‘23 LA CB Jordan Matthews (Tennessee)

[sjt18]

Like it or not, the best moments you’ve experienced as a UT fan since 2007 are because of Butch Jones. And you can’t dismiss the fact that he recruited that talent. That’s the job.

Won't regurgitate the same arguments again. Simply disagree that coaching players is the same as recruiting them.

No. The best moments I've experienced as a UT fan since 2007 were IN SPITE of Butch Jones. Talent carried him to the extent he had success on the field.... and he found creative ways to squander that.

 

[VolNash17]

Call me crazy, but I would absolutely love to have Butch as a special teams coach on this staff with how good he recruited and considering our special teams were always the best in the country. He’s by no means a HC at any level, but he brought in incredible talent

Lets Bring Pruitt back as Defensive Coordinator and Butch back as Special Teams Coach if we’re doing a family reunion of knuckleheads

 

[SweetasSoda]

Yes, Butch was a good recruiter which is absolutely necessary to be a good college coach. He also was a good recruiter because he lied which always catches up to you. The talent he brought in helped him win games his pathetic play calling should have lost. I do love to remember the FL and GA game, but I don’t think of him when I do.

But I think Pruitt is the absolute worst head coach!!! Just thinking about how he could have ruined our program for decades with his sloppy cheating makes me furious! Then thinking he absolutely would not have cared at all because he hated our program and our fans just like Kiffin. He was the worst of Kiffin, Dooley, and Butch all rolled into one! His only redeeming quality was he was not Schiano!!!

 

[NighthawkVol]

Won't regurgitate the same arguments again. Simply disagree that coaching players is the same as recruiting them.

No. The best moments I've experienced as a UT fan since 2007 were IN SPITE of Butch Jones. Talent carried him to the extent he had success on the field.... and he found creative ways to squander that.

I didn’t say that coaching them is the same as recruiting them. I said they’re both part of the job. And recruiting is the bigger part. Ultimately, the measure of a coach is his record. Butch’s was light years ahead of either Dooley or Pruitt.

But sure, go on and believe that those talented players just arrived at UT without Jones getting them there, and would have been there with Dooley or Pruitt. You obviously want to believe what you want to believe, reason be damned. The “in spite of Butch Jones” comment is highly revelatory.

I’m curious…what do you think Derek Dooley’s record would have been in 2013-2017? Any 9 win seasons? Any bowl wins? Any wins over Florida or Georgia? Honestly…do you think his recird would have been better than Butch’s? What about Pruitt?

 

[NighthawkVol]

Yes, Butch was a good recruiter which is absolutely necessary to be a good college coal. He also was a good recruiter because he lied which always catches up to you. The talent he brought in helped him win games his pathetic play calling should have lost. I do love to remember the FL and GA game, but I don’t think of him when I do.

But I think Pruitt is the absolute worst head coach!!! Just thinking about how he could have ruined our program for decades with his sloppy cheating makes me furious! Then thinking he absolutely would not have cared at all because he hated our program and our fans just like Kiffin. He was the worst of Kiffin, Dooley, and Butch all rolled into one! His only redeeming quality was he was not Schiano!!!

I would say the worst coaches in my lifetime were 1) Dooley, 2) Pruitt, 3) Butch. None were good, mind you, but it’s crazy to me that folks want to dog Butch more than the other two, when they were clearly worse.

 

[DaddyChad]

Won't regurgitate the same arguments again. Simply disagree that coaching players is the same as recruiting them.

No. The best moments I've experienced as a UT fan since 2007 were IN SPITE of Butch Jones. Talent carried him to the extent he had success on the field.... and he found creative ways to squander that.

I mean I’m not going to run that far defending Butch. Simply saying he’s better than Dooley or Pruitt. That’s as far as I’ll take it. Definitely not going to argue that he didn’t squander talent. Our difference of opinion isn’t that much.

 

[sjt18]

I would say the worst coaches in my lifetime were 1) Dooley, 2) Pruitt, 3) Butch. None were good, mind you, but it’s crazy to me that folks want to dog Butch more than the other two, when they were clearly worse.

