Realistic options with our HC (Long Post)

[DaddyChad]

Well, you know, as embarrassing as that whole Schaiano thing was with Currie, who's to say that we wouldn't be winning big right now if Schiano had been hired? The "idiot" Currie may have ended up hiring a winner, with a history of turning around bad programs, but the fan base wouldn't let him. We'll never know....

Everyone with two brain cells knew that hire would never fly. Idk what Schiano would’ve done as a HC but I could’ve told you that hire wouldn’t happen with our fans.

 

[DaddyChad]

I have said previously that I don't think Pruitt will be fired for any reason this season, short of some kind of scandal. For that to happen, Fulmer would likely have to be fired as well, as I would expect him strongly advocate patience and giving Pruitt time. If I had been Pruitt (or any new coach coming in to the situation Pruitt came into) I would have made clear that I would need at least XX seasons to turn the ship around, and I believe (but of course don't know) that he got that commitment from the AD. I agree that the team seems to be playing worse every week. Some of that is on the head coach, and fans are right to criticize the coach for the seeming lack of preparation and discipline, and lack of fundamentally sound play.

Flame all you want, but he ain't going anywhere until, at the very earliest, the end of next season. And if the team improves its play as this season progresses (hard to see how they can't go up from here) and doesn't repeat this season's disasters in 2020, Pruitt will be back for 2021. JMHO.

Pretty much in agreement here. Financially for us to be able to “throw money” at another coach we need to give Pruitt at least four years.

 

['Boro-vol]

I agree to an extent. Not sure we need to be aware through a representative though. We could reach out to their representative and try to convince them we are the right place. Mainly...Meyer. He’s the ultimate hire. And commented specifically on Tennessee recently. I don’t think that was a coincidence as calculating if a guy as he is. I hope behind the scenes our power brokers will reach out to his people and can convince him that we are the team for him.

I don't know if Meyer is the answer, though he would be a step in the direction I've wanted for 10 years. Bama took the bold stance of publicly chasing Saban until they made him say yes. They offered it 7 times, and he turned them down 6. They were tired of enduring their decade of misery and pulled out all the stops to remedy it.

Our problems will persist until the AD and University Administration develop the same resolve. We have a lot to sell, and a tradition to be proud of. Unfortunately we have sold ourselves short on coaching hires since we let Fulmer go.

 

[james_govols]

Well, you know, as embarrassing as that whole Schaiano thing was with Currie, who's to say that we wouldn't be winning big right now if Schiano had been hired? The "idiot" Currie may have ended up hiring a winner, with a history of turning around bad programs, but the fan base wouldn't let him. We'll never know....

No, Currie was personal friends with Schiano. He had an agenda all along.

UT is a very successful program financially.

Why do they continue to hire people with no experience or bad experience?

They don't even try to get a successful person.

 

[Unconditional Surrender]

Because firing and hiring has worked so well...

Stop expecting to be champions over night.

Butch was given 5 years.

 

[photovol]

I would not be upset if we keep Pruitt or let him go after this season or next. I understand the reasons why either decision would be made and both have merit. The question is how much pain can the program take. The program will be hurt with 2 more lopsided losses and whatever other troubles we have this season. At what point is the decision made to make a change an attempt to add a little excitement and hope for the best? Attendance will fall this season and apathy is already here. The question becomes when to make such decisions and how long to let the program continue on its current path hoping that something positive happens. At this point the only game that matters is the Vandy game.

I’m afraid only God can rite this listing Tennessee barge

 

[VolRoger]

Correct. There’s going to have to be more subjective reasons to keep him beyond wins and losses.

As SECChamp said so well above, this coach doesn't appear like he can inspire players. To me it's at best a huge gamble to keep him another year. One thing to watch in the coming weeks is how recruiting is going. If they somehow climbed in the recruiting rankings, getting at least a majority of 4 stars, then maybe there is something to the argument that he needs time to purge this roster of all the dead weight from the BJ era. If recruiting becomes stagnant or worse declines with decommits from some of the higher profile recruits, then I think you have to cut him loose. I'm not an insider of this program much like most of the others on this board, so I don't know the ends and outs of what is happening inside the program. I have certainly changed my attitude since last year's games against Missouri and Vandy to very negative about Pruitt. He'll have to prove a lot of us wrong, and in my opinion, very quickly.

 

[warrior]

That’s the mind set of this fan base a lot of the time. Win a championship in the first 2 years or fire and hire someone who will.

It’s ridiculous that we couldn’t beat those teams but it is what it is now. Move on.

That's absurd.
Had we beaten GaState, BYU, and then lost to Florida,even in the swamp, there would not be an outcry for firing.

 

[warrior]

Butch was given 5 years.

Yep. Everybody is acting like we are constantly firing coaches. We are not.

