Pruitt is a terrible hire and here is why

[T-TownVol]

That's quite a stretch.

You are being too nice.....

 

[volzfanz]

Coach Pruitt hasn't even been introduced as our new Head footVol Coach yet and already the idiot brigade is tearing him apart.

Here's a simple FACT....The deal is DONE, we have NO OPTIONS now whatsoever on who our new HC will be, Fulmer has decided.

Now we fans have 2 choices...

1...Cry and whine like babies and try to tear down and destroy what might turn into a homerun hire, or

2...Get behind Coach Pruitt and try our very best to help him become the great success we want and deserve for OUR Tennessee footVol program.

He's not who I wanted either since his name isn't Pedersen or Venables but Pruitt is the name we have and that's NOT going to change.

The more I research and learn about Pruitt the more I like the guy so I'm going to support him because I love Tennessee.

He's going to get at least 4 or 5 years anyway and there's nothing we can do about that so we may as well get a positive mindset and try to help promote Tennessee footVol in a positive way to try to help get good recruiting going.

Top recruiting is a MUST if we're ever going to compete and WIN against Bama and all the other top teams.

The next time we'll know to blow up the internet and and do protest walks all over Tennessee to DEMAND that we pay whatever it takes to hire the homerun coach we thing we deserve.

Right now it simply is what it is so I'll stay positive and try to help recruiting by not tearing down our program like a childish idiot.

VFL...GBO!!!

This is a good post. But can we have anything between 1.crying like babies and 2. Following like sheep? Can we maybe support our team and our new coach, but somehow someway demand better leadership results? We were on every tv and radio show with our coach search for all the wrong reasons. We missed out on all the big name proven guys that were available in the beginning. We got another unproven guy. But he has positives. I’m not downing Pruitt. But this was supposed to be the hire that kept us from the eternal abyss. And it turned out to be a three ring circus.

 

[orange_iv]

The way I look at it - I was done with Tennessee football awhile ago. I checked out when it was obvious Butch wouldn't win here. I'm fine, I don't have to come back. You guys will be fine too. There are lots of other things to do.

If they hire a winner, I'll come back. If not, well, they are only hurting themselves. Davenport may survive, but Currie won't. If he hires any of the names being thrown around right now, he'll be looking for a job again a few years down the road. Maybe sooner.

I had to go back and look at your previous posts, because I honestly thought you were joking and trying to get a rise out of the Negavols. I wasn't surprised, however, to see that you are THE Negavol. So in reference to the quoted post, please return to wherever you were from 10/24/15-11/12/17. Bye.

 

[VOL Campbell]

I think the OP should cheer for a different team. Go Vols!

 

[bigorangejosh]

Pruitt is not Dooley or Jones for many reasons. If your comparing him to Dooley just stop. Dooley was the biggest bonehead hire in the history of this university. The face we gave him as long as we did does not say much for us. He came from La Tech and had a losing record there. Hiring him screamed, "Lets lose." You can't compare Pruitt to Dooley. Pruitt has coached great defenses almost everywhere he has coordinated. I think he will be good. If you look at the players he pulled in at the places he was at its ridiculous names. Like Jalen Ramsey, Derrick Henry, Ruben Foster, TJ Yeldon, Reggie Ragland. The list is longer. Defense wins in this league. Defensive minded coaches win in this league. I am not saying that Pruitt will win. But it was good hire and worth the chance. Every sitting head coach we went after had as much down side as upside. You could look at them and say Les Miles has a good record, but we all seen that offense, Or Leach has a good overall record, but he really averages about 8-4 or 9-3 which is what we just fired butch for plus he don't play defense or recruit. With this hire the upside is greater and we will just have to chance the downside. That is my thoughts.

 

[volzfanz]

Actually he IS a great recruiter. That isn't debatable. Winning recruiter of the year in 2012.

I don't know that Dooley was ever labeled as a great recruiter prior to taking the TN job. I believe people may have assumed that based on his appointment as recruiting coordinator at LSU.

No doubt about it. He can recruit under the right circumstances. But being at FSU under Jimbo and Bama under Saban didn’t hurt. How much do you think those two things affected his success or was it actually him? It’s prob a combination I guess. And I’d be curious to see which schools had the recruiter of the year over say the last decade.

 

[Kevinyaheard]

"Mike Leach would have had SEC opponents nervous as hell about playing UT on a yearly basis."

Now I know people are postin' crazy s*** just to get the troops riled up.......:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

He is actually 100% correct, nothing can be said to deflect or change that either.

 

[1725gatorhater]

For those us who’ve been around for a few years, we know that oregonvol does nothing but complain. Pruitt is the Vols coach now. Everyone was clamoring for a huge hire, but Tennessee hasn’t been a big program for over a decade. Starting threads about what a bad hire we’ve made is inane.

Here’s to hoping we have a coach who can finally stop your whining.