I would agree with that if we were talking just recruiting- assembling a roster. I might agree if you are talking composite. But if you are talking about knowing, understanding, scheming, etc football or developing the talent you have... he's the worst and I wouldn't consider it very close.

 

[Pridedad]

Yes, Butch was a good recruiter which is absolutely necessary to be a good college coal. He also was a good recruiter because he lied which always catches up to you. The talent he brought in helped him win games his pathetic play calling should have lost. I do love to remember the FL and GA game, but I don’t think of him when I do.

But I think Pruitt is the absolute worst head coach!!! Just thinking about how he could have ruined our program for decades with his sloppy cheating makes me furious! Then thinking he absolutely would not have cared at all because he hated our program and our fans just like Kiffin. He was the worst of Kiffin, Dooley, and Butch all rolled into one! His only redeeming quality was he was not Schiano!!!

So what your saying is that we were bad all year and he was what we got in out stockings!

 

[BarnesIsCaliparisDaddy]

Ok crazy...so he can go around punching student athletes in the gut

Sure as long as he brings in talent

 

[peaygolf]

I do think he could be successful at a FCS school…….don’t want him in Clarksville though….

 

[SouthKnoxVOL]

I would say the worst coaches in my lifetime were 1) Dooley, 2) Pruitt, 3) Butch. None were good, mind you, but it’s crazy to me that folks want to dog Butch more than the other two, when they were clearly worse.

I gotta go with Pruitt as the worst of the 3. I mean...he lost to Vandy and UK. GEORGIA STATE. Offenses were horrid. Then ended up having more recruiting violations than wins. Not even close.

 

[NighthawkVol]

I would agree with that if we were talking just recruiting- assembling a roster. I might agree if you are talking composite. But if you are talking about knowing, understanding, scheming, etc football or developing the talent you have... he's the worst and I wouldn't consider it very close.

Great. But coaches are measured by their W-L record. This should be obvious. Part of having a good record is recruiting. This should also be obvious.

You seem to think it’s better to go 5-7 with poor talent than to go 9-3 with elite talent. The record is the record, no matter how you get there. And the record shows that Butch is far better than the other two. That’s not debatable. At all. Not remotely.

 

[NighthawkVol]

I gotta go with Pruitt as the worst of the 3. I mean...he lost to Vandy and UK. GEORGIA STATE. Offenses were horrid. Then ended up having more recruiting violations than wins. Not even close.

Solid argument. It’s definitely between JP and DD. But JP at least had a winning season, which Dooley never did. I had hope he was turning things around after that, but the bottom fell out.

Dooley was definitely more likable than Pruitt. That guy sucks.

 

[SouthKnoxVOL]

Solid argument. It’s definitely between JP and DD. But JP at least had a winning season, which Dooley never did. I had hope he was turning things around after that, but the bottom fell out.

Dooley was definitely more likable than Pruitt. That guy sucks.

Really the best thing for this program would have been to have hired Cutcliffe whenever Kiffin bolted. I remember they interviewed him and wanted him but the administration wouldnt let him bring his staff from Duke. Which was so stupid on their part because we really needed someone to come in right away and that was trusted to stabilize the program at that point.

Do I think Cutcliffe would have been the long term answer? No...I dont think he would have been able to keep up with the big boys in recruiting but I bet we wouldnt have went through 3 coaches in a decade. He would have been able to stabilize the program and prep it for for a much bigger name.

 

[headhunter15]

Really the best thing for this program would have been to have hired Cutcliffe whenever Kiffin bolted. I remember they interviewed him and wanted him but the administration wouldnt let him bring his staff from Duke. Which was so stupid on their part because we really needed someone to come in right away and that was trusted to stabilize the program at that point.

Do I think Cutcliffe would have been the long term answer? No...I dont think he would have been able to keep up with the big boys in recruiting but I bet we wouldnt have went through 3 coaches in a decade. He would have been able to stabilize the program and prep it for for a much bigger name.

