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Pruitt Vs. Leach - Approval Poll
- Thread starter goldvol
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So he has fielded good QBs. How many championships has that gotten him?
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MiramarVol and beamerman
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Here is my take on Leach. I liken Leach to a great batch of bacon (the greatest food known to man). When you first put it on the skillet/griddle it pops, sizzles, and makes a lot of noise. Then it gets quiet. It smells great and everybody within a certain radius is loving the bacon smell and wishes they had the bacon. However, the people close to the bacon keep getting popped and burned by the grease every so often. Then you flip it and it makes a little more noise, but for a shorter duration. Every once in a while you take a piece off and eat it, and it is awesome. However, the longer it is left on the heat, the worse it gets and at the end of the day you have tough, burnt bacon.
All SEC teams are dealing with the "Not Normal" season. Mississippi State and Tennessee do share 8 common opponents. Not sure what your point is?
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LeannaVol and PulaskiVolFan
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This is spot on, and like everyone I like a good piece of bacon. I'm not a fan of Leach though. I think he probably helps teams that have lesser talent with his system but it's never enough to win big championships.
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volinSmyrna
I don't know why it's so hard for people to admit he's a great coach. He goes to places and wins big where it's been rare to non-existent before. Texas Tech, Washington State and Miss State are three of the worst football schools historically in CFB. James Franklin did part of what Leach did at one school and got the Penn State job from it. Leach has also built a strong college coaching tree, something no UT coach has managed to pull off in a long time. He won't ever coach here but to just flat out deny he knows what he's doing is to ignore reality.
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It was an impressive win for Leach, no doubt. But I think the biggest takeaway was the elephant in the room----just how much talent LSU lost. They replaced 14 NFL draft picks from that roster. It's pretty apparent now that this isn't an Alabama situation where after a natty they're just ready to compete again that very next year.
Leach will be a good one for Miss State, but I'm not going to crown him off one game. He is going to have to recruit really well to compete in the SEC and good luck getting Top 5 classes to come to Starkville. That alone makes that job a nightmare.
Leach will be a good one for Miss State, but I'm not going to crown him off one game. He is going to have to recruit really well to compete in the SEC and good luck getting Top 5 classes to come to Starkville. That alone makes that job a nightmare.
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He's also stayed at war with the administrations where he's coached and he left every one even worse off I believe. He's a funny interview, he's a terrific play caller on the offensive side but that's about it when it comes to football. One trick ponies are seldom successful at winning championships, you've got to be a well rounded football team to compete for championships.
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AM64
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"Great" is a relative term.
It's absolutely true that he's gone to schools where it is difficult to win and consistently fielded competitive teams and very occasionally a great team (2008 Texas Tech, 2018 Washington State). That's really impressive. However, the only "hardware" he's ever won in 18 years is just two division championships. In those 18 seasons, his teams have finished in the top 25 just 6 times. My thoughts about Leach are the same as my thoughts about Mullen at Miss St - what they've done is really impressive at a lower-expectation school, but I'm not sure if they are a "great" coach.
I would love to see Leach get a chance at a big time job, but I don't know if he ever will or if he even wants to. In the debate over whether or not he's "great," I do kind of consider it a knock against him that he's never had a truly great team - he always has offenses that score a ton of points, and when he has a great offense he's capable of having a great year. But he's always been something of a one-trick pony.
It's absolutely true that he's gone to schools where it is difficult to win and consistently fielded competitive teams and very occasionally a great team (2008 Texas Tech, 2018 Washington State). That's really impressive. However, the only "hardware" he's ever won in 18 years is just two division championships. In those 18 seasons, his teams have finished in the top 25 just 6 times. My thoughts about Leach are the same as my thoughts about Mullen at Miss St - what they've done is really impressive at a lower-expectation school, but I'm not sure if they are a "great" coach.
