Jones Players

#26
#26
I do think Dooley will get another head coaching gig sooner than later. Definitely no major job, but something like an AAC or small P5 job. Of course I could see him moving up the ranks for OC at bigger schools.

I could see someone taking a shot with him as an OC in the NFL with his Dallas background as well.

He has definitely rehabbed his image in coaching circles and Bryant may end up being another feather in his cap if he ends up with a big season.
 
#27
#27
I keep reading on here about Jones players not being good enough to play SEC ball. That Pruitt needs time to get “his” players. I contend they are all his players. Today I have seen 2 posts about former Jones recruits in the NFL.
While I-will agree Jones struggled with game day coaching, he may not have developed his players enough, and his S&C program was lax, why are several of his players in the league? Many are playing and some are even starting. If they can make a roster they aren’t bad players. Surely if the NFL can turn them into league players right out of college, why can’t Pruitt turn them into serviceable players on this team?
My opinion is his doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to spend a year or two to develop Jones players. He has decided to go with his recruits win or lose this year and maybe next year. Or maybe he cannot develop players who are not top level to begin with.
Mizou and Miss St are 2 examples of losing early to develop good upperclassmen that can play and build a program that way. They depend on maturity. Pruitt seems to be building on getting high rated guys. Either could work but with the signing limit I’m not sold he can sign enough high rated players each year.
Jones players that had self motivation and skill to make it the NFL did.
Couple of points:
Those players were mostly gone when Pruitt got here. Exceptions, JJ, Smith a few more.

You can’t turn a sows ear into a silk purse.
You’re wanting Pruitt to develop players that don’t have the skill, work ethic or motivation to be developed.
 
#28
#28
I keep reading on here about Jones players not being good enough to play SEC ball. That Pruitt needs time to get “his” players. I contend they are all his players. Today I have seen 2 posts about former Jones recruits in the NFL.
While I-will agree Jones struggled with game day coaching, he may not have developed his players enough, and his S&C program was lax, why are several of his players in the league? Many are playing and some are even starting. If they can make a roster they aren’t bad players. Surely if the NFL can turn them into league players right out of college, why can’t Pruitt turn them into serviceable players on this team?
My opinion is his doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to spend a year or two to develop Jones players. He has decided to go with his recruits win or lose this year and maybe next year. Or maybe he cannot develop players who are not top level to begin with.
Mizou and Miss St are 2 examples of losing early to develop good upperclassmen that can play and build a program that way. They depend on maturity. Pruitt seems to be building on getting high rated guys. Either could work but with the signing limit I’m not sold he can sign enough high rated players each year.
Pruitt doesn’t want to develop the older (Butch’s players) players on his roster? What?

In addition to stating more than once that he’s been pleasantly surprised and even excited by the response/commitment he’s gotten from those players, he’s actually committed to and played a ton of them.

For example....

QB- Played Guarantano, a Butch recruit, over his grad transfer recruit Chryst last year and named Guarantano his starter in the spring over his QB recruits Maurer and Shrout

RB- Ty Chandler, a Butch recruit , is his starting running back over his RB commit, Eric Gray

WR- Jennings and Callaway and Palmer, all 3 Butch recruits, are his starting WRs over the WRs he has brought in, Tillman, Keyton and Means

TE- took a Butch recruit Eli Wolf to Sec media days in 2018 and plays Austin Pope, a Butch recruit, over his 2 widely acclaimed TEs Brown and Lowe.

OL- Tatum at OT has been given every opportunity in the world to lock down that spot but has been taken over by younger, more talented OLs Wright and Morris. Pruitt certainly seems eager to work with and develop Trey Smith, a Butch recruit. Also, Riley Locklear is in the OL rotation and he too is a Butch Jones recruit. He’s playing over Pruitt recruits Akporoghene and Lampley.

On defense.....

OLB- Darrell Taylor and DeAndre Johnson have been starters most of not all season, both Butch recruits.

ILB- Bituli is the mainstay there, certainly has played ahead of JJ Peterson, a Pruitt recruit. The other Jones ILBs have left the program, they were awful.

