Phil should do Pruitt like he did Johnny

#54
#54
Backwards K said:
Tennessee has less than $10m in their Athletic Dept reserve fund. Kinda hard to pay $13m to get rid of a guy and then go pay $25-30m to bring in a new coaching staff. Boosters will not put up that kind of money. Pruitt is not going anywhere this year.
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We must be pissing away money right and left.
 
#55
#55
Backwards K said:
Tennessee has less than $10m in their Athletic Dept reserve fund. Kinda hard to pay $13m to get rid of a guy and then go pay $25-30m to bring in a new coaching staff. Boosters will not put up that kind of money. Pruitt is not going anywhere this year.
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Yawn
 
#57
#57
biggestvols said:
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.
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#58
#58
Spook1 said:
First of all set the record straight, Johnny Majors was fired by UT President Joe Johnson with cause and Philip Fulmer had nothing to do with it. Next who would want to be the next football coach at Tennessee with all the negative crap posted on this web site?
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Yeah, the offense just tanked on it's own against South Carolina and Arkansas. If you think Fulmer tried his best to run an O that would win the SEC East when Johnny came back after already beating UGA and UF, you are clueless! Don't think for one minute that UT couldn't have scored more than 24 pts vs UNRANKED Arkansas and South Carolina after scoring 34 AT #14 Georgia and 31 vs #4 Florida!!! Fulmer wasn't a drunk and rubbed the right people the right way. All he had to do was sabotage the O for a couple of games to climb his way into the HC position!!! By the way, UGA only gave up more than 20 pts one other time that year with UT scoring the most against UGA that season. Also, UF only gave up more than 30 one other time the entire season, 45 vs rival FSU!!!
 
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#59
#59
biggestvols said:
His winning record didn’t stop us from booting him for an arguably better 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.
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Revisionist history. No use going into the details, but Fulmer was not to blame for Major's firing.
 
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#60
#60
Race City Vol said:
Yes, Johnny’s arrogance was the biggest factor in his firing.
I will say that Pruitt does remind me a bit of him in that he is more than willing to throw his coaches and players under the bus.
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I have seen absolutely no evidence of that. Let's don't make up crap just because you are frustrated with the situation.
 
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#61
#61
Spook1 said:
First of all set the record straight, Johnny Majors was fired by UT President Joe Johnson with cause and Philip Fulmer had nothing to do with it. Next who would want to be the next football coach at Tennessee with all the negative crap posted on this web site?
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Noone
 
#62
#62
Bringing up that Majors/Fulmer issue again, eh?

I have never believed Fulmer is the type of person who would stab Majors in the back.

Majors out of control drunkenness brought it on.

Also not only being that, but in Majors case, he was an angry drunk. Another category of bad altogether.
 
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#64
#64
IndianaVol said:
Problem with this when the Majors / Fulmer transition happened, the incoming guy was already on staff and took over a team mid-season that was clearly on a decline and made a winning season happen.
The new guy already had the familiarity of the team and other coaches.
Also, with the health issues, Majors' longevity came into question (remember it was early 90s and the medical advancements of stents, drugs, peripheral access, etc. were not available like today - any heart attack was considered a major event).
All of that pointed to a prime time to make the change.

The only thing we have going for us in making a switch right now is the talent level is as high as it has been in the last 8 to 10 years across the board.
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I think Johnny came back to an undefeated team and lost first to an overmatched Arky team, someone else(SC?), then Bama. Iirc, the 3 game collapse painted a serious backdrop to the whole issue that led to his firing. I didn't follow things as close then, but I remember the "how the heck did we lose all 3 of those" feeling.
 
#66
#66
Spook1 said:
First of all set the record straight, Johnny Majors was fired by UT President Joe Johnson with cause and Philip Fulmer had nothing to do with it. Next who would want to be the next football coach at Tennessee with all the negative crap posted on this web site?
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Spooky, I'd be in Knoxville in 2hrs if they offered it to me. I'd do it starting out at $3M/year and a 4 year contract with perf bonuses. In a ❤️ beat and I'd let the foos on here rant and rave like purple haired SJWs when we went 0-12 in the first year of my rebuild.
 
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#68
#68
From Hamilton to Hart to Fulmer. U.T. hasn't had an A.D. a hot coach would take seriously or consider working for. Until that problem is fixed, satisfy yourselves with mediocrities.
 
#69
#69
BigOrangeMojo said:
Facts can be your friend. There is no way we would pay $30MM above what we are currently paying to hire another coaching staff. Luck Fickell has a buyout of $4MM, for example. Even if you bought out a few of Fickell's assistants to follow him to UT, you are looking at $6-$7MM tops in buyouts for a new coaching staff.

The finances are bad enough already that we don't have to make sh-t up to prove a point...
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As you said, "facts are your friend.." To hire a new coach, like the one y'all are clamoring for, you will have to pay at least $5m per year for 5 years + at least 2 yr contracts on each coordinator for $500K to $1M per year + buy out the coordinators we have on contract now.

