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

I think it's also fair to point out that the situation Mullen inherited is probably a good bit better than the ones the other 3 inherited

UF just won 4 games the year before Mullen got there and McElwain left a mess. Mullen knew how to take McE players and mesh them with his system and new recruits.
Also helped he had been assistant there under Urban before MSU job and knew the territory but the team was close to UT in talent Star wise.
 
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.

Seems like the UF situation changes based on what argument is being made. Prior to the season starting we had plenty here claiming we actually had more talent than UF and that's why we would beat them. It wasn't until after the GSU game that the vast majority of posts about how bare our cupboard was started.

Which makes the earlier post in this thread about cherry picking even funnier.
 
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

Patience my little grasshopper. I have no doubts that Mullen will eventually underachieve. He has made some very questionable game day decisions so far but had come out unscathed so far. There only impressive win was against Auburn but it doesn’t appear that they were that good. LSU and Georgia handled them without any real issues. These are the only top notch teams they have played. We’re it not for horrible officiating they lose to USC. They have had a better season that us so far but I feel we will gain ground. Their program wasn’t nearly as dysfunctional as ours when he took over.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64
Patience my little grasshopper. I have no doubts that Mullen will eventually underachieve. He has made some very questionable game day decisions so far but had come out unscathed so far. There only impressive win was against Auburn but it doesn’t appear that they were that good. LSU and Georgia handled them without any real issues. These are the only top notch teams they have played. We’re it not for horrible officiating they lose to USC. They have had a better season that us so far but I feel we will gain ground. Their program wasn’t nearly as dysfunctional as ours when he took over.

Wow. I hate auto correct. Looks like I’m borderline illiterate based on some of the typos ‘spell check’ tried to correct for me above.
 
Patience my little grasshopper. I have no doubts that Mullen will eventually underachieve. He has made some very questionable game day decisions so far but had come out unscathed so far. There only impressive win was against Auburn but it doesn’t appear that they were that good. LSU and Georgia handled them without any real issues. These are the only top notch teams they have played. We’re it not for horrible officiating they lose to USC. They have had a better season that us so far but I feel we will gain ground. Their program wasn’t nearly as dysfunctional as ours when he took over.

You and I must have watched different UF/LSU games then. That game was closer than you're acting like.
 
UF just won 4 games the year before Mullen got there and McElwain left a mess. Mullen knew how to take McE players and mesh them with his system and new recruits.
Also helped he had been assistant there under Urban before MSU job and knew the territory but the team was close to UT in talent Star wise.

Ok
 
The problem with you notion is that Dan Mullen was never a serious candidate here. It was clear that Tennessee and Florida would have job openings at the same time. Tennessee has a track record of not making big cash offers to coaches so Mullen was never a chance to come here just like Chip Kelly was never a serious chance to go to Florida.

The problem with the whole search is that Currie didn't give Mullen an offer that would prevent Mullen from waiting out Florida.

I personally had Mullen on my first second and third spot for next coach I wanted. But the problem is we didn't pony up and give him the "offer he couldn't refuse"

I’m starting to see signs that Pruitt will be defensively >= Mullen offensively. The key will be how they each handle their ‘weak’ side. So far Mullen is doing a better job managing Florida’s defense compared to how Pruitt is managing our offense. We still aren’t firing on all cylinders offensively and Pruitt needs to release some control to the staff he has hired.
 
Things are looking up. A good culture is taking shape. Improvement in our lines will finally make the O and the D look like SEC caliber quality. We'll see Pruitt develope a defense to make us proud. Stay tuned...
 
  • Like
Reactions: FBtime

Pruitt has definitely been slower than Mullen in terms of having success. Mullen really hasn’t had any bumps in the road and Pruitt looked clueless through first 3-4 games this year. Long term I am hoping the gap will get closer. I still just don’t see Mullen as a long term, elite coach but he may prove me wrong. He definitely sounded better than many of the coaches we were considering but I never saw him as a home run hire.
 
I've seen several coaching changes starting with Doug Dickey ... enough to know there are no sure things, and that often first time head coaches work out better than "proven" ones. A new coach is a new coach regardless of whether he's "been there" or not because all situations are different. I still believe that there are similarities between Pruitt's tenure so far and Dickey's first teams ... enough for a lot of hope, but we'll just have to be somewhat patient to see how it works out. The road to progress always includes some potholes and setbacks, so I wish more of us were simply hoping we get to a bowl game than wondering where and who we play.

Dickey went through a few QBs before he found Dewey Warren; we'll get there ... I think with Pruitt, but possibly not. At least in this iteration, we are starting with an SEC coach rather than hoping to scale up somebody from elsewhere.
Yeah I remember when Dickey changed from the single wing to split tee he used Hal Wantland . He moved him to wingback and put in Charlie Fulton. A good running qb till he got injured and Dewey took over. To me Doug Dickey was the second best coach U.T. Ever had.
Funny to me the current r.p.o. Offense looks very similar to the single wing. I guess there’s nothing really new.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64
Don’t overlook the fact that UF has one of the top 3 in-state talent bases in the nation. Vols have to have maniacal recruiters to offset this. I am impressed with the player development this season and Pruitt’s overall demeanor even early in the season when things were off the rails. He is a football coach plain and simple. He does not give a rip about pandering to the media but is a good interview. I thought when he was hired that he might be a “reach” hire but I knew Fulmer’s judgment should be solid. Anyway, I agree that we need to see if the team can get a road win for bowl eligibility. Getting to a bowl game after the 2 devastating early home losses while the team was being potty trained would be remarkable. I believe after 2 more recruiting cycles that Pruitt will have the Vols back to a top level program similar to LSU currently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64
I remember during the time that we hired Jeremy Pruitt, that there were several big name candidates that we wanted and Jeremy Pruit at the time seemed like a consolation prize. Let's see how the other big name coaches are doing:

Scott Frost - he started out bad and his program at this point is nowhere close to what they had envisioned
Chip Kelly - his offense it now outdated
Scott Morris - Arkansas still has not won a SEC game

I would say that we made a pretty good decision in who we hired

Short of frost Pruitt was Atop my list....defense wins ships....and running the ball
 
Short of frost Pruitt was Atop my list....defense wins ships....and running the ball

Yep. Defense, defense, defense. And in case anyone should forget, go back and watch the '86 Sugar Bowl. None of that crap about a football game with a basketball type score.
 