CBs- Taylor and Thompson are obviously the best we have, along with Pruitt guy Burrell. But Jones recruit Shamburger plays at star/nickel and Buchanan would surely be playing if not for his injury after playing a ton last year.

Safeties- Warrior is horrible, but continues to be “developed” and play as a Butch recruit. Alongside him is Butch recruit Theo Jackson who currently leads the team in tackles....sure looks like he’s being “developed”. Pruitt has brought in a lot of talent at both safety and CB, yet it’s 50/50 in our defensive backfield between who’s playing right now....50% Pruitts guys, 50% Butch’s guys.

Obviously, I don’t agree with your premise that Pruitt isn’t interested i developing guys who were left over from the Jones era, because, OBVIOUSLY, he’s playing them.

Truth is, the younger guys he’s brought have higher ceilings/more potential than the Jones era holdovers.....however, he’s using good discretion not playing they younger guys until they’re ready to start and take the majority of the snaps. Players develop at different rates, so we’ve seen some that have already displaced the older guys and some that surely will before the end of the season.
 
#29
#29
He was extremely talented and couldn't make the grades at Bama, he came here and Butch couldn't find a way to get him the ball consistently.
 
#31
#31
Butch was a star collector, a recruiter, to be sure. He could do that....he just didn’t know how develop them, or scheme for them when they got here.

I believe Pruitt may be an even better recruiter. That’s about all I can say without committing heresy against Pope Jeremy.

I hope you are right about Pruitt being a better recruiter than Butch. I will say with all of Butches negatives, he was a very good recruiter. If Pruitt can recruit as good as Butch we will be a pretty good team.
 
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#32
#32
Jones has a quicker build up of success, culminating with the first half of the 2016 season, then the bottom dropped out. Lots of smoke and mirrors. His peak was 9 wins.

I think Pruitt’s story will be more of a slow build up with longer sustained success. What the sustained success and his peak will look like is yet to be determined.
 
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#33
#33
Kamara came here because he was buried on the Ala depth chart. People act like he was All Pro when he came to Tenn. He started playing plenty his Sr year and was drafted in the 3rd round. Maybe he did get better each year and played more. Possible????
You skipped over the Blue Dragon year....
 
#34
#34
I keep reading on here about Jones players not being good enough to play SEC ball. That Pruitt needs time to get “his” players. I contend they are all his players. Today I have seen 2 posts about former Jones recruits in the NFL.
While I-will agree Jones struggled with game day coaching, he may not have developed his players enough, and his S&C program was lax, why are several of his players in the league? Many are playing and some are even starting. If they can make a roster they aren’t bad players. Surely if the NFL can turn them into league players right out of college, why can’t Pruitt turn them into serviceable players on this team?
My opinion is his doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to spend a year or two to develop Jones players. He has decided to go with his recruits win or lose this year and maybe next year. Or maybe he cannot develop players who are not top level to begin with.
Mizou and Miss St are 2 examples of losing early to develop good upperclassmen that can play and build a program that way. They depend on maturity. Pruitt seems to be building on getting high rated guys. Either could work but with the signing limit I’m not sold he can sign enough high rated players each year.
Remember that Jones's first two years there were all these threads about "Dooley's players". In a year or two there will be all these posts about "Pruitt's players". I am sure this goes on all over the country. It's just what people do.
 
#35
#35
Remember that Jones's first two years there were all these threads about "Dooley's players". In a year or two there will be all these posts about "Pruitt's players". I am sure this goes on all over the country. It's just what people do.
Yes...then guys like Mel Tucker actually embrace and coach up the talent they inherited, and go win football games. No excuses...they're just immediately his guys.

Does anybody think that the level of talent at Colorado is anywhere close to what Pruitt inherited? Does anyone doubt that Colorado would run us out of the stadium right now?
 
#36
#36
I do think Dooley will get another head coaching gig sooner than later. Definitely no major job, but something like an AAC or small P5 job. Of course I could see him moving up the ranks for OC at bigger schools.
Dave Clawson is doing pretty well at Wake Forest. Everyone wanted to drown him after his OC debacle under Fulmer. Jury is still out on DD!
 
