Let's be honest

[Volhoops]

The fans are fatigued from rebuild after rebuild. Continuous talk to just give each coach time to rebuild has worn out the fan base. My worry about Pruitt is if he thinks Saban's being a prick to everybody is the right way to be a head coach. It appears to me that I see some of Saban's media habits in Pruitt which is sad. If you're going to be a HC and take the millions you better be a little more media savy and quit going around with a sour look on your face. Saban gets by with it because of wins. Pruitt is a long way yet from being called a good or great HC.

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

Experienced? We’ve got 4 new starters on the OL and the 5th is Richmond. Our top 2 corners are true freshmen. We’ve also got first year platers starting at TE and S. Our RB is a first year starter. Everyone on the team is in their first year in the system.

Why you so mad at Pruitt?

They have an entire season (save 1 game) in their repertoire. They're not new anymore...They do LOOK new but they aren't.

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

The guy is following the worst season in UT history which was at the end of one of the worst 10 year stretches in UT history . I see development in the team on the field , no turmoil off the field , 2 SEC wins , and a shot at a bowl game. I like him for the upward trending results. I don't need 'feel good talk' from a coach ( see Butch ) . It is worthless in the big picture. I want to see a competitive product on the field. I feel like we are getting there . I am anxious to see what happens with the new class and what happens when we have some depth and developed talent on the field next season . Holding judgement until then

Agreed.

Improvement was very obvious in the 50-17 beatdown Saturday. Those that can't see that should go pull for another team!!

 

[VolAllen]

A lot of folks seem to think that his attitude is some magical ingredient to success that Jones and Dooley didn’t have. But there are a lot of successful coaches who also happen to be pretty nice dudes (or they at least pretend).

James Franklin. How in the hell did Penn State bounce back faster than us?

Dabo is a nice dude. I watched his introduction presser yesterday, and he seemed to be “All In” for Clemson from day 1. I believe he beat the big bad Saban for a title a couple of years ago.

Les Miles is a nice dude. He was successful.

Harbaugh is a nice guy. I believe his team is ranked #4.

Point is, I’ve never seen anyone with a 5-6 career coaching record act like a complete ass during his own show. I get that the show sucks, but it’s a contractual obligation.

 

[Orangeredblooded]

I think Pruitt is a very decent person and football coach. Not sure he is a good head coach or he would have had the forethought to have hired experienced coordinators on his initial staff. There are times that this staff's inexperience, including Pruitt, hurts us. Just because you are a great coordinator does not necessarily equal a successful head coach. There have been too many examples of that.

After being told for the last 10 years that everything is the fans' fault, I could care less about the coach and who likes him. IIRC the fans had very little ability to make a choice on these hires. That goes back to 1970 when the AD hired Battle and the fans were pushing for Majors. Battle had never been a coordinator at I believe 27 at the time. Just an example of UT stupidity. It burned them then and it is becoming "who cares" now.

I really think that if Fulmer knew anything about being an AD he would have assessed the kind of talent that we had on this team before making a decision on a head coach. Pruitt was not a fit for the talent we had. I am one who very much welcomes the change back to smash mouth football but we needed more of a finesse coach to have any success this year.

In essence, I am saying that we have a rookie AD, hiring a rookie coach, hiring rookie coordinators. That is a recipe for disaster.

Part of your post almost falls in the oxymoron category, no, it actually does. You like smash mouth football and glad that is the direction the team is headed, but Coach Fulmer should have hired a coach that fits the finesse players that Butch recruited. That basically means you wanted CPF to hire a coach for one or two years to coach the current players based on their current skill set and then move on to a more smash mouth coach.

 

[OldandStillaVol]

A lot of folks seem to think that his attitude is some magical ingredient to success that Jones and Dooley didn’t have. But there are a lot of successful coaches who also happen to be pretty nice dudes (or they at least pretend).

James Franklin. How in the hell did Penn State bounce back faster than us?

Dabo is a nice dude. I watched his introduction presser yesterday, and he seemed to be “All In” for Clemson from day 1. I believe he beat the big bad Saban for a title a couple of years ago.

Les Miles is a nice dude. He was successful.

