Pruitt and Nashville recruiting

[GVol1966]

Jones wasn’t a disaster. Dooley was a disaster. Pruitt was a disaster. Jones ultimately failed, but putting him in the “disaster” category with those two is absurd.

How many SEC games did we win that year Jones was let go mid season?

 

[VolInNW]

All he needed to do was stay gone.

Instead, he decided to make his play to get back into a position of power and it blew up in his face.

Now the program and, by extension, the fans get to deal with the aftermath for the foreseeable future.

His equity for those accomplishments have been used up IMO.

I understand. I think he simply wanted to see Tennessee Football return. Hopefully we have the right combo in the AD office and HC.

IMHO, Phlegmatic Phil came here for two reasons:

1. Ego. The man needs constant ego boosting, and getting the big chair was a way to feel relevant again.

2. $$$ Fulmer has been a paycheck casher since 2001. Nothing has changed. He saw a chance for another payday that he felt he was entitled to receive, and he cashed in.

Fulmer is about Fulmer. If it benefits Tennessee, that's a bonus, but largely incidental.

 

[NighthawkVol]

How many SEC games did we win that year Jones was let go mid season?

What’s your point? I said he was a failure. I agreed with firing him based on that last year. But calling his tenure a disaster even remotely on par with the other two just ignores facts.

How many 9-win seasons did Butch have? How many bowls did he win? How many winning seasons did he have? How many wins over rivals and ranked teams did he have?

Now do Dooley. Now do Pruitt.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

I understand. I think he simply wanted to see Tennessee Football return. Hopefully we have the right combo in the AD office and HC.

Definitely not among the conspiracy theorists that Pruitt was a Bama plant.

No doubt that he and Fulmer wanted things to improve. Stories like in this thread just show how off base they were in making it happen though.

 

[LordVOLdemort]

Jones wasn’t a disaster. Dooley was a disaster. Pruitt was a disaster. Jones ultimately failed, but putting him in the “disaster” category with those two is absurd.

Literally the only coach that ever gave us a legit shot at competing in the East. He wasn’t a great football mind, but the results were better than anyone since Fulmer. Agree completely

 

[Impossible Girl]

Considering Pruitt is, was, and always has been a glorified high school coach, I'm surprised he treated them so poorly.

Saban has Bama to the point where he could literally hire Forrest Gump as DC and they’d win it all. It’s hard to fathom, but true. Saban is that damn good.

 

[volsknx]

Every person in this thread is being played. By the OP.

He doesn't care what you think. He just wants us all to feel angst.

So he starts a thread every day or two, about something negative concerning the Tennessee program, doesn't really matter what, just as long as it makes us remember trouble, unhappiness, anger, regret. Then he gets to watch us wallow in it for a day or three. And he throws in a gentle, left-handed insult to the program from time to time, when he can get away with it and still pretend to be a fellow Vol fan.

It's kind of like they say Vegas wins no matter which team wins. Well, as long as people respond to his threads, this gator troll wins.

Best to pass on any article written by Caleb Calhoun and any thread started by volsknx (aka IknoxvolsI, the gator troll).

That's not the drum you see the OP banging, though, is it? And that's not what folks are responding to in this thread.

The OP is trolling, and he's winning.

Heh, Behr called him out as a gator after he let something slip. I never saw that thread, but Behr let me know later.

Man, you really don't like that guy. Do you??

I detest trolls.

I mean, I'm not in love with fans of other teams being here, period. It's like you have your He Man Woman Haters Club* club-house all set up, and the girls keep coming in.

But at least the ones who pick a screen name like gatorboi or bigfatbamafan are honest about their allegiances. The trolls...they don't even have basic decent honesty going for them.

So trolls suck. They're low lifeforms. But some of them are smart enough that they're hard to identify. The guy who started this thread, he's so dim, he couldn't hide his allegiance if he tried. He's simply not very bright.

So he's stupid. And he's dishonest. And he's a fan of some other team. Three strikes.

You're right. I don't like him.



* Don't sacrifice me on the altar of political correctness. This is a famous cultural reference, one you might recognize. If you don't, you can always google it. It's not me hating on women, I like them!

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[GVol1966]

What’s your point? I said he was a failure. I agreed with firing him based on that last year. But calling his tenure a disaster even remotely on par with the other two just ignores facts.

How many 9-win seasons did Butch have? How many bowls did he win? How many winning seasons did he have? How many wins over rivals and ranked teams did he have?

Now do Dooley. Now do Pruitt.

How many losses to Vandy did he have?
How many years after he took over from Dooley was 10 wins possible? 3
How many years after Jones is 10 wins remotely possible? 6? 7? More?
The East was terrible during Jones’s tenure and he squandered every opportunity to win it.
He was an absolute disaster

 

[Tman44]

I heard it was Thomas Brown's fist, but either way, Pruitt is a loser, he is literally the only person in the world I have ever heard of who didn't get along with Mark Richt. That should have been a bigger red flag than it was.