 

[DaddyChad]

I don't know if Meyer is the answer, though he would be a step in the direction I've wanted for 10 years. Bama took the bold stance of publicly chasing Saban until they made him say yes. They offered it 7 times, and he turned them down 6. They were tired of enduring their decade of misery and pulled out all the stops to remedy it.

Our problems will persist until the AD and University Administration develop the same resolve. We have a lot to sell, and a tradition to be proud of. Unfortunately we have sold ourselves short on coaching hires since we let Fulmer go.

If Meyer were available he would have his choice of any job with an opening. Why in the hell would any elite coach choose Tennessee?
Everyone can offer money, hell most can offer more than Tennessee at this point. Most have an easier schedule, better roster and less insane fans and booster.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

When you ain’t the guy, you ain’t the guy.

He ain’t the guy.

Everyone goes through the same “set the program back” mantra and I get the idea.

But, I think most people have it right. The wrong guy sets you back more than finding a new one.

These coaching hires have done more damage to Tennessee’s program than probation did to Florida in the 80’s

Thank you.

Good post.

 

[JoAllan]

Because firing and hiring has worked so well...

Stop expecting to be champions over night.

When can we expect to beat the Georgia State’s of the world?

 

['Boro-vol]

If Meyer were available he would have his choice of any job with an opening. Why in the hell would any elite coach choose Tennessee?
Everyone can offer money, hell most can offer more than Tennessee at this point. Most have an easier schedule, better roster and less insane fans and booster.

Don't disagree at all...my point was less about Meyer, and more to the point of making a concerted effort to pick our guy, whoever that might be, and go after him with the full might of what this University can muster. I can't stand Urban Meyer, but serious overtures to a coach of his caliber would at least show the resolve to fix this. We've not seen that in any coaching hire we've undertaken since letting Phil go.

 

[Sandevol]

Ppl are being irrationally emotional. Ya know, I always asked myself, “why is it that coaches make all this money for doing something as simple as leading a sports team?”

Now I see why. It’s because they have a stomach that most don’t have. They can see the long term vision and stick to the plan. Unmoved by illegitimate noise, like the emotional folks on this board. I truly get it. It’s like a form of hazard pay. “We know the weight of the world will be on your shoulders and everyone will literally hate you and your kids will have to live in a community where people hate their dad and make fun of him so here’s millions of dollars a year.”

Here’s a question I pose to volnation:
If it is as easy as you say it is why hasn’t it been done?

Don’t give me the standard “because they're stupid,” answer either. If you work 60+ hours a week only doing football. You are with the team everyday. I’m pretty sure you know who can legitimately do what and who cannot.

You just made he case to fire him. If he could not see this happening and he’s truly been caught off guard by how bad , undisciplined this bunch is he has no vision short or long term

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

When can we expect to beat the Georgia State’s of the world?

Dude just stop. If we played them right now I would bet we beat them. The team completely looked over them. Maybe you need to look into transferring your fandom. Because Pruitt isnt going anywhere. And for the good of the program we really need him to turn this thing around. Think about it.

Lets say he does turn things around and gets us better next year and we get relevant again. And he can sustain that success for another year. Then the job will look much more attractive to another coach. I know some want to believe that you just throw money at a coach and he will come but the hard fact is thats just not the case.

 

[Lurker]

As SECChamp said so well above, this coach doesn't appear like he can inspire players.

It takes the ability to inspire to recruit and coach successfully. I agree. But this quote is exactly the opposite of what the players he recruits and their parents have reported ever since he started coaching. Before he got to the Vols he was considered one of the top recruiters in all of college football. I think he was named the top recruiter in the nation at least once and was a Broyles award finalist more than once as the top assistant coach in the country. I don't think his basic makeup changed when he put on an orange shirt.

He may not be a smooth talker to the fan base, but multiple UT players, past and present, have stated that he is a straight shooter and much different and better than what came before him at UT.

The data so far with Pruitt does not support the conclusion that UT's issues are primarily coaching.

 

[voldurham]

Most fans don't understand that coaches can't turn water into wine. Watching the games the most talented players are freshman. Yes you can fire him bring in a new guy teach the team another playbook say give it a year and hope. Leave the man alone he is trying to fix something that has taken 10+ years to create. I know it's ugly but firing Pruitt would be a mistake. This is a ugly rebuilding situation just accept it.

I keep hearing that our best players are the freshmen. Maybe I’m not seeing something the rest of you are, but when I start trying to name our best players right now I think of JJ, Trey, Chandler, Bituli, etc. We have some good freshmen, but are they really the best talent we have right now? Are they really better than some of the upperclassmen? Or are we just rationalizing to find some reason to hope? I hope you guys can convince me we really do have better talent ready to move up.

My belief is that the main reason we suck so hard right now is because our quarterback play is sadly lacking. True, we have other problems, but, IMHO, poor QB play is at the top of the list .

