Look at us now compared to other programs in the same situation

[Vol524]

He never talks to Tennessee if he was deadset on Florida.

And at the end of the day, Tennessee's pursuit of Mullen was cheap. He was going to end up in the SEC East. We just insured it happening not with us by being cheap.

Talking to us just increased the offer he got from Florida. He is not the first coach to use someone else's interest in them to get a better offer. All things being equal he still goes to Florida.

 

[JMSqb11]

Talking to us just increased the offer he got from Florida. He is not the first coach to use someone else's interest in them to get a better offer. All things being equal he still goes to Florida.

Florida's search was as follows:

1- Long shot with Scott Frost
2- If not Frost, get Chip
3- If no Chip, Land Dan.......

The only thing for certain was Dan Mullen was leaving Starkville. We had our chance and went cheap. Florida was always going to pay him big money if it got to him because he was their 3rd choice. There is no world where they don't give him upwards of 6 million..... None.

 

[turnuptheVOLtage]

Danny Mullen is so overrated on this website.

they beat us by like 30, two years in a row...?

 

[VolFanNC09]

I think the jury is still out on Pruitt, Frost and Kelly. Next year will be big for all three. Pruitt has at least quieted the noise and we are all feeling better then we did a month ago...

 

[MurphyVol]

When did Arkansas get rid of Chad Morris?

They actually hired his evil twin Scott

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

What a moronic post - leaving out Dan Mullen, who has UF in the top 15/National conversation for yet another year. I like what Pruitt has done to improve this year but wow this is a stretch

The point is a proven winner is not a guarantee

 

[butchna]

Man, we are some salty dogs today. Not sure how OP is moronic as he stated his opinion and actually put examples out there unlike most posters. But in regards to UF, that cupboard was pretty full (minus a QB) when Mullen took over. Not to take away from him by any means because I do think he is a good coach, but the situations are no where near the same in regards to roster with UF vs all the teams mentioned by OP........including us. But I see Nebraska, UCLA, and Tennessee being on par with each other at this point in the season.

Nebraska presently ranked 32nd in recruiting...UCLA 40th. We’re 13th. Sorry to go off on that ramble...what were we talking about again?

 

[05_never_again]

Mullen doesn't lose to Georgia State lol.

It doesn't matter his worth per say. And just to clarify, you would rather gone cheap like we did with Pruitt than maybe overpaying for Mullen + Grantham and avoiding the Schiano Sunday and Admin fallout?

Saying Mullen isn't worth $8-9m per isn't the same as saying we should have gone cheap. What should have occurred is an actual bonafide coaching search rather than targeting just one candidate (Mullen) and then going to a certain fallback option if/when that fell through (Schiano). That is just stupid and an indication of pure incompetence on the part of the admin and boosters. The only real "search" Currie did for a coach was after Schiano fell through and he ran around trying to talk to seemingly every coach in the country. I mean think about this...Gundy, Leach, Doeren, etc. were only approached after Schiano Sunday. All of those guys would have been better options than Schiano.

Pruitt will never be able to live down the Georgia St debacle, and yes, Mullen probably wins that game. But there's no way Mullen would be materially better than 9-12 through his first 21 games. Not with the culture and the thinness of the roster he inherited.

 

[butchna]

They actually hired his evil twin Scott

 

[Vol524]

I for one will with stick with Pruitt. He is not perfect bu he is still learning and improving. I like the direction the team is going and want to see what it looks like a couple of years from now. GO VOLS

 

[CINCYVOL]

What a moronic post - leaving out Dan Mullen, who has UF in the top 15/National conversation for yet another year. I like what Pruitt has done to improve this year but wow this is a stretch

Apples and oranges

 

[Volgrad98]

IMO, CP's best asset is AD Fulmer. Fulmer knows exactly the challenges of being the HC here so who best to advise CP? CP knows football, that I have no doubt but being a HC at a major program involves so much more and CP is learning on the job, but he is learning. This team has shown fight and determination and most importantly improvement. The beginning of the season was such a let down but if that what was needed to get this thing rolling towards the future, I'm definitely ok with it. GO VOLS !!!

 

[goldvol]

You know I'm really beginning to wonder how much some of you in this group really follow college football outside of our Vols.

yeah. believe it or not, many of us have other hobbies, families, and jobs that we spend our time on.

 

[Volbrando]

Tennessee will win all three because they're finally coming together as a team

but we might have J "find a way to lose games" G at qb though. keep that in mind... our team may be better but our qb situation may hold us back

 

[Carl Pickens]

What a moronic post - leaving out Dan Mullen, who has UF in the top 15/National conversation for yet another year. I like what Pruitt has done to improve this year but wow this is a stretch

Moronic is a little strong don’t you think? WTH is wrong with you?

 

[Shades]

Let's take a look at an expanded list, which consists mostly of some coaching candidates mentioned on volnation over the past couple years, plus a few others for general interest.