Harbaugh is a nice guy. I believe his team is ranked #4.

Point is, I’ve never seen anyone with a 5-6 career coaching record act like a complete ass during his own show. I get that the show sucks, but it’s a contractual obligation.

If you don’t like the show, then don’t watch. I’m puzzled why it bothers you so much.

 

[VolAllen]

If you don’t like the show, then don’t watch. I’m puzzled why it bothers you so much.

I try to watch them every week, but I only make it to the first commercial break.

 

[Orangeredblooded]

You obviously don’t realize who our coordinators are then.

They have recruiting ties all over the nation. They weren’t only picked too coordinate. They may be inexperienced but they aren’t the reason we have been losing.

Pruitt basically coaches the defense and he had guys in position to make plays against Missouri and the guys missed tackles etc.

That is on the players not the coaches you can only have the guys in position to make plays it is on the players to actually make the plays.

As for the offense, it’s the same offensive line that got our QBs killed last year. With position coaches who had roughly 8 months to get them ready to play their first game. The line has improved but not to where it needs to be. Expect bigger improvements next year.

It’s amazing to me that some fans think CJP just went out and hired some of his friends just because they are his friends. If my job paid me millions to do my job to the best of my ability, you better believe, I’m going to bring the best employees with me, whether a friend or not, to protect my paycheck. It’s not just about their coaching abilities, but also their recruiting relationships. I don’t think there is a person out there that would hire a friend, just because of the friendship and put their job in jeopardy.

 

[felloffthetrain]

At first I really liked Butch because he accepted former players back into the program. He seemed excited and really got into our traditions and sold the program. He recruited well and acted link this was his dream job. Ultimately, he couldn't win and couldn't take criticism and had a thin skin. Pruitt doesn't seem to be genuinely exited to be our coach. He doesn't seem to particularly care about our traditions (running through the T). This definitely not his dream job. Everyone knows that Bama would be his dream job. If he can win, I guess it won't matter to me, if he turns out to be a mediocre coach, then I think his shtick will get old with the fan base pretty quickly. Saban and Belichick are not really a likable guys, but because they win people just look past it.

I would argue that Saban has never said that coaching at Alabama is his dream job. He does his job very well and success breeds success. Whether Tennessee is Pruitt's dream job is irrelevant.

 

[Sudden Impact]

This is a legitimate question/concern/conversation/get the gears in your head turning thread.
Do any of you guys actually like our coach? But I mean do you actually like the dude? Dig deep. Actually think about the question. Are you proud to call Jeremy Pruitt the coach of our beloved Vols? Or did Fulmer and our university totally just whiff the hell out of this thing the way they always do?

After the Coach search fiasco and the AD department. I don't think there was any room for a whiffing....
It would be fair to wait until the end of the season to judge, Yes and even then seems a bit premature. Yes But I'm not necessarily talking about his win/loss record. I'm talking about him as a representative of our program. Forget the 5-6 start. I can look beyond that.

Most of you are going to throw hateful things in my direction and tell me to go back to my momma's basement, but some numbers tell me that others may feel the same.

2009, Lane Kiffin's first and only season. 7-6 record. We averaged 100,000 fans in the seats.

2010, Dools first season. 6-7 record. We averaged 100,000.

2013, Butch Jones first season. 5-7 record. We averaged 96,000.

2016, Butch Jones best season. 9-4 record. 101,000 average attendance.

2018, Jeremy Pruitt's first season. 5-6 record. 92,869 average attendance. 3 games didn't even hit 90k.

This has nothing to do with Pruitt.....The program has been in the hole for 11 years and even with Jones best team SEC East Champs predictions he could not win it.

There should be a spike in enthusiasm for a coach's first season, so why such a large drop in attendance? You are fishing....Lane obviously got fans excited. A lot of lies and NCAA Probation...... Dooley was a lawyer see above...... Butch came in and really had the fan support. He said all the right things, knocked recruiting out of the park, beat Steve Spurrier in his first season. Smoke Screen.....