I heard it was Thomas Brown's fist, but either way, Pruitt is a loser, he is literally the only person in the world I have ever heard of who didn't get along with Mark Richt. That should have been a bigger red flag than it was.

You may find these interesting:

Tennessee assistant Mike Ekeler shared interesting response when asked if he got into fight with Jeremy Pruitt

New Tennessee Vols assistant has contentious history with Jeremy Pruitt

 

[Mose Phillip's Watch]

We have to lock down the Nashville market for the future of the program.

Never happen with all the out of staters moving there that have zero affection for UT now

 

[wmcovol]

I 100% agree. Butch did some weird things with WRs and OL but he wasn’t terrible IMO. Should he have used Kamara, well yeah but it’s easy to say in hindsight. Hurd was a beast as well.

Jones was mentally insecure in his position as “ caretaker” of the Tennessee football program. His insecurities beat him. Plus he was a terrible sideline coach. Didn’t know when to go for it, kick a Fg, go for 2, etc.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

You may find these interesting:

Tennessee assistant Mike Ekeler shared interesting response when asked if he got into fight with Jeremy Pruitt

New Tennessee Vols assistant has contentious history with Jeremy Pruitt

I've seen those, it's pretty much the same way Richt and most of his staff from back then respond when asked about Beldar. I've lived in Georgia for most of my adult life and a UGA alum I work with told me years ago back before Pruitt was our coach that it was Thomas Brown who used to play for Richt who put Beldar down when he tried to get in Richt's face at a meeting. Knowing Beldar though, it's certainly possible multiple people had to beat that cretan's arse at different times.

 

[NighthawkVol]

How many losses to Vandy did he have?
How many years after he took over from Dooley was 10 wins possible? 3
How many years after Jones is 10 wins remotely possible? 6? 7? More?
The East was terrible during Jones’s tenure and he squandered every opportunity to win it.
He was an absolute disaster

I asked you first. You refused.

Dooley and Pruitt were clearly worse. That’s not even debatable. Which is why you avoided the comparison.

 

[OffTackleVol]

IMHO, Phlegmatic Phil came here for two reasons:

1. Ego. The man needs constant ego boosting, and getting the big chair was a way to feel relevant again.

2. $$$ Fulmer has been a paycheck casher since 2001. Nothing has changed. He saw a chance for another payday that he felt he was entitled to receive, and he cashed in.

Fulmer is about Fulmer. If it benefits Tennessee, that's a bonus, but largely incidental.

LOL, Ok Leroy.

 

[Booker512]

Jones wasn’t a disaster. Dooley was a disaster. Pruitt was a disaster. Jones ultimately failed, but putting him in the “disaster” category with those two is absurd.

Agree'd. For all his faults, Butch had a helluva eye for talent. Ill give the man that.

 

[VolInNW]

LOL, Ok Leroy.

Thanks, Karen.

 

[jwilliams]

I can't believe I supported that guy.

 

[OffTackleVol]

Thanks, Karen.

Any time sweetie..........

 

[volinexile17]

Pretty sure I read this exact article after both Dooley and Butch were fired.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Paywall on the Athletic article. Cliffnotes?

It’s a long article and worth paying for, but two things stood out to me: (1) four out of five high school coaches polled thought the NCAA sanctions issue was having “virtually no” impact on recruiting; and (2) none of the coaches polled could recall other SEC programs even mentioning UT’s NCAA sanctions issue in recruiting.

 

[volsknx]

I was called a Negavol many times during the Pruitt tenure. I tend to be a "call it like I see it". A Negavol is negative just to be negative. If Pruitt did well (i.e. assistant hiring in 2019 and getting the team to rally after the Bama game in 2019), I pointed it out. Even with recruiting, he did a decent job (now we know why) but I did make the Middle TN neglect comment many times over the years.

However, I was negative most of the time since Pruitt showed he was in over his head most of the time while he was here and it kept repeating itself over and over and over.

I was too Mojo. As with Dooley, I wanted to give him time and knew halfway through year three, Dooley was not going to get it done here. I knew after the Okla, Fla and Arky game in 2015 Jones was not going to get it done either. He had the talent to take us to the top but just not the coaching ability. How inane was it when he utilized the "chart" saying? With Pruitt, I think we all knew after the Georgia State game he just was not going to get it done. Then the BYU game solidified that. The worst part is, Fulmer gave the guy a RAISE and a CONTRACT EXTENSION!!! What does that tell you about him??

Never forget the man that hired this jackass.

View attachment 387950

This^^^is the complete and entire reason for our downfall. Ran the program into the ground in '08 and then completely destroyed it a decade later!! And, pocketed millions doing so!

We worked like Heck didn't we?

And, review film. Wonder if he played back what he did to destroy our once proud program?

Oh yeah. He was on top of things lol Just 982 plays away from being 7-5 .

If not for 1,324 players missing 5,623 quarters due to injuries he might have even had Neylands record.

Perfect example of a smart charismatic man who had some success and started to think he was smarter than he was and convinced others it was so. Hell the way he recruited when he tried, the man could start a cult if he really wanted to.