The list is divided into two sections, "Established Coaches" and "Newer Coaches", depending on how long they have been at their current school.

Established coaches tend to have it figured out....or do they? Look at how many of the established coaches are hovering around 0.500 for the 2019 season.

There are very few newer coaches that are knocking it out of the park, and most are hovering at around 0.500 over the past couple years (gray highlighted areas).


Mullen is a good coach that inherited a decent situation. I don't think he would be doing as well here in his first two years.
PJ Fleck had two mediocre years followed by 8-0 so far in 2019. Anomaly year or the next big thing in college coaching?
Fisher is looking like the second coming of Kevin Sumlin. aTm is not getting their money's worth.

The great majority of the rest of the new hires are trying to find their way as coaches in new situations.


As BOT says in a post above, there are no home run hires and no "givens" when it comes to coaching changes.

At first I had doubts about Pruitt, but am getting more hopeful as the season progresses. Time will tell if we have a home run hire, but based on below, I don't think we are in a horrible situation.

 

[SalVolinus]

Scott Frost is a brilliant young coach who is at the mercy of a program who has a very hard time recruiting top players...They are clearly in the wrong conference as well....Chip Kellys UCLA team has won 3 in a row and the offense rolling like a machine...Scott Morris sucks...Period...Only team on your list we are ahead of at this point is Arkansas...We are about even with Nebraska...UCLA is better than us.

This has to be a troll take.

2018 Season:
UCLA went 3-9 last year, worst losses to Cincinnati, Fresno State by 24.
Nebraska went 4-8 last year, worst losses to Troy, Northwestern, Purdue, etc.
Tennessee went 4-8 last year, worst losses were WVU, Vandy
Advantage Tennessee.

2019 Season:
UCLA is 4-5 this year, and still have to play @USC and @Utah (not bowling). They've already lost to Cinci, San Diego State, and Oregon State this year.
Nebraska is 4-5 this year, with losses to both Indiana and Purdue. They finish with Wisconsin, @Iowa, @Maryland (not going to a bowl).
Tennessee is 4-5 this year, bad losses to Georgia State and BYU. Finish with @kentucky, @Mizzou, Vandy (chance at bowl).
Advantage Tennessee.

Top 25 Wins:
Kelly : 0
Frost: 0
Pruitt: 2 (@#21 Auburn, #12 Kentucky)
Advantage Tennessee.

Total Wins:
Kelly: 7 - has faced SOS of 30 in 2 years
Frost: 8 - has faced SOS of 44 in 2 years
Pruitt: 8 - has faced SOS of 33 in 2 years
Advantage Tennessee.

2020 Recruiting:
UCLA currently has the #44 ranked recruiting class.
Nebraska has the #32 ranked recruiting class.
Tennessee has the #20 ranked recruiting class.
Advantage Tennessee.

In 2019:
Nebraska had the #18 recruiting class.
Tennessee had the #13 recruiting class.
UCLA had the #44 recruiting class.
Advantage Tennessee.


Obviously Chad Morris (Scott?) isn't in the conversation, however, we should also be looking at Greg Schiano - who is really the only guy the fans worked together in order to stop. He's a disgraced DC who is currently unemployed. So I'd say we made out well there.
Fans seemed fine with Leach, Gundy, and Brohm when those names were floated.

 

[JMSqb11]

Saying Mullen isn't worth $8-9m per isn't the same as saying we should have gone cheap. What should have occurred is an actual bonafide coaching search rather than targeting just one candidate (Mullen) and then going to a certain fallback option if/when that fell through (Schiano). That is just stupid and an indication of pure incompetence on the part of the admin and boosters. The only real "search" Currie did for a coach was after Schiano fell through and he ran around trying to talk to seemingly every coach in the country. I mean think about this...Gundy, Leach, Doeren, etc. were only approached after Schiano Sunday. All of those guys would have been better options than Schiano.

Pruitt will never be able to live down the Georgia St debacle, and yes, Mullen probably wins that game. But there's no way Mullen would be materially better than 9-12 through his first 21 games. Not with the culture and the thinness of the roster he inherited.

Once again, its Tennessee. To think they were going to pay middle of the road of Cheap and Rich wasn't going to happen.

And you never answered the question.... You would rather go cheap and have the sh!t storm than actually paying money to avoid it..... Paying Mullen an offer he can't refuse eliminates the admin upheaval and circus. Paying more than market rate for Mullen plus Grantham is more than worth it to avoid that......

 

[05_never_again]

Once again, its Tennessee. To think they were going to pay middle of the road of Cheap and Rich wasn't going to happen.

And you never answered the question.... You would rather go cheap and have the sh!t storm than actually paying money to avoid it..... Paying Mullen an offer he can't refuse eliminates the admin upheaval and circus. Paying more than market rate for Mullen plus Grantham is more than worth it to avoid that......