Pruitt. It irked the hell out of me the way he answered Bob's question in the 2nd episode of The JP Show regarding running through the T for the first time. I stated that it bothered me right after it happened in the JP Show thread and caught some heat for it. Guess what? It still bothers me. Even more so now that we're 5-6. "It was uhhh....different", was the line. Mind you, this episode was following a win. It wasn't after getting straight whipped by West Virginia. No. It was after beating lowly ETSU, Pruitt's first win as the Tennessee head coach. His attitude sucks, and it's not good for business.

Saturday He fixed it by stopping the team in the Vol Walk and telling them what it was all about.


Win, and of course, I'll shut up. OK you are going to change when we win...A little wishy washy

But Coach Pruitt, you're making $4,000,000 a year to coach football. Go watch him coach at a practice you may change your mind.....you're supposed to win the games. If you don't, however, at least give us the impression that you're a good dude and that you're happy to be in Knoxville. Because at the end of the day, you're still going to be rich, and we're still going to be sitting on cold, hard, metal bleachers hoping that things change.

All coaches are rich even the bad ones Jones, Dooley and Kiffin....You stated this was a premature post and you are right.....premature
Flame away.

See Green Above....
I understand you don't like Pruitt...It's Ok.

Will give him credit he has not come here and promised the moon with slogans and bricks. (Jones)

He has not come in here and thrown in a history lessons as an excuse and talked about shower discipline. (Dooley)

He has not come in here and been a privilege glamour boy with promises he couldn't keep (Kiffin)

He is what he is....some will not like it some will.....I get that....but in the middle of a mess he was Fulmer's choice to right the ship.... His choice, I am betting more on Fulmer than I am Pruitt.

Can't call Pruitt anything but HC Tennessee like or not He is the chosen one by our competent AD that knows Football and wants what is best for UT Athletics....

So ride the wave, leave, or try walking away for a while. Move, Lead or Follow.

Your entitled to your opinion, me too.... Nothing we can do about it so ride it out if you wish......

A little early to make this call, don't you think.....He new to HC, he will learn from his mistakes and in 4-6 years we will just fire him and get a new one....

See that was not hateful, it was just a Reality Check.....Mind over Matter They don't mind and we fans don't matter...

Cute wording ---- Don't beat me up because I am going to say something that some will not agree with but flame away anyway....

 

[GoVols15]

I don't want a "yes" man. I don't want a coach that gives "warm fuzzies" and attempts to show how the glass is half full. I don't want a coach that presents himself in a certain way just to please the easily offended. We need a coach to tell us like it is. A coach who is sick of losing and is not afraid to show it. A coach who won't stand for mediocrity in either practice or games. An elite recruiter that will build our recruits strength, improve their knowledge and natural ability, and keeps the intensity and aggression for 60 minutes. For those that find our current coach unlikeable, short of words, not fulfilling their particular needs by fitting into their idea of "a real coach", go ahead and find fault in our coach as it's the way most do when they don't have anything to offer except selfish negativity. I like CP, I believe in CP, and will one day celebrate with CP when he succeeds in pulling us out of the mess that the glass half full, spouting warm fuzzies that a car salesman; a lawyer; a con artist backed by a billionaire has put us through for so long. When he does then tell me your po'd because he don't do a coaches show.

I am with you minus one point. How can the offensive line be so inept after ten months in the system? Honest question! Either somebody cannot coach basic techniques or we have some players that are dumber than rocks. If it is the latter, get them off the field and at least put players in that can get some experience!

 

[82_VOL_83]

Don’t expect Pruitt to ever care about traditional things or rah rah stuff.
The T, Vol Walk, Vol Navy. - he could care less.
He is a good ole southern boy football coach....period.
I think, money aside, he’d be just as happy coaching in an empty stadium with no fans.

He could care less because for him, UT is a step down. The man has 5 rings and coached at two teams that manhandle us. Running through the T is probably not high on his list right now.

 

[82_VOL_83]

Anyone tell the OP to go root for Bama or Georgia yet for having a non homer opinion?

Asking for a friend.

He's a hater. Hates UT.

 

[YankeeVol]

I am with you minus one point. How can the offensive line be so inept after ten months in the system? Honest question! Either somebody cannot coach basic techniques or we have some players that are dumber than rocks. If it is the latter, get them off the field and at least put players in that can get some experience!