I would love to see Leach get a chance at a big time job, but I don't know if he ever will or if he even wants to. In the debate over whether or not he's "great," I do kind of consider it a knock against him that he's never had a truly great team - he always has offenses that score a ton of points, and when he has a great offense he's capable of having a great year. But he's always been something of a one-trick pony.
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PulaskiVolFan
I agree with you. LSU did lose a ton of talent. But, they consistently have top 10 recruiting classes so they have players. Last year, their defense gave up a lot of points to good teams, but Burrow just out scored them. With all that being said, if Pruitt went to LSU and won, VN would be obsessing over if he would take the Alabama job when Saban retires.
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MemphisVol77 and VolArmy74
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Not every SEC team participated in the ridiculous contact tracing that we do. We are behind the 8 ball because of that ridiculous crap. Maybe MS did do like we did who knows? I know that people are salivating over what Leachs team did against a rookie secondary. Bottom line is whatever happens between our commn opponents means nothing this year. It doesnt prove anything either way.
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Agreed with the ridiculous contact tracing. I'm not salivating over Mike Leach. I do think he's funny and time will tell on if his system will work long term. CJP is on year 3 and has the opportunity to use players he's recruited. Leach has been in Starkville for less than a year, with a qb who hasn't played since 2018 and had no spring ball with a team he doesn't know well. I'd be fine if Tennessee extended Pruitt's contract through 2030, but I disagree that there will be nothing to take away from seeing how each teams handle the 8 common opponents.
Also doubt that Knoxville or the University would do anything to Pruitt or Fulmer, if they told them to go kick rocks about their contact tracing.
Also doubt that Knoxville or the University would do anything to Pruitt or Fulmer, if they told them to go kick rocks about their contact tracing.
And to help you make your point, let's clarify that one statement. He never actually won a division championship. Never took his team to a conference championship game.
In 2008, he did tie Oklahoma and Texas for the best records in the B12-South. But there were tie-breakers in place, and Oklahoma won those. So the B12-South champ, and the one who went to the conference championship game, was the Sooners.
In 2018, he did have the same record in the PAC-North as in-state rival, Washington. But Washington had _just_ beaten his team head-to-head in the "Apple Cup" rivalry game. So they were the PAC-North champs, and went to that championship game.
He never actually won any title at any level.
But I like him, he's a funny guy. And I hope he upsets a couple more teams this season. I just don't expect him to ever turn his unique way of winning into anything lasting. Nothing with the word "championship" in it.
In 2008, he did tie Oklahoma and Texas for the best records in the B12-South. But there were tie-breakers in place, and Oklahoma won those. So the B12-South champ, and the one who went to the conference championship game, was the Sooners.
In 2018, he did have the same record in the PAC-North as in-state rival, Washington. But Washington had _just_ beaten his team head-to-head in the "Apple Cup" rivalry game. So they were the PAC-North champs, and went to that championship game.
He never actually won any title at any level.
But I like him, he's a funny guy. And I hope he upsets a couple more teams this season. I just don't expect him to ever turn his unique way of winning into anything lasting. Nothing with the word "championship" in it.
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05_never_again
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True - neither was an outright division title and he didn't play in a conference title game because he lost the tiebreakers. And he got beaten quite convincingly in both tiebreaking games.
Personally I think what he did at Texas Tech was more impressive than Washington St, just because the Pac-12 was down when he was at Washington St and he went exactly .500 in conference play (36-36). That isn't bad at Washington St, but he went 47-33 (.587) in the Big 12, which was a stronger conference. He was below .500 only once in conference play at Texas Tech, his very first season. He was below .500 in conference play 4 times in 8 years at Washington St.
Personally I think what he did at Texas Tech was more impressive than Washington St, just because the Pac-12 was down when he was at Washington St and he went exactly .500 in conference play (36-36). That isn't bad at Washington St, but he went 47-33 (.587) in the Big 12, which was a stronger conference. He was below .500 only once in conference play at Texas Tech, his very first season. He was below .500 in conference play 4 times in 8 years at Washington St.
