Back when Tennessee was good, we canned winning coaches for better coaches. Johnny was a Tennessee hero who left Pitt after winning a National Championship. In the 3 years before he was fired, Majors went 11-1, 9-2-2 and 9-3. His winning record didn’t stop us from booting him for an arguably better coach.
Now, we’ve got an obvious loser in Pruitt but we won’t can him. Phil should be calling Freeze right now. He should back-channel to get the best coach. Once he lands the new coach, cut Pruitt out in the same sneaky, cutthroat way he was fired and Majors was fired. I believe he’s looking now.
Hmm, and the lesson you draw from our getting rid of Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer is to...fire coaches even quicker?
That's some weird lesson-drawing.
What I take from the lessons of Majors and Fulmer is something entirely different: we as a program and community need to have MORE patience, not less. Stay the course more, not less. Give more chances, not less.
Who knows where we'd be if we'd just stayed with Johnny. He was a champion-caliber coach, so probably more championships. But we'll never know, because we pushed him aside too soon.
Who knows where we'd be if we'd just given Phillip a one-year sabbatical to get his drive back. He was a champion-caliber coach, so probably more championships. But we'll never know, because we pushed him aside too soon.
And now we're being awfully quick on the trigger with Pruitt.
Sure, he may not work out. 2021 might be just as bad as 2020, which--everyone agreed going in--was going to be weird and "a freebie." Maybe, just maybe, Pruitt is a championship caliber coach in the making.
Maybe not. A whole lot of folks on this board are pinning their bets on the "not." They say it's clear. They say it's undeniable. Maybe they're right. We'll see in a year.
But if they're wrong, and we start winning big in 2021, that'll be a whole helluva lot better than having started all over with a brand new coach.
Unless you just love hatin', and pushing coaches out. As too many Vols fans apparently have for decades.
Go Vols!