Suck it!

 

[newyorkvol]

No doubt about it. He can recruit under the right circumstances. But being at FSU under Jimbo and Bama under Saban didn’t hurt. How much do you think those two things affected his success or was it actually him? It’s prob a combination I guess. And I’d be curious to see which schools had the recruiter of the year over say the last decade.

We’re about to find out.

 

[volzfanz]

How long was he DC at FSU? And did he use players he recruited or who were there before him? Same question for his 2 yrs as Bama DC. I mean Bama has done well in recruiting for awhile now. Serious question..... could a blind, deaf, and drunk monkey with an Alabama pull over recruit well anywhere in America? I think CJP best attribute is that successful people at elite programs wanted to work with him. That’s the most telling thing we know about him.

 

[Otis07]

further evidence of the weed epidemic in the northwest

 

[orangepit]

No big crazy 😜 contract. He will be fired in 2 years

 

[KBVol]

tl;dr On an unrelated note, when are you embarking on your next 4 year sabbatical?

Has it already been 4 years? Feels more like 10-15 minutes.

 

[luthervol]

Just got back from lunch with 3 die hard Dawg fans. Two of them long time season ticket holders and one who had a child play there in the early 2000's. They all said Pruitt was a jerk and that they could not wait to get rid of him. They claimed he was a poison on the team. TIFWIW

 

[sjt18]

How many other head coaching jobs has Pruitt interviewed for?

Gruden screwed UT. He acted interested. He baited UT into stroking his ego... he led UT down the path... then walked away. That started Currie's panic. That necessitated the plan Fulmer came up with.

He hired a guy with success as a DC at multiple stops with a reputation for being a very good recruiter and developer of talent. To hedge that bet, they signed him to a pretty pedestrian contract while reserving the highest amount in school history to surround him with the best possible staff.

It may or may not work.

It isn't a "splash" hire type of plan.

It isn't a throw the bank at Gruden plan.

But it isn't a bad plan... I'm game to see how it works.

 

[butchna]

I don't get all this rara nonsense either. Respect and loyalty are earned, they shouldnt be freely given. What has this institution done in the last 15 years to earn any of our respect or loyalty? Pruitt may be god's gift to coaching but I feel like best case scenario, he and kirby fight for a couple of east titles in 3-4 years. Then when saban retires bama gets its pick of whoever did better at georgia or tennessee. We're now the minor league coaching system for alabama. Yippee.

I don’t think Kirby leaves UGA...even for Bama. And Pruitt will have to beat out the best candidates in the country (including NFL).

 

[sjt18]

Just got back from lunch with 3 die hard Dawg fans. Two of them long time season ticket holders and one who had a child play there in the early 2000's. They all said Pruitt was a jerk and that they could not wait to get rid of him. They claimed he was a poison on the team. TIFWIW

A Bama player came out just a little bit ago and called Pruitt the best coach he'd ever played for... Others report that he is a "player's coach"... :dunno:

 

[luthervol]

I don’t think Kirby leaves UGA...even for Bama. And Pruitt will have to beat out the best candidates in the country (including NFL).

GA is Kirby's home. He's not going anywhere. That's the beauty of hiring someone that bleeds for your school. I thought Fulmer was aware of that- I was wrong.

 

[luthervol]

A Bama player came out just a little bit ago and called Pruitt the best coach he'd ever played for... Others report that he is a "player's coach"... :dunno:

Two sides to every coin. This hire is nothing more than a coin toss in my mind. I don't even consider it 50 - 50.

 

[HARTUPM]

ight den, thanks for your foresight Nostradumass

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

You are showing your ignorance.....

So, by being a smarmy p-ck with that answer, we can assume zero?

 

[volmark]

I know battered vol syndrome is a real thing and people here just want to feel positive about whatever they get at this point, but I don't feel that we've benefitted in any way by ignoring logic and facts over the years, so I figured I would point out why other schools weren't interested in Pruitt and why it won't work out here.

Let's tackle the "virtues" posters will reiterate ad nauseam:

1. "He's a great recruiter!"

Well, he has traditionally been at schools that have great recruiting. Has he really been the impetus behind it, or just part of a team?

Also, weren't we told the exact same about Dooley? Didn't Dooley come from a similar recruiting background?

Also, does it really matter so much that your head coach was a great recruiter as an assistant? If that were the case, wouldn't other Power 5 schools immediately go for the best recruiting assistants for their head jobs? Or are we just smarter than the rest of them? Does anyone actually believe that?

Haven't we gone down this road again and again? How many top recruits have we singed over the years that weren't properly developed or utilized? Haven't we learned, at this point, that a coach is much more valuable than a recruiter?

2. "He's just like Kirby Smart!"

Actually, looking at the differences between the two resumes is enlightening. Smart was Saban's defensive coordinator for 8 years. Pruitt has only been a defensive coordinator for 5 years total. He has only been Saban's coordinator for 2 years. So, we are certainly looking at less experience.