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Not only did LSU lose talent but they lost coordinators. I don't think Orgeron wins to many games in the SEC w/o really good offensive and defensive coordinators to help him out. I predict a major reality check for LSU football this year.
. Back to Leach, I like the bacon comparison but more than anything he is a high risk high reward type of hire. MSU had nothing to lose taking that chance. You could argue we were in a similar situation when we hired Pruitt but obviously we have more going for us then MSU. I expect MSU to be better since Leach is such a good offensive coach but doubt he has another top ten vixtory up his sleave.
. Back to Leach, I like the bacon comparison but more than anything he is a high risk high reward type of hire. MSU had nothing to lose taking that chance. You could argue we were in a similar situation when we hired Pruitt but obviously we have more going for us then MSU. I expect MSU to be better since Leach is such a good offensive coach but doubt he has another top ten vixtory up his sleave.
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Tnslim1 and PulaskiVolFan
As a resident Leach fan, I just want to say I agree fully that his ceiling is likely south of National Championship football. I believe, as I've stated, that he will turn games into a track-meet, where he'll likely lose some he shouldn't and shock the world in others. He's hard to prepare for.
On the other hand...nobody we have hired since Phillip Fulmer has coached championship winning football. Natty's are hard to come by...look how many traditional programs have never won one, and how few see it within reach on a yearly basis. The goal should be first and foremost winning the East. That is winning football and gets you in the position for bigger things. Beating your rivals, and winning your division is step one. That is the kind of football I think Leach can achieve on occasion, though in the West it may be more difficult.
Pruitt has, I think, more potential as a sustained long-term success...and probably more likelihood to be a National Championship caliber coach, though that is distant right now. But don't believe for a minute that Leach wouldn't have been a vast improvement over what we have experienced since CPF, and could have made things very interesting with Florida, Georgia, and Bama. I'm certainly glad he's in the league to give Saban something else to concern himself with.
On the other hand...nobody we have hired since Phillip Fulmer has coached championship winning football. Natty's are hard to come by...look how many traditional programs have never won one, and how few see it within reach on a yearly basis. The goal should be first and foremost winning the East. That is winning football and gets you in the position for bigger things. Beating your rivals, and winning your division is step one. That is the kind of football I think Leach can achieve on occasion, though in the West it may be more difficult.
Pruitt has, I think, more potential as a sustained long-term success...and probably more likelihood to be a National Championship caliber coach, though that is distant right now. But don't believe for a minute that Leach wouldn't have been a vast improvement over what we have experienced since CPF, and could have made things very interesting with Florida, Georgia, and Bama. I'm certainly glad he's in the league to give Saban something else to concern himself with.
Horrible fit for who, for the fans or for Phil? Lookit, I do not want to appear disrespectful for the purpose of being condescending or cute. I am generally glad that Fulmer got the AD job, and I think Pru is a good coach. I'm happy to have him. But I wanted Leach a long time ago, and we kept getting duds because certain people do not want a HC with a personality. I think that Leach would have won, making him a good fit. That did not happen, so I don't want to distract from Coach Pruitt. I think he deserves our support despite his record to date. I'm not just saying that. I think he's a good coach, and I believe in Tennessee's future with Coach Pruitt.
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'Boro-vol
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Let's say we hired Leach instead of Butch. In hindsight, I think anybody would have taken that trade. At the end of the day, we would have had a few more wins, but still no championships and a lesser roster than we have today. I think he would have lasted a couple years longer than Butch, but he would be gone by now in my opinion.
Ain't going to lie I would've liked Coach Leach here, he's a great coach and you never have to wonder what he's thinking he says it which I like, don't know how is tenure at miss st will go but it started off pretty well even though LSU lost a ton to the NFL that was a nice win, Defense is always a question with his teams but we'll see. I'm happy with Coach Pruitt, always liked him as a coach but once I got to know him personally he really does care about his players and they care about him which I believe will take us a long way
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