#37
#37
Dave Clawson is doing pretty well at Wake Forest. Everyone wanted to drown him after his OC debacle under Fulmer. Jury is still out on DD!

I really think he was in over his head. Had 3 running backs that were all good in their own ways and tried to go pass happy. I remember that first half vs UCLA so vividly.... Was wondering why we weren't pounding down their throats with Foster, Hardesty, and Coker.
 
#38
#38
Pruitt doesn’t want to develop the older (Butch’s players) players on his roster? What?

In addition to stating more than once that he’s been pleasantly surprised and even excited by the response/commitment he’s gotten from those players, he’s actually committed to and played a ton of them.

For example....

QB- Played Guarantano, a Butch recruit, over his grad transfer recruit Chryst last year and named Guarantano his starter in the spring over his QB recruits Maurer and Shrout

RB- Ty Chandler, a Butch recruit , is his starting running back over his RB commit, Eric Gray

WR- Jennings and Callaway and Palmer, all 3 Butch recruits, are his starting WRs over the WRs he has brought in, Tillman, Keyton and Means

TE- took a Butch recruit Eli Wolf to Sec media days in 2018 and plays Austin Pope, a Butch recruit, over his 2 widely acclaimed TEs Brown and Lowe.

OL- Tatum at OT has been given every opportunity in the world to lock down that spot but has been taken over by younger, more talented OLs Wright and Morris. Pruitt certainly seems eager to work with and develop Trey Smith, a Butch recruit. Also, Riley Locklear is in the OL rotation and he too is a Butch Jones recruit. He’s playing over Pruitt recruits Akporoghene and Lampley.

On defense.....

OLB- Darrell Taylor and DeAndre Johnson have been starters most of not all season, both Butch recruits.

ILB- Bituli is the mainstay there, certainly has played ahead of JJ Peterson, a Pruitt recruit. The other Jones ILBs have left the program, they were awful.

CBs- Taylor and Thompson are obviously the best we have, along with Pruitt guy Burrell. But Jones recruit Shamburger plays at star/nickel and Buchanan would surely be playing if not for his injury after playing a ton last year.

Safeties- Warrior is horrible, but continues to be “developed” and play as a Butch recruit. Alongside him is Butch recruit Theo Jackson who currently leads the team in tackles....sure looks like he’s being “developed”. Pruitt has brought in a lot of talent at both safety and CB, yet it’s 50/50 in our defensive backfield between who’s playing right now....50% Pruitts guys, 50% Butch’s guys.

Obviously, I don’t agree with your premise that Pruitt isn’t interested i developing guys who were left over from the Jones era, because, OBVIOUSLY, he’s playing them.

Truth is, the younger guys he’s brought have higher ceilings/more potential than the Jones era holdovers.....however, he’s using good discretion not playing they younger guys until they’re ready to start and take the majority of the snaps. Players develop at different rates, so we’ve seen some that have already displaced the older guys and some that surely will before the end of the season.


Of all the wild conspiracies that get posted around here and some people really believe them. OP really thinks Pruitt doesn't want to develop Butch's players so basically he hates Butch's players and would prefer to lose instead. You can't make this stuff up. And the funny part is he didn't get called out how ridiculous that was until your post on the 2nd page.:D
 
#39
#39
He was extremely talented and couldn't make the grades at Bama, he came here and Butch couldn't find a way to get him the ball consistently.
if you are speaking of Kamara, then I must agree with you. It is pretty much impossible to get the ball to a player you have sitting on the bench. That ALWAYS results in an out of bounds call.😁
 
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#40
#40
I have no opinion on whether to keep or fire Pruitt. My statement was why some say Jones couldn’t recruit or never develop. However several of his recruits are in the NFL now. If they can somehow be developed into league players, why can’t Pruitt develop them into decent college players instead of saying he needed to recruit guys that could play.
Someone else mentioned Kamara being under used. He came to Tenn because he was buried on Bama’s depth chart. Probably was not the player he is now vs when he came here. His Sr year was when he really flashed but still was only a 3rd round pick.

