Pruitt's Monday press conference 11.25

#4
#4
I have a few minutes today. I will take a shot at a summary:

On Mizzou game.

A lot of good things. Good runs, when we did run. Good Oline play. JG threw well. Receivers fought hard for the ball.

Defensively. Good job keeping the QB in the pocket. But no turnovers created.

Kicking game was poor. Low kicks. Didn't punt well.

Kids did not waiver with momentum shifts. Good win on the road.

this week:

13 seniors last game. Darrin Kirkland is coming back to run through the T.

Vandy:

Play physical. Good RB and receivers.

Defense plays hard and is opportunistic.

Q&A:

On confidence in JG: I never lost confidence. Always had talent and desire. He was not at his best early. Give him credit for not giving up and working to get better. Great grit, determination and character.

On death threats: First he had heard about it. It will be taken very seriously.

On learning how to win: Three games decided on the last drive. When it mattered the most, we played at our best, Shows the will and character of the team.

On BM playing one play: JG's protective pad came off. "I didn't know it happened until I saw Brian running with the ball."

On run success: Line blocked right people. Didn't get whipped.

On Bowl Game: Football is a game of repetition. The more you practice, the better you get at it. We're focused on Vanderbilt right now.

Solomon update and playing without him: We've played a lot of guys up front. They played well together. For the most part, with an active QB, we kept him in the pocket. Solomon is day to day.

On team getting closer throughout the season: Our team likes each other. The guys are unselfish. You find out your true character when things aren't going well. The mood in the locker room is really good. Early losses due to turnovers and execution. Team worked hard to improve.

On being hard on the team after a win and bowl eligibility: We made mistakes, and we have to eliminate them. Careless penalties. We had twice the yards, and it came down to the last possession.

On this senior class: Proud and excited for them. I am proud to have gotten to know them. Appreciate the pride that these guys have in the University.

On Thanksgiving thankful for: My family and where we come from. Thankful for the opportunity to be at the University and the players and coaches I work with everyday.
 
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#8
#8
PulaskiVolFan said:
He gets better at these every wee I feel. I wish our fanbase had not made fun of his "aiiight" and would like to hear him say it more!!
Click to expand...
I know this is "personal" but he sounds like a football coach to me. Jones always sounded like a used car salesman. Dooley sounds like a lawyer. He should have stuck with it.

Pruitt just seems genuine, spots, quirks, and all. He seems to have a singular focus on coaching football without a lot of patience for the media or sideshow.

I want to see success before declaring it. But I've always liked him better than the others.
 
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#9
#9
SaintLouis did a great summary, thanks for that man.

Here's a fuller version for those who like to read a lot, heh:

Key points:

- Recap of Mizzou game, a lot went well, offense and defense, but didn't create any turnovers and was disappointed in the kicking game.
- Looking to Andy game: will honor 13 seniors, plus Darrin Kirkland who didn't get a chance to run through the T as a senior last year. Still searching for a complete game. Vandy's a physical team, and take care of the football.
- on JG: I never lost confidence in him. You're always trying to figure out how to get players to be their best. The talent, want-to, toughness, instincts have always been there, but for whatever reason early in the year he wasn't at his best. He knows that. You gotta give Jarrett a ton of credit. Like anybody who plays QB, they probably get too much credit or too much blame, but he could've done one of two things when he was benched: he could give up on the season and transfer or whatever, but that isn't who he is. He's a competitor so he went back to work, to fix what he wasn't doing as well. I can't say enough about his character, grit, detrmination.
- on death threats against JG: That was the first I heard about it. We're doing what we need to do as a University to look into that, protect our guys.
- on learning how to win: for Miss State, Kentucky, and Mizzou, all three were probably won on the last drive by both offense and defense. In all three games, there were points we could've played better, but when it mattered the most, we played at our best. I think it just shows the will, character, fight, resiliency of this team.
- on Maurer's one play: Jarrett's wearing a protective pad on his hand, and it came off. So he ran off the field and Brian ran on. I actually didn't know it until I saw Brian running with the ball.
- on offensive line and running game vs Mizzou: for the most part, we blocked the right people. Early on, we were on the right people, but we kept getting whipped. As the game went on, our guys did a better job maintaining blocks. We've gotta do a better job at running back in breaking tackles and falling forward.
- on extra practices for bowl game: I think it's obvious. The more you practice, the better you get. For now we're really focused on Vanderbilt, we'll think about that when we get there.
- on Aubrey Solomon condition and how DL played after he went out: our guys have continued to improve up front. We've played a lot of guys and will continue to. Some fundamentals still to work on, but for the most part our guys were able to contain a QB who can run around and create issues, made him throw from the pocket. Aubrey is day-to-day.
- on the team chemistry, esp. core group of seniors: our team like each other, which is important. I feel like they're very unselfish, put the team first. It's easy to be positive when things are going really well, you find out your true character when it's not going well. I think that's something we had to do this year, and it starts with our assistant coaches and our senior leadership, then it trickles on down. Right now, the mood is really, really good. When you start out 1-4 like we did, the big thing is "why"? And it really came down to turnovers and execution, and that's something we can control, and our kids have worked really hard to fix it.
- on Riley Lovingood: he's already graduated, working on his second degree. I saw him last winter during Christmas break, I come in to work, and he's out there snapping into the net. Every day. So it tells you something about how important it is to him. A guy that does a great job on special teams, and you're right he's under-appreciated until you have a bad snap, right? Been a fantastic leader in this program, done everything that we've asked of him.
- on message you are trying to give to the players: we have goals to be our best, every Saturday. Don't get me wrong, our players are doing a lot of really good things, right, but we made some mistakes in that game that kept them in it, I mean we had twice as many yards as they did, but the game comes down to a last possession, right? So we've got to eliminate those mistakes, whether careless penalties or mental error or fumble or blocked field goal, not fielding a kickoff. We've got to eliminate those mistakes.
- what will this senior class mean to you on reflection: I'm really proud of these guys, excited for them, it's been great to get to know them. I knew some of them from recruiting, but just being around them the last two years to get to know who they really are, and how much pride they have in the University of Tennessee, you know, and see them fight and try to finish something they started, says a whole lot about them. These guys are going to have a lot of success beyond college.
- on Thanksgiving: Number one, I'm thankful for my family. I think we all are, right? Thankful for the opportunity to be at the Unversity of Tennessee, thankful for all these players we have a chance to be around every day, what a blessing they are to us. I'm thankful for the men that I work with. There's lots of things to be thankful for. This is probably my favourite holiday, because of that. I think we get caught up sometimes in the wins and losses, and I do realize that's what we get paid to do, but the opportunity to work with the men in this profession, to be around the student athletes, and everybody that touches these student athletes, and to watch them grow over time...it's why I wanted to get into coaching football, to be part of something like this, and I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to do it at a wonderful university that football is so important to.
 
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#14
#14
As long as I don't have to listen to it. Reading it is much better.

Thanks for the summaries.
 
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#19
#19
VFL-82-JP said:
SaintLouis did a great summary, thanks for that man.

Here's a fuller version for those who like to read a lot, heh:

Key points:

- Recap of Mizzou game, a lot went well, offense and defense, but didn't create any turnovers and was disappointed in the kicking game.
- Looking to Andy game: will honor 13 seniors, plus Darrin Kirkland who didn't get a chance to run through the T as a senior last year. Still searching for a complete game. Vandy's a physical team, and take care of the football.
- on JG: I never lost confidence in him. You're always trying to figure out how to get players to be their best. The talent, want-to, toughness, instincts have always been there, but for whatever reason early in the year he wasn't at his best. He knows that. You gotta give Jarrett a ton of credit. Like anybody who plays QB, they probably get too much credit or too much blame, but he could've done one of two things when he was benched: he could give up on the season and transfer or whatever, but that isn't who he is. He's a competitor so he went back to work, to fix what he wasn't doing as well. I can't say enough about his character, grit, detrmination.
- on death threats against JG: That was the first I heard about it. We're doing what we need to do as a University to look into that, protect our guys.
- on learning how to win: for Miss State, Kentucky, and Mizzou, all three were probably won on the last drive by both offense and defense. In all three games, there were points we could've played better, but when it mattered the most, we played at our best. I think it just shows the will, character, fight, resiliency of this team.
- on Maurer's one play: Jarrett's wearing a protective pad on his hand, and it came off. So he ran off the field and Brian ran on. I actually didn't know it until I saw Brian running with the ball.
- on offensive line and running game vs Mizzou: for the most part, we blocked the right people. Early on, we were on the right people, but we kept getting whipped. As the game went on, our guys did a better job maintaining blocks. We've gotta do a better job at running back in breaking tackles and falling forward.
- on extra practices for bowl game: I think it's obvious. The more you practice, the better you get. For now we're really focused on Vanderbilt, we'll think about that when we get there.
- on Aubrey Solomon condition and how DL played after he went out: our guys have continued to improve up front. We've played a lot of guys and will continue to. Some fundamentals still to work on, but for the most part our guys were able to contain a QB who can run around and create issues, made him throw from the pocket. Aubrey is day-to-day.
- on the team chemistry, esp. core group of seniors: our team like each other, which is important. I feel like they're very unselfish, put the team first. It's easy to be positive when things are going really well, you find out your true character when it's not going well. I think that's something we had to do this year, and it starts with our assistant coaches and our senior leadership, then it trickles on down. Right now, the mood is really, really good. When you start out 1-4 like we did, the big thing is "why"? And it really came down to turnovers and execution, and that's something we can control, and our kids have worked really hard to fix it.
- on Riley Lovingood: he's already graduated, working on his second degree. I saw him last winter during Christmas break, I come in to work, and he's out there snapping into the net. Every day. So it tells you something about how important it is to him. A guy that does a great job on special teams, and you're right he's under-appreciated until you have a bad snap, right? Been a fantastic leader in this program, done everything that we've asked of him.
- on message you are trying to give to the players: we have goals to be our best, every Saturday. Don't get me wrong, our players are doing a lot of really good things, right, but we made some mistakes in that game that kept them in it, I mean we had twice as many yards as they did, but the game comes down to a last possession, right? So we've got to eliminate those mistakes, whether careless penalties or mental error or fumble or blocked field goal, not fielding a kickoff. We've got to eliminate those mistakes.
- what will this senior class mean to you on reflection: I'm really proud of these guys, excited for them, it's been great to get to know them. I knew some of them from recruiting, but just being around them the last two years to get to know who they really are, and how much pride they have in the University of Tennessee, you know, and see them fight and try to finish something they started, says a whole lot about them. These guys are going to have a lot of success beyond college.
- on Thanksgiving: Number one, I'm thankful for my family. I think we all are, right? Thankful for the opportunity to be at the Unversity of Tennessee, thankful for all these players we have a chance to be around every day, what a blessing they are to us. I'm thankful for the men that I work with. There's lots of things to be thankful for. This is probably my favourite holiday, because of that. I think we get caught up sometimes in the wins and losses, and I do realize that's what we get paid to do, but the opportunity to work with the men in this profession, to be around the student athletes, and everybody that touches these student athletes, and to watch them grow over time...it's why I wanted to get into coaching football, to be part of something like this, and I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to do it at a wonderful university that football is so important to.
Click to expand...


That last sentence brings a tear to my eye. Maybe it is just me being an old fart.
 
#21
#21
This team is the Cleveland Indians from Major League I. And they're about to beat the Nashville Yankees to capture the Tennessee Division.
 
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#24
#24
So happy for this team! Glad the hard work has paid off! Now, regarding the kicking game, our kicker is awesome, go back, regroup, and do your thing...you are one of the best. Regarding our punter, we need a new punter...in our quest to rebuild our Oline and Dline do not forget this important position. We have had awesome, pro level, punters the last few years. This is the first year we have truly been average at this position...get better or get a new punter! GBO!
 
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