I believe is way too early to even think about asking. On a similar train of thought, while everyone's still got their crystal ball out, let me ask you this, how soon do you think could (realistically) be the minimum number of seasons before Tennessee seriously contends for the East division crown?




TL;DR Coach Pruitt is AD Fulmer's choice so we trust that the man who brought us our last National Championship knows how to manage personnel on the way to our next one. I see your question about how long here and raise you one about how many seasons minimum of Coach Pruitt and Staff's player development and recruiting before Tennessee's contending for the East division?

I appreciate you testing the waters and just throwing a answer out there. For the sake of it I believe in 5-6 years we could contend if everything lines up perfectly. The post was less about hanging his head and more about the perspective on the rebuild process. How long do we wait to see this, what are those expectations. This thread has obviously gone a little further than expected. But I sure do love seeing everyone expressing themselves. That's what a board is for right!

 

[savannahfan]

Until Florida.
No but seriously, knowing Tennessee luck, Pruitt will be fired or leave willingly here only to go on to become a bigger and better coach. (Too much moonshine and whiskey leads to bad luck). I mean is there really much difference between he and Kiffin? Both proven winners who love to coach football? How do we even know he wouldn’t dip after year 1? Lol I know some of that is a little sarcastic, but when I look at him, I still see Alabama lol. How long will that take to wear off??

Good Lord, you are comparing Pruitt to Kiffin!!!!

 

[lonelawyer]

I cannot even believe I am seeing this thread 60 game minutes into Pruitt' s career at UT. It's the equivalent of the groom checking out the bridesmaids while he is standing at the alter kissing the bride.

Which is why brides usually put their bridesmaids in the ugliest dresses imaginable.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Everyone man. We had a freaking peteition to fire Coach Martin for crying out loud. If y’all don’t think we’re worse than other big fan bases you’re delusional. Things like this thread are why we’re the laughing stock of college football.

If you don't think other big fanbases act excatly like us, you're the delusional one. Florida fans were running off McElwain and he won the freaking East and SEC Coach of the Year his first year.

 

[lonelawyer]

If he can’t beat Vanderbilt by 2005 we need to start looking around for somebody else.

I'm almost afraid to ask. What year is it?

 

[savannahfan]

I've got no problem with that because it took Johnny Majors that long to turn the Tennessee program around

I have stated before: at a luncheon years ago, early in his first year seated next Coach Majors, when I ask how long? He said 6-7 years, Due mostly to recruiting limits ( remember this is 70's). He said his first year a Pit he was allowed 105 scollys, the last one going to a guy named Dorsett.

 

[OneVolNation]

I appreciate you testing the waters and just throwing a answer out there. For the sake of it I believe in 5-6 years we could contend if everything lines up perfectly. The post was less about hanging his head and more about the perspective on the rebuild process. How long do we wait to see this, what are those expectations. This thread has obviously gone a little further than expected. But I sure do love seeing everyone expressing themselves. That's what a board is for right!

Yea, buddy! Yeah, I thought you were speaking of it on a face value level and didn't think you were looking at it that deeply, so thought it was a good idea to clarify. I appreciate you confirming your intent wasn't to try the baby as an adult before he was born enough to do the crime. So we've got an answer of five years at the earliest. I think we should realistically be Tough with a capital T by then too.