They had the physical talent. Thus, their star rankings. However, Jones created an environment on the team that fostered a losing mentality. This showed up more than anywhere else, in the off-season workouts. He also fostered the whole snowflake mentality. In addition, the type of players who felt comfortable in that type of environment were more likely to decide to come here.

With all of that said, it takes a while to get that mentality out of an organization. The only way to really do that is to wait out the holdovers. As each day passes, we are putting this issue farther in the rear view mirror, but it takes time - whether we fans like it (or understand it) or not.

I think we are starting to see the beginnings of a new attitude this year, but again, the win/loss record may not be a good indicator until next season.
 
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#41
#41
It's official! I've entered the transfer portal.

I'm currently on team posiVols but I'm considering my options. The biggest team involved is negaVols but I'm going to take all my visits and see where it goes. I may just stay and go nowhere, all options are on the table for me.

Please respect my decision.
 
#43
#43
Of all the wild conspiracies that get posted around here and some people really believe them. OP really thinks Pruitt doesn't want to develop Butch's players so basically he hates Butch's players and would prefer to lose instead. You can't make this stuff up. And the funny part is he didn't get called out how ridiculous that was until your post on the 2nd page.:D

Well, I think he will use Jones' recruits, just like any other player on the team, but deep down he knows this team is not going to succeed until most of the players on the field are his recruits. Now, his recruits MAY fail, but it has been proven on the field that Jones's recruits don't know how to win (with a few exceptions, of course).
 
#44
#44
I hope you are right about Pruitt being a better recruiter than Butch. I will say with all of Butches negatives, he was a very good recruiter. If Pruitt can recruit as good as Butch we will be a pretty good team.
He had two good classes. Also had some of the highest attrition in the nation a few years as well. Butch as a recruiter was good but he definitely wasn’t great. His two best classes were mostly in state talent and legacies, he also took heavy numbers a few years.
 
#45
#45
Can we please stop bringing him up? My goodness. Like it or not, he’s not the reason Tennessee is in the mess that it currently is. He also had a better showing than JP has at this point in their UT tenures. The Pruitt bootlickers will just have to deal with that for the time being. The guy made some critical mistakes, and I do believe it was time to get rid of him. But the non-stop overblown narratives about the guy, as well as the attack on his character are just tired at this point. I think he was a much better FB coach than some of you want him to be, and closer to bringing Tennessee back than some of you care to admit. But keep stating that Dobbs deserves credit for every win he accomplished, if that helps you sleep at night.

I agree that the worst season in UT history wasn't real in his 5th season. He was headed in the right direction. You have to compete for championships before you can win championships with individuals during the maturation process.
 
#46
#46
I keep reading on here about Jones players not being good enough to play SEC ball. That Pruitt needs time to get “his” players. I contend they are all his players. Today I have seen 2 posts about former Jones recruits in the NFL.
While I-will agree Jones struggled with game day coaching, he may not have developed his players enough, and his S&C program was lax, why are several of his players in the league? Many are playing and some are even starting. If they can make a roster they aren’t bad players. Surely if the NFL can turn them into league players right out of college, why can’t Pruitt turn them into serviceable players on this team?
My opinion is his doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to spend a year or two to develop Jones players. He has decided to go with his recruits win or lose this year and maybe next year. Or maybe he cannot develop players who are not top level to begin with.
Mizou and Miss St are 2 examples of losing early to develop good upperclassmen that can play and build a program that way. They depend on maturity. Pruitt seems to be building on getting high rated guys. Either could work but with the signing limit I’m not sold he can sign enough high rated players each year.
.
 
#47
#47
Kamara came here because he was buried on the Ala depth chart. People act like he was All Pro when he came to Tenn. He started playing plenty his Sr year and was drafted in the 3rd round. Maybe he did get better each year and played more. Possible????
Easy ot the wrath of the he man CBJ haters club will attack you for this assault on their persons..
 

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