He was pulling the recruits and getting high caliber athletes from out of state, especially Georgia and also Cali too. Then, thought the program, the school, fans and everyone else owed him something!

I truly believe he hired him because he had few better options outside of Mel Tucker

I have always thought that as well. I mentally reversed engineered that hire and figured to ask, who could he have hired? He hired the one coach that was the most similar to himself. He wanted to prove that his way of coaching was not out dated and that he should not have been fired and that the firing was due to the "twisting of middle management" and not himself running the program into the ground!

Yes, not sure what other options were available. Rumor was, he tried to hire Kevin Steele, but was told no. Don't know if it was true or not. I do know this, Fulmer wants Tennessee to be the best it can be. Simply can't understand why UT fans bash a guy that won us a NC, back to back SEC titles, owned Georgia and Bama, and rarely lost to an inferior opponent. He's gone, let him stay gone.

It is because he single handedly destroyed the football program. Not once but twice and the second time, he decimated it!

Fulmer’s FAILURE!!!

Enough said!

Yep, I think Pruitt had the staff and prob told Phil he was going to bring the high level cheating back like at AL…except he sucked at it among many other things

Bottom line is Fulmer was out of his league as AD. Ignored all the negatives that many in the media and other coaches brought up

That and he wanted control, power and money and to show everyone up for his failures.

All he needed to do was stay gone.

Instead, he decided to make his play to get back into a position of power and it blew up in his face.

Now the program and, by extension, the fans get to deal with the aftermath for the foreseeable future.

His equity for those accomplishments have been used up IMO.

All..... Four..... Lines..... Are.....Truth!

I understand. I think he simply wanted to see Tennessee Football return. Hopefully we have the right combo in the AD office and HC.

I think we do as well. I think it was an ego thing for him!

IMHO, Phlegmatic Phil came here for two reasons:

1. Ego. The man needs constant ego boosting, and getting the big chair was a way to feel relevant again.

2. $$$ Fulmer has been a paycheck casher since 2001. Nothing has changed. He saw a chance for another payday that he felt he was entitled to receive, and he cashed in.

Fulmer is about Fulmer. If it benefits Tennessee, that's a bonus, but largely incidental.

#truth

Literally the only coach that ever gave us a legit shot at competing in the East. He wasn’t a great football mind, but the results were better than anyone since Fulmer. Agree completely

I do agree with this Jake. I just think he wasted and squandered soooo much talent!

 

[bpalmer28]

Jones was mentally insecure in his position as “ caretaker” of the Tennessee football program. His insecurities beat him. Plus he was a terrible sideline coach. Didn’t know when to go for it, kick a Fg, go for 2, etc.

He wasn't perfect. That's for sure. My biggest complaint on him is what you alluded too in the last sentence. He didn't have a good feel for the game. I don't remember who we were playing but I distinctly remember us running it down some team's throat all the way down the field then when we get inside the 10 we pass it 3 times and end up losing the game because we couldn't punch it in. It felt like he did the opponent a favor by abandoning the run. Same deal with not knowing when to go for 2 or when to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a FG. Just always felt like he was letting the opponent off the hook. But I still wouldn't say he was a disaster... he brought in some great talent including Dobbs, Hurd, Kamara, Malone, etc. He just wasn't able to develop and utilize the talent as well as a championship-caliber coach would.

 

[OrangeTsar]

I understand. I think he simply wanted to see Tennessee Football return. Hopefully we have the right combo in the AD office and HC.

UT’s situation since Kiffen have forced all of our HC hires to be rolls of the dice and Pruitt was no exception. He was a gamble that didn’t pay out. Where UT has went wrong is in giving the failures extensions and more time in hopes that they suddenly learn how to coach. When you gamble, as Kenny said “you gotta know when to hold em, you gotta know when to fold em“. UT has had a pathological compulsion to hold no matter what the evidence says.

 

[DaddyChad]

A "Low class human being" does not come close to an accurate description Jeremey Pruitt. This is a "person" who literally drove to Mark Richt's home, while DRUNK, and tried to physically fight him. He was sent on his way by the fist of Mike Ekeler, as the story goes. He vociferously cussed Richt at half time of a Florida game in front of players, etc. He purposefully leaked plans for a new state of the art UGA training facility ahead of a BIG TIME press conference just to piss off his superiors and ruin the unveiling plan. The sewers of NYC are now home to both him and Dooley. Good riddance!

Meh, I think Pruitt should be paid his contract. Ekeler gets to punch him in the face for each dollar received. Hell I’ll even throw in a 20.

 

[DaddyChad]

Jones was mentally insecure in his position as “ caretaker” of the Tennessee football program. His insecurities beat him. Plus he was a terrible sideline coach. Didn’t know when to go for it, kick a Fg, go for 2, etc.

Jones was a great recruiter just poor at getting the most out of the talent he had. A few coaches would’ve won the National title or at least been in the picture with the talent we had when Dobbs, Kamara, and Barnett were there; we didn’t even win the East.