The talent isn't there (Lyle's recruits were overrated. It sucks, but its true). There's a reason we have 1 5* commit OL and going hard after the #1 recruit (also an OL).

 

[BloomuVol]

Experienced? We’ve got 4 new starters on the OL and the 5th is Richmond. Our top 2 corners are true freshmen. We’ve also got first year platers starting at TE and S. Our RB is a first year starter. Everyone on the team is in their first year in the system.

Why you so mad at Pruitt?

Because he thought his boy butch was coming back.

 

[Skullbone]

Meh, I like him. I actually thought we'd be worse. As bad as we look many times, the times we looked good we looked damn good, and it was against pretty decent competition. Like's got nothing to do with it though. Proof will be in the pudding eventually. As for now, we've only just begun.

 

[bpalmer28]

He's a hater. Hates UT.

I don’t care if he does.

 

[GoVols15]

The talent isn't there (Lyle's recruits were overrated. It sucks, but its true). There's a reason we have 1 5* commit OL and going hard after the #1 recruit (also an OL).

Yes I agree but some of these o lineman could at least get their body in front of the D line. They just stand there and let the D line rush! The amount of times they miss blocks is really unexplainable! High school players do better! Talent is definately a problem but I am starting to think the problem is even deeper! Maybe players deliberately not buying in which means maybe time to tell about 10 to 15 players to hit it and go play Div II ball! Other reasons?

 

[Hank Bukowski]

I think Pruitt is a very decent person and football coach. Not sure he is a good head coach or he would have had the forethought to have hired experienced coordinators on his initial staff. There are times that this staff's inexperience, including Pruitt, hurts us. Just because you are a great coordinator does not necessarily equal a successful head coach. There have been too many examples of that.

After being told for the last 10 years that everything is the fans' fault, I could care less about the coach and who likes him. IIRC the fans had very little ability to make a choice on these hires. That goes back to 1970 when the AD hired Battle and the fans were pushing for Majors. Battle had never been a coordinator at I believe 27 at the time. Just an example of UT stupidity. It burned them then and it is becoming "who cares" now.

I really think that if Fulmer knew anything about being an AD he would have assessed the kind of talent that we had on this team before making a decision on a head coach. Pruitt was not a fit for the talent we had. I am one who very much welcomes the change back to smash mouth football but we needed more of a finesse coach to have any success this year.

In essence, I am saying that we have a rookie AD, hiring a rookie coach, hiring rookie coordinators. That is a recipe for disaster.

I disagree with all of this, except the first sentence.

 

[PelhamUT]

I am with you minus one point. How can the offensive line be so inept after ten months in the system? Honest question! Either somebody cannot coach basic techniques or we have some players that are dumber than rocks. If it is the latter, get them off the field and at least put players in that can get some experience!

I can't answer that question. What I do know is the facts: 1. See the picture comparing muscle tone/physical stature of 2015 players vs 1998 players decide which group is focused on a united goal; 2. General lack of desire both reported and winessed during games (you can't make a horse drink the water); 3. Learned behaviors are difficult to change and lastly; 4. Extremely difficult to regain confidence in oneself once their spirit is broken ( last year 0-8 in SEC with constant verbal reinforcement on how bad they perform). That's my take on our OL. Have to get fresh enthusiasm, new spirit ie...new clay to mold a dominant line.

 

[chattaboogie]

I know a lot of you are internet tough guys and actual conversation is far less likely than getting flamed. I don't hold it against you, it's just the East Tennessean fighter blood that flows through your veins. And no, this isn't a "knee jerk" reaction after a loss thread. This is a legitimate question/concern/conversation/get the gears in your head turning thread.

Do any of you guys actually like our coach? I know winning cures all. But I mean do you actually like the dude? Dig deep. Actually think about the question. Are you proud to call Jeremy Pruitt the coach of our beloved Vols? Or did Fulmer and our university totally just whiff the hell out of this thing the way they always do?

It would be fair to wait until the end of the season to judge, and even then seems a bit premature. But I'm not necessarily talking about his win/loss record. I'm talking about him as a representative of our program. Forget the 5-6 start. I can look beyond that.

Most of you are going to throw hateful things in my direction and tell me to go back to my momma's basement, but some numbers tell me that others may feel the same.