BTW: There is no way Fickell would take the UT job at this point. He is a Big 10 guy and a hot commodity. He ain't coming to the SEC. This is just another example of the thoughts of the delusional section of the UT fan base
 
#70
#70
Backwards K said:
As you said, "facts are your friend.." To hire a new coach, like the one y'all are clamoring for, you will have to pay at least $5m per year for 5 years + at least 2 yr contracts on each coordinator for $500K to $1M per year + buy out the coordinators we have on contract now.

BTW: There is no way Fickell would take the UT job at this point. He is a Big 10 guy and a hot commodity. He ain't coming to the SEC. This is just another example of the thoughts of the delusional section of the UT fan base
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Right now in 2021, we have budgeted that we will pay Pruitt and his staff something like $12MM. If we hired Freeze or Fickell (for example), we would likely pay those guys and their staff something in the neighborhood of $12-13MM. That portion won't involve much extra cost for us.

Here is where our "additional" cost will be if we let go of Pruitt:
1. Buying out Pruitt. That would be in the $12.5MM range.
2. Buying out Pruitt's staff. The max of that is in the $6.5MM range. Obviously, the new coach will keep some assistants for continuity. Factor that and the negotiating out any offset provisions, you are looking at $4-$5MM.
3. Paying any buyout for a new coach. Why I chose Fickell for my example is that he would be sought after and his contract is publicly available (unlike Freeze). This would be in the $3-$5M range for most coaches. (Note, I was not saying that we would go after Fickell but that he's a really good proxy for what we should expect to pay for buy-out terms).
4. Paying any buyout for assistants that new coach would bring along. This is probably pretty nominal (if we brought in Fickell or Freeze for example) but you'd likely be able to do this for about $2-$3M.

If you sum up all 4 items, our "1 time" extra cost would be in the $22-24MM range. That's about half of the $43MM range you quoted in your original post. If we waited until after the season next year, this $22-$24MM range might drop a little due a lower buyout for Pruitt and Chaney; however, that would be offset by buyouts for new assistants being hired this offseason. The $22-24MM range would drop to something in the $21-$23MM range since you would likely see coaching price inflation too for a new hire by waiting a year.
 
#71
#71
Rickyvol77 said:
There was more to that story than just "booting Majors for an arguably better coach".

There were political issues at stake with boosters/admin, the fear of losing up and coming Fulmer, AND Majors' drunken call to the Board of Directors/AD in the middle of the night
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Right. Johnny's behavior (DUI, complaining to media about his pay) combined with Fulmer being a hot commodity contributed to Johnny's firing as much as the heart attack did.

Rumor I heard back in the day was that Phil and half the staff were heading to Arkansas
 
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#72
#72
DiderotsGhost said:
Johnny > Phil

Fulmer could've never done what he did w/o Majors. Majors had us as a top 10 program by the time he left. He built what could legitimately be called "the best coaching staff in America."

Fulmer was a better recruiter, but I think if you put Fulmer in a similar position to Johnny taking over in 1977, he would've flopped. He was never good at hiring staff. That said, we were probably better off with Fulmer in the late 90's.
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Being a computer systems analyst most of my adult life, I can appreciate a good analysis when I see one. I think you hit the nail on the head. Fulmer was the right coach for the moment, but Majors had his good points too.

In the same way, I am hesitant (as if Fulmer has asked my opinion up to this point) to get rid of Pruitt. He has turned around much of what was wrong with the culture. I just don't know if it is worth it to continue with him if - big if - we can get a top-notch replacement.

Your last sentence is key. Pruitt might eventually get us to the promised land, but no reason to pass on someone who could likely get us there quicker. The timing was "perfect" for Fulmer. Maybe the timing is perfect for a Kiffin (my choice) or some other established coach.
 
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#73
#73
A Fulmer -vs- Majors thread, these always turn into solid gold. Now that’s not solid country gold mind you . Like the songs coming out of them speakers, but nevertheless still gold.
 
#74
#74
Backwards K said:
BTW: There is no way Fickell would take the UT job at this point. He is a Big 10 guy and a hot commodity. He ain't coming to the SEC. This is just another example of the thoughts of the delusional section of the UT fan base
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That's just delusional. Tennessee is a Tier 1 job. I'm not saying we should fire Pruitt or go after Fickell, but I absolutely think he'd accept the job if offered. Particularly since his dream job (Ohio State) is unlikely to come open any time soon.
 
#75
#75
MurphyVol said:
Right. Johnny's behavior (DUI, complaining to media about his pay) combined with Fulmer being a hot commodity contributed to Johnny's firing as much as the heart attack did.

Rumor I heard back in the day was that Phil and half the staff were heading to Arkansas
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That was an untrue rumor. Fulmer
had an offer from East Carolina
 
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