I feel if he couldn’t at least maintain top 25 classes, fans would call for his job quick.

 

[SweetasSoda]

I would say the worst coaches in my lifetime were 1) Dooley, 2) Pruitt, 3) Butch. None were good, mind you, but it’s crazy to me that folks want to dog Butch more than the other two, when they were clearly worse.

I was dealing with a lot of health problems during the Dooley years and didn’t keep up with it much then. But I have Pruitt in the #1 spot because he was all AL and deep down hated us. He condescended to allow us his genius because of the money and experience.

 

[SweetasSoda]

So what your saying is that we were bad all year and he was what we got in out stockings!

Yes!!! I am terrified of what spell check is going to do to me because I rarely check before posting. But I will forever think of him and the others as the coal in our stockings!

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Call me crazy, but I would absolutely love to have Butch as a special teams coach on this staff with how good he recruited and considering our special teams were always the best in the country. He’s by no means a HC at any level, but he brought in incredible talent

When were our special teams the best in the nation?

 

[DaddyChad]

I would agree with that if we were talking just recruiting- assembling a roster. I might agree if you are talking composite. But if you are talking about knowing, understanding, scheming, etc football or developing the talent you have... he's the worst and I wouldn't consider it very close.

Great. But coaches are measured by their W-L record. This should be obvious. Part of having a good record is recruiting. This should also be obvious.

You seem to think it’s better to go 5-7 with poor talent than to go 9-3 with elite talent. The record is the record, no matter how you get there. And the record shows that Butch is far better than the other two. That’s not debatable. At all. Not remotely.

I would also argue Butch’s coordinators overall were better than Dooley’s. Debord had the most prolific offense in school history Jancek was decent as well when he wasn’t chasing coeds on campus.

 

[BelieveTheHeup93]

When were our special teams the best in the nation?

I don’t recall any punts or kicks getting returned to the house on us and we did that to quite a bit of teams. It was always a strong point of Butch’s teams and apparently he always put a lot of importance into them. Outside of that missed FG at Florida in 2015 our specials teams always made huge plays and never cost us any games

 

[BelieveTheHeup93]

I would also argue Butch’s coordinators overall were better than Dooley’s. Debord had the most prolific offense in school history Jancek was decent as well when he wasn’t chasing coeds on campus.

I was never impressed with Debord. I think the talent on the field had more to do with our production than anything. I wish we had never lost Bajakian. I always felt like he maximized Dobbs’s potential

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

Call me crazy, but I would absolutely love to have Butch as a special teams coach on this staff with how good he recruited and considering our special teams were always the best in the country. He’s by no means a HC at any level, but he brought in incredible talent

Nobody has to call you crazy, you confessed and certified it with this post.

 

[BelieveTheHeup93]

Nobody has to call you crazy, you confessed and certified it with this post.

This staff goes to the the SECCG or CFP easily with his 2014-2016 teams. I’d want him solely because of how well he recruits and nothing else. That 2016 team was probably the most talented team we’ve had since the 2001 team. He just wouldn’t be able run a program. As a special teams coordinator he’s almost incapable of screwing things up

 

[sonofUT62]

I was never impressed with Debord. I think the talent on the field had more to do with our production than anything. I wish we had never lost Bajakian. I always felt like he maximized Dobbs’s potential

Bajakian put up 9 points against Florida in 2014 in 5 red zone trips including 2 trips inside the 10. Debord called one of the best half’s of football I’ve ever seen in 2016 against Fla, particularly the Hurd and Malone TDs. The offense got better when Bajakian left……some of which can be attributed to JD maturing and the arrival of Kamara. I don’t have words for what happened to the offense when Debord left.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

This staff goes to the the SECCG or CFP easily with his 2014-2016 teams. I’d want him solely because of how well he recruits and nothing else. That 2016 team was probably the most talented team we’ve had since the 2001 team. He just wouldn’t be able run a program. As a special teams coordinator he’s almost incapable of screwing things up

NOPE.... just like Kiffin, too many unpardonable sins....