In fact, one looks at Pruitt's time as a coordinator, and the fact that he has never been at a school for more than 2 years, and you realize that he has very little experience developing personnel. This is a guy you want to rebuild with? By contrast, Kirby Smart was Saban's top assistant as he built the Alabama dynasty. That's far different than being a hired gun that is inserted into already established staffs and programs.

Do you really believe that every Alabama defensive coordinator will make an effective head coach just because Smart has done well this year? That doesn't seem like a good bet. We've seen plenty of successful coordinators fail over the years, guys with more consistent resumes and longer periods of production.

3. "He's a great defensive mind!"

Is he? He has had very good defenses. He's also always had a talent advantage.

The thing I don't understand about Tennessee is that, while the administrations' mouthpieces in the local media keep telling us how hard it is to recruit and win here against the likes of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, etc…we never really try to hire a coach with a history of getting more out of less. Pruitt definitely continues that trend.

If you believe that he will be able to out-recruit the rest of the SEC, then I guess there is cause for hope. But hasn't that been what we've pinned our hopes on in coach after coach? Why would we think the result will be different this time?

One of the best measures of a coach is what they do in the big games and against teams of similar talent. Since Pruitt has never been the head guy, we have to go by his coordinator experience. In his biggest games (his two national championship appearances) Pruitt's defense has given up an average of 33 points (by contrast, Kirby Smart's defenses never allowed more than 21 points in the national championship game, and averaged 11.7 points allowed per NC game). That's not really the work of a defensive mastermind, especially considering the incredible talent he had at his disposal.

4. "We couldn't get anyone else!"

Well, that may be true. If so, though, that is due to the administration not the fans or the program. Accepting that result and supporting that administration does nothing to improve the state of the program. Haven't we learned anything at this point? Isn't "getting behind the new coach" and having patience the exact reason Dooley and Jones got big extensions, resulting in ridiculous buyouts?

If you truly couldn't get anyone who had a decent chance of winning here due to our administrative mess, wouldn't it be wiser to install an interim until we fixed the mess? Committing longterm to a weak hire simply doesn't make sense for anyone, save those hoping to continue bilking the fans while selling false hope. Sure, an interim would probably kill the recruiting class. But is it better to waste 1 year or 3-4 years?

5. "We got to give him a chance! He hasn't coached a game yet!"

Yes, we're back to that familiar point where the unknowable future is our new coach's best quality. Of course, no one can say for certain that Pruitt will fail, but given that there is so little evidence that he will succeed, it's a sucker's bet to think he'll ever be anything more than average here.

Read 1st 3 lines stopped... u are a dummy.. we are upgraded from butch. Staff will be upgraded from butch. Butch has never even caught a sniff of a championship program.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Gruden screwed UT. He acted interested. He baited UT into stroking his ego... he led UT down the path... then walked away. That started Currie's panic. That necessitated the plan Fulmer came up with.

He hired a guy with success as a DC at multiple stops with a reputation for being a very good recruiter and developer of talent. To hedge that bet, they signed him to a pretty pedestrian contract while reserving the highest amount in school history to surround him with the best possible staff.

It may or may not work.

It isn't a "splash" hire type of plan.

It isn't a throw the bank at Gruden plan.

But it isn't a bad plan... I'm game to see how it works.

I have never thought Gruden was a serious option. If Currie, Fulmer, Haslam, or anyone else thought he was, then that's their own fault.

I said on here they should have shot him down as a candidate before they even started the search.

Always thought his "interest" was a joke and a nice diversion from what has become one of the more frustrating and miserable programs in the country to follow.

Pruitt is a complete over the shoulder dart toss based more on the desperation of the past few weeks than anything on his resume that screams head coach material.

I'll ask a simple and legitimate question again. Who else was looking at him for a head coaching position?

His supporting cast will be critical. UT doesn't bring in enough talent to play defense and 3 yards and a cloud of dust on offense anymore compared to the rest of the SEC.

That formula worked more often than not for Fulmer but it won't in today's landscape. That's why I was hoping for a Leach, Morris, or Brohm who have proven they can win with less than stellar talent instead of a guy who has always had the biggest and baddest toys to play with on the chess board.

 

[kmkemp11]

And you’re a terrible poster. How about pipe down until he gives you an actual reason to lose faith in his ability? That would be a better idea. The guy’s resume isn’t that bad.

If you had put together a list after our Georgia loss this year of coaching candidates who you thought would come to UT given a nice compensation package, Pruitt wouldn't have been higher than 20th.

People are only happy with the hire because of the Schiano fiasco. Yea, sure, any coach *might* succeed. But there were many better bets that should've been in play that we missed on.

 

[Wylo]

I don't like the hire either, but am more apathetic than angry. Just ready to tune it all out.