Pruitt has definitely been slower than Mullen in terms of having success. Mullen really hasn’t had any bumps in the road and Pruitt looked clueless through first 3-4 games this year. Long term I am hoping the gap will get closer. I still just don’t see Mullen as a long term, elite coach but he may prove me wrong. He definitely sounded better than many of the coaches we were considering but I never saw him as a home run hire.
And he shouldn't, Mullen has already been a HC (and in the conference). Pruitt is learning on the fly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64 and OG.V83
I think they might have been somewhat premature. IMO, the FSU administration sees what’s a growing divide between FSU and their rivals. The ACC is horrible ( Wake is probably going to the Orange Bowl FFS) and they aren’t even competing , they lost to a mediocre Miami team badly, they almost certainly will get blown out by UF in a few weeks, you put all that together with the new early signing period and they pulled the trigger before the divide grew more. If they can get a good hire to start the turnaround now, then they can maybe salvage a good class and start working on 2021. They get the benefit of a potentially quick turnaround in that subpar conference.
I think part of the problem in today's world of college football is that fans expect immediate and instant success. I mean Georgia fans were starting to question if Kirby Smart was the right coach anymore after South Carolina upset them earlier this year. They forget that it's been over 30 years since they won a national championship.

What FSU fans tend to forget is that the program went downhill in Jimbo 's last season. And Jimbo didn't hang around to try and fix it. He jumped ship instead. But then again he was probably feeling pressure from fans. They had to go out and hire Taggart. And instead of letting him fix the problem that he inherited they fired him.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64
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

So because he left out cousin eddie, his post is moronic? - THATS the stretch my guy.
Pruitt doin the damn thing considering the sh*t storm his predecessor left us in while these other dudes are straight floppin out here.
We will win out OP 💯
 
I think part of the problem in today's world of college football is that fans expect immediate and instant success. I mean Georgia fans were starting to question if Kirby Smart was the right coach anymore after South Carolina upset them earlier this year. They forget that it's been over 30 years since they won a national championship.

What FSU fans tend to forget is that the program went downhill in Jimbo 's last season. And Jimbo didn't hang around to try and fix it. He jumped ship instead. But then again he was probably feeling pressure from fans. They had to go out and hire Taggart. And instead of letting him fix the problem that he inherited they fired him.

I agree that we live in a world where we have way too high of expectations way too early . That’s probably the case with Taggert, but they’ve been awful from the get go. Jimbo didn’t exactly leave a stocked cupboard, but it wasn’t terrible either . At least not this bad. FSU has looked awful since the first snap of Taggert’s tenure and they haven’t improved.

As far as Jimbo goes, I think there were more factors at work than just abandoning a rebuilding season. I think he was at odds with the admin over facility upgrades and he was going through a very public, embarrassing and horrible divorce . I think he just needed a fresh start and aTm was right in his wheelhouse from a culture standpoint and 💰💰💰standpoint. I think next year is the year that aTm takes a big step in the West and nationally.
 
I’m starting to see signs that Pruitt will be defensively >= Mullen offensively. The key will be how they each handle their ‘weak’ side. So far Mullen is doing a better job managing Florida’s defense compared to how Pruitt is managing our offense. We still aren’t firing on all cylinders offensively and Pruitt needs to release some control to the staff he has hired.

Oh I agree. My die hard "want" for Mullen back in the search was two fold. One he has a proven track record of piecing together offenses that can compete even if the personnel isn't great. Secondly, he would bring Todd Grantham with him who is easily a top 10 national d coordinator.

I'm thrilled with Pruitt because hiring him along with Fulmer at AD means that Pruitt won't have an excuse besides himself if he fails here. Phil is basically giving Pruitt what he needs in terms of funding for staff hires.

I don't think Pruitt will fail here. I think now and looking back, Pruitt and Mullen and Smart will be coach a lot of games vs each other in the SEC East.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64
But that's the thing look how empty their stadium was. 2-3 years of that would be bad. If UT could blow 1 season of revenue to win a natty would they do it? Absolutely. Think about all the lost revenue from the past 10 years. Tickets, merchandise, sponsorships. It is absolutely worth it.
Of course they would, if somehow winning a national title could be guaranteed. Hiring "the right" coach, much less a coach that will win you a title, is far from a sure thing.

Your point about the money we've left on the table over the last 10+ years makes me sick. The start of our decline coincided with the beginning of something of a golden age for the SEC.
 
I agree that we live in a world where we have way too high of expectations way too early . That’s probably the case with Taggert, but they’ve been awful from the get go. Jimbo didn’t exactly leave a stocked cupboard, but it wasn’t terrible either . At least not this bad. FSU has looked awful since the first snap of Taggert’s tenure and they haven’t improved.

As far as Jimbo goes, I think there were more factors at work than just abandoning a rebuilding season. I think he was at odds with the admin over facility upgrades and he was going through a very public, embarrassing and horrible divorce . I think he just needed a fresh start and aTm was right in his wheelhouse from a culture standpoint and 💰💰💰standpoint. I think next year is the year that aTm takes a big step in the West and nationally.
If it isn't, then their fans will start talking about buying him out :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64

VN Store



Back
Top