2009, Lane Kiffin's first and only season. 7-6 record. We averaged 100,000 fans in the seats.

2010, Dools first season. 6-7 record. We averaged 100,000.

2013, Butch Jones first season. 5-7 record. We averaged 96,000.

2016, Butch Jones best season. 9-4 record. 101,000 average attendance.

2018, Jeremy Pruitt's first season. 5-6 record. 92,869 average attendance. 3 games didn't even hit 90k.

There should be a spike in enthusiasm for a coach's first season, so why such a large drop in attendance? Lane obviously got fans excited. I remember it vividly. He was the first coaching change I had experienced and it was a feeling of new blood and a new era. Dooley received far less enthusiasm from the fans, but it was expected given the sudden and strange departure of Kiffin. Butch came in and really had the fan support. He said all the right things, knocked recruiting out of the park, beat Steve Spurrier in his first season. Hell, he crushed it.

Pruitt. It irked the hell out of me the way he answered Bob's question in the 2nd episode of The JP Show regarding running through the T for the first time. I stated that it bothered me right after it happened in the JP Show thread and caught some heat for it. Guess what? It still bothers me. Even more so now that we're 5-6. "It was uhhh....different", was the line. Mind you, this episode was following a win. It wasn't after getting straight whipped by West Virginia. No. It was after beating lowly ETSU, Pruitt's first win as the Tennessee head coach. His attitude sucks, and it's not good for business.

Do I like Pruitt more than Schiano? You're damn right I do. Do I like him more than Mike Leach? Not even close. Les Miles? Nope. Dan Mullen? Hard to say. Butch Jones? I don't think so. Dooley? I'm not sure.

Win, and of course, I'll shut up. But Coach Pruitt, you're making $4,000,000 a year to coach football. Ideally, you're supposed to win the games. If you don't, however, at least give us the impression that you're a good dude and that you're happy to be in Knoxville. Because at the end of the day, you're still going to be rich, and we're still going to be sitting on cold, hard, metal bleachers hoping that things change.

I'll go on record right now and say I have doubts that this experiment is going to work out. I think Mike Leach, Les Miles, or Dan Mullen would have been a better choice. And I'm not saying fire the guy. That's not going to accomplish anything. But win or lose, I don't really like this dude, and I'm feeling super disconnected from Tennessee football because of it.

Flame away.

Honestly I think Tennessee fans are starting to not give af.

 

[74charger]

If he wins I like him

 

[GoVols15]

I can't answer that question. What I do know is the facts: 1. See the picture comparing muscle tone/physical stature of 2015 players vs 1998 players decide which group is focused on a united goal; 2. General lack of desire both reported and winessed during games (you can't make a horse drink the water); 3. Learned behaviors are difficult to change and lastly; 4. Extremely difficult to regain confidence in oneself once their spirit is broken ( last year 0-8 in SEC with constant verbal reinforcement on how bad they perform). That's my take on our OL. Have to get fresh enthusiasm, new spirit ie...new clay to mold a dominant line.

I agree with you 100%! The real problem is not in S & C it is a CULTURE problem and the only way to fix it is tell the players who will not buy in is to hit the road. Short term pain for long term gain.

 

[MEDVOL]

Just win. Everything else takes care of itself.

 

[1974Vol]

Basically I just see Pruitt as butthurt because he hates to lose. He's used to winning big and now he's taking 3 TD + loses on a regular basis so maybe that's why he is always on the testy side. What I do like about him is he doesn't throw players under the bus. One of his first comments after a lose is "we got out coached." He respects that he is at the head of a traditional powerhouse program (see his comments in the presser on getting his players to look in the stands and on the Vol Walk at the fans and what the program means to so many). This is the same group of players that went 4-8 - 0-8. He's already 1 game better than that on total and +2 in the SEC and that's after losing the 2 best players off the weakest unit on the team which we all agree is the OL. I hate to put it all on one game but how I feel about CJP will probably come down to if they can beat Vandy and make a bowl. This game means nothing to college football as a whole but its a tipping point for this program and how I will feel about the future of our team. Like I say its unfair but it is what it is aright.