Until that changes, we’ll still suck even if we do have good young talent.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

You just made he case to fire him. If he could not see this happening and he’s truly been caught off guard by how bad , undisciplined this bunch is he has no vision short or long term

Hmmm so no leeway huh? Right. So fire him now and hope that the next coach is better? What happens when the next coach loses a game he shouldnt and completely has a coaching brain fart? Will it be time to fire him as well?

 

[hog88]

Dude just stop. If we played them right now I would bet we beat them. The team completely looked over them. Maybe you need to look into transferring your fandom. Because Pruitt isnt going anywhere. And for the good of the program we really need him to turn this thing around. Think about it.

Lets say he does turn things around and gets us better next year and we get relevant again. And he can sustain that success for another year. Then the job will look much more attractive to another coach. I know some want to believe that you just throw money at a coach and he will come but the hard fact is thats just not the case.

I hope and pray Pruitt can turn it around, that he is operating off of some well designed plan. I just don't think that he can or is.

 

[tennvols77]

Don't know what the answer is.

But, I know Pruitt worked for a few guys who we would view as elite, and they hired him, kept him, promoted him. He obviously knows football, at least as to the position he coached. He had really really good players, top notch.

So, he is was an unknown for Head coach, he's in his second year, made changes in the off season which appeared and were lauded by many.

Some talks and issues with OL coach Friend. But, here we are.

The facts are: it's going to be a long season.

The next recruiting class is a must have 10+ players ready to play and contribute. QB #1 priority, and would be smart to try and get 2.

The fate of Pruitt will lie in what recruiting turns out to look like. He, and his staff, are and were promoted as recruiting's top notch results guys. So, here's the test, and it was one of the major reasons we hired him (regardless of search, he was the guy chosen) along with his resume and who he coached under/for. So far so good here with this last class.

He has at least one more year, should, but, weirder things have......or haven't......? happened around here for the last 20 years.

 

[JoAllan]

Dude just stop. If we played them right now I would bet we beat them. The team completely looked over them. Maybe you need to look into transferring your fandom. Because Pruitt isnt going anywhere. And for the good of the program we really need him to turn this thing around. Think about it.

Lets say he does turn things around and gets us better next year and we get relevant again. And he can sustain that success for another year. Then the job will look much more attractive to another coach. I know some want to believe that you just throw money at a coach and he will come but the hard fact is thats just not the case.

Just stop asking legit questions?
Stop complaining about bad losses?

Poster said basically “stop complaining and thinking about championships overnight”.....who on here is complaining about anything remotely like that?

Right now I would take Tennessee just beating teams they should......like Georgia State.....and Pruitt ain’t doing that.

All the hope in the world won’t change that.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

If Meyer were available he would have his choice of any job with an opening. Why in the hell would any elite coach choose Tennessee?
Everyone can offer money, hell most can offer more than Tennessee at this point. Most have an easier schedule, better roster and less insane fans and booster.

Plus Meyer would have to know that he only has about 14 games before he is judged and lcould be on the hot seat. I mean some fans want to believe that its all about money and its not.

 

[DaddyChad]

Don't disagree at all...my point was less about Meyer, and more to the point of making a concerted effort to pick our guy, whoever that might be, and go after him with the full might of what this University can muster. I can't stand Urban Meyer, but serious overtures to a coach of his caliber would at least show the resolve to fix this. We've not seen that in any coaching hire we've undertaken since letting Phil go.

I think to do that you have to 1)improve the roster a lot and 2)be financially able to offer a significant contract. I think for that to happen you have to stick with Pruitt for at least another year or two depending on recruiting.

If our option is picking up another mid major coach, I’d rather roll with Pruitt until someone elite is available. Jmo

 

[MAUSERWERKE]

No, Currie was personal friends with Schiano. He had an agenda all along.

UT is a very successful program financially.

Why do they continue to hire people with no experience or bad experience?

They don't even try to get a successful person.

I don't agree with that statement. The AD tried to hire several successful coaches during the last search, after the Schiano debacle. None would entertain coming to UT, except apparently Leach (who I highly doubt would be much more successful that Pruitt has thusfar proven to be, given the state of the roster). Unless, by your lights, any coach we make an offer to, or hire, is by definition, "unsuccessful."

Look, I totally get the frustration. I have been shaking my head at the level of play we have seen this season, and last. But we should all recognize that hiring a football coach is at best an inexact science. As A&M is learning with their $75 million dollar coach, there are no guarantees--and very few "can't miss" coaches out there. Saban, clearly, and Urban Meyer too, if he is interested in coming out of retirement.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

I hope and pray Pruitt can turn it around, that he is operating off of some well designed plan. I just don't think that he can or is.

I really believe it would be best for the program if he did. But he certainly has a lot to prove and massive amount of improving to do.