The question you posed sets up a false choice/dilemma, so it isn't really worth answering. Despite what our admin seems to think, Schiano or paying Mullen $9m/year weren't the only options. Those are both terrible options, and they were hardly the only ones available.

Like I said before, what should have happened is that an actual coaching search should have been conducted, where a variety of coaches were approached, interviewed, and considered. That's how you avoid running into the situation we ran into, but when you have people wanting to control and strong-arm the process, you get the results we got.

 

[AM64]

The question you posed sets up a false choice/dilemma, so it isn't really worth answering. Despite what our admin seems to think, Schiano or paying Mullen $9m/year weren't the only options. Those are both terrible options, and they were hardly the only ones available.

Like I said before, what should have happened is that an actual coaching search should have been conducted, where a variety of coaches were approached, interviewed, and considered. That's how you avoid running into the situation we ran into, but when you have people wanting to control and strong-arm the process, you get the results we got.

If you have a real AD ... defined as a successful ex-football coach, then he knows what the market is, what works, and doesn't need a "talent" search to find him a "coach". However, as Shades pointed out above even "proven" coaches are hit and miss. We've had a couple of close examples ... Doug Dickey was a first time HC, did great here, and then flopped at FL. Johnny Majors did pretty well for himself at Pitt, and not so well here.

 

[titansvolsfaninga]

UCLA currently has the same record as Tennessee. Their non- conference schedule also had games at Cincinnati, home against San Diego St, and home against Oklahoma. All three of those teams have only lost one game. He's turning it around there.

Frost took over a mess that was Mike Riley left. Riley had no business coaching Nebraska. With that said. They are 4-5. Same record as Tennessee.

Chad Morris took over an even worse program than what Pruitt, Kelly, and Frost took over.

You know I'm really beginning to wonder how much some of you in this group really follow college football outside of our Vols.

How many of them teams play in the SEC? Which ones play UGA, Bama, FL, and Auburn?

 

[Longhorn Vol]

Scott Frost is a brilliant young coach who is at the mercy of a program who has a very hard time recruiting top players...They are clearly in the wrong conference as well....Chip Kellys UCLA team has won 3 in a row and the offense rolling like a machine...Scott Morris sucks...Period...Only team on your list we are ahead of at this point is Arkansas...We are about even with Nebraska...UCLA is better than us.

We are ahead of Nebraska and UCLA is Not better than us....

 

[AM64]

Let's take a look at an expanded list, which consists mostly of some coaching candidates mentioned on volnation over the past couple years, plus a few others for general interest.

The list is divided into two sections, "Established Coaches" and "Newer Coaches", depending on how long they have been at their current school.

Established coaches tend to have it figured out....or do they? Look at how many of the established coaches are hovering around 0.500 for the 2019 season.

There are very few newer coaches that are knocking it out of the park, and most are hovering at around 0.500 over the past couple years (gray highlighted areas).


Mullen is a good coach that inherited a decent situation. I don't think he would be doing as well here in his first two years.
PJ Fleck had two mediocre years followed by 8-0 so far in 2019. Anomaly year or the next big thing in college coaching?
Fisher is looking like the second coming of Kevin Sumlin. aTm is not getting their money's worth.

The great majority of the rest of the new hires are trying to find their way as coaches in new situations.


As BOT says in a post above, there are no home run hires and no "givens" when it comes to coaching changes.

At first I had doubts about Pruitt, but am getting more hopeful as the season progresses. Time will tell if we have a home run hire, but based on below, I don't think we are in a horrible situation.


View attachment 236164

I still don't understand the aTm decision to pay a fortune for Fisher. His later years at FSU were pretty bumpy - not exactly the kind of thing that supports millions of dollars worth of hope at a new place in a tougher conference.

 

[05_never_again]

If you have a real AD ... defined as a successful ex-football coach, then he knows what the market is, what works, and doesn't need a "talent" search to find him a "coach". However, as Shades pointed out above even "proven" coaches are hit and miss. We've had a couple of close examples ... Doug Dickey was a first time HC, did great here, and then flopped at FL. Johnny Majors did pretty well for himself at Pitt, and not so well here.

I'd describe it more as doing your due diligence instead of conducting a "talent search." That's perfectly fine to know what you're looking for before you get started, or have particular coaches in mind. But as an AD, you just aren't really doing your job if you don't kick over rocks and consider multiple options before making a decision.

The "process" Currie conducted was a joke. There was no due diligence and I don't think he knew what he was looking for on top of that. He had one target, whiffed on said target, then went to a fallback option that he knew with certainty would be there if he missed on his intended target. There was no real plan or idea of what to look for in any of that.

 

[05_never_again]

I still don't understand the aTm decision to pay a fortune for Fisher. His later years at FSU were pretty bumpy - not exactly the kind of thing that supports millions of dollars worth of hope at a new place in a tougher conference.

I get the amount they are paying him. I don't quite get the full guarantee of it. It seems like you'd want your coach, no matter how proven they are, to work for at least some of that contract, no?