Remember back in 2012 when our biggest targets were Charlie Strong and Mike Gundy?

#76
#76
sambronkowitz said:
I remember that when John Currie went "rogue" to land us Mike Leach. Little did we know that none of this was to be as Fulmer was politicking with Davenport behind the scenes to boot Currie's butt out the door. I remember being so disappointed when Currie was let go by Davenport and she announced that she kiboshed the deal with Leach. Then I was excited about Fulmer being named AD.

I remember talking with my former boss at work that night. We were talking about how we'd be better off to have "Tennessee Blood" leading the Athletic Department and getting us our next Coach. And we were both predicting and talking about Tee Martin being "called home" by Fulmer. Sure, he wouldn't have been the best choice, but damn it, he would have definitely brought excitement to the fan base, and he would have tried like hell to make Tennessee a winner again.

Then it was leaked that Chad Morris would be a leading candidate. I thought, "Well, not a rock star hire, but it'd be pretty good." Then, when it was announced that Fulmer hired Pruitt, I was like "WHAT THE f***?" I was thinking that was a very bad decision by Fulmer and one of the worst HC hires in Tennessee history, if not the worst. I was wondering then if we had made a mistake by handing Currie his walking papers and putting Fulmer in the AD's chair.

Of course, Pruitt became Fulmer's albatross and sunk his career as AD after the Administration fired Pruitt with cause. And then Danny White was hired on as AD and he then brought in Heupel as Head Coach. He brought in Vitello and also Kim Caldwell to the Vols family along with giving Barnes a contract to coach in Knoxville as long as he wishes. God bless Danny White as our AD.
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Lol! I remember the Jeremy Pruitt hire was completely out of left field, I was like.... wha.... lol but then I found how who Jeremy Pruitt was, I actually got excited looking at his resume and credentials. Then when bucket head was giving his introductory press conference, I got hyped by the way he talked tough 😄 🤣 😂 😆. That stupid "aight" stuff pissed me off so bad though 😆 🤣.

Through all the madness, looking bad, I could see why maybe Fulmer would have considered him due to the national embarrassment of a coaching search that we had, but it was Still surprising we couldn't get anyone better. Was Pruitt the first coach we ever had that didn't have HC experience in d1?
 
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#80
#80
Rickyvol77 said:
Mike Gundy
Kirk Ferentz
Charlie Strong
James Franklin
Hugh Freeze
Bobby Petrino
Dan Hawkins
Chris Petersen
Rich Rodriguez
Tommy Tubberville
Mike Leach
Scott Frost
Kevin Sumlin
Frank Beamer
Justin Wilcox
Chip Kelly
Kalen DeBoer
Lance Leopold
Dan Mullen
Dave Aranda
Deion Sanders
Tony Elliott
PJ Fleck
Troy Calhoun
Sam Pittman
Dave Doeren
Billy Napier
Tee Martin
Hal Mumme
Mike Norvell
Jimbo Fisher
Guz Malzahn
Bryan Harsin
Alex Golesh


It never fails what the board thinks is a "great coach for UT" in the last 20 years....a bunch of mediocre coaches who haven't won anything that matters..and it's hilarious that Heupel wasn't the most hyped HC but he clears them all easily.
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Heck you could add Jon Gruden to that list as well. Hard to believe neither he, Freeze, Strong, Kelly, Petrino, Frost, or Petersen found success after being a candidate for the Tennessee job. I considered them all slam dunks.
 
#81
#81
Rickyvol77 said:
Mike Gundy
Kirk Ferentz
Charlie Strong
James Franklin
Hugh Freeze
Bobby Petrino
Dan Hawkins
Chris Petersen
Rich Rodriguez
Tommy Tubberville
Mike Leach
Scott Frost
Kevin Sumlin
Frank Beamer
Justin Wilcox
Chip Kelly
Kalen DeBoer
Lance Leopold
Dan Mullen
Dave Aranda
Deion Sanders
Tony Elliott
PJ Fleck
Troy Calhoun
Sam Pittman
Dave Doeren
Billy Napier
Tee Martin
Hal Mumme
Mike Norvell
Jimbo Fisher
Guz Malzahn
Bryan Harsin
Alex Golesh


It never fails what the board thinks is a "great coach for UT" in the last 20 years....a bunch of mediocre coaches who haven't won anything that matters..and it's hilarious that Heupel wasn't the most hyped HC but he clears them all easily.
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Jimmy Hyams is glad that nobody is remembering that in 2018 he reported that TN had hired Jeff Brohm after 1 year at Purdue. Wait…
 
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#84
#84
It's Vols or nothing! said:
Through all the madness, looking bad, I could see why maybe Fulmer would have considered him due to the national embarrassment of a coaching search that we had, but it was Still surprising we couldn't get anyone better.
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I'm not saying we could have gotten anyone better, but we probably could have gotten someone comparable. I don't think the embarrassment of the coaching search went through Fulmer's head.

Pruitt wanted to run a conservative offense out of the pro-set and rely on the defense. In hindsight, it seems like a vicarious "I was right", hire by Fulmer.
 
#85
#85
bpalmer28 said:
Heck you could add Jon Gruden to that list as well. Hard to believe neither he, Freeze, Strong, Kelly, Petrino, Frost, or Petersen found success after being a candidate for the Tennessee job. I considered them all slam dunks.
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Petersen catching strays? He turned around a UW program that had been down a decade longer than UT. 3 consecutive division titles, 2 conference championships, and a (4-team) CFP appearance in 6 seasons
 
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#86
#86
Reading all of these posts. Looking at all of these coaches named on here. Didn’t see CJH. In the end, we have our Mark Richt. We are definitely happy because of the football program situation the previous 15 years. Anyone else look back and think of how fast time flew?
 
#88
#88
Looking back at what transpired with Schiano I’m not so sure the fan base could have done that at any other point in modern history. Peak wokeism was at a fever pitch and mob mentality was prevalent in our society. IM NOT ADVOCATING THAT TENNESSEE FANS ARE OR WERE WOKE. What I’m describing was the zeitgeist of the time frame between 2016-2020, roughly. A battered, pissed off fanbase with an axe to grind made for the perfect scenario of an incoming coach with a shaky past that would not have lead to good outcomes and we all know what happened.
I really think historians will look back and be fascinated by what we did. They’ll also laugh when they read the Dooley, Butch, and Gump chapters.
 
#89
#89
Fatdad32 said:
How in the He double hockey sticks our leadership ever hired Dooley,Jones and Pruitt. Just simply leadership malpractice.

Kuddos to the current leadership at UT it's simply excellent!
😎👍
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Dooley I concur. That was an absolute disaster that could have been avoided if cooler heads wouldve prevailed, and they had just appointed Kippy as interim until they could conduct a proper search.

Regarding Butch, I dont really blame Dave Hart for that hire. We had already been turned down by our top targets and Butch was the best we could get at that time. Sometimes "homerun" hires just arent available and you have to take what you can get.

As for Pruitt, you have to consider the situation we had put ourselves in with the whole Greg Schiano fiasco and us appointing Fulmer as AD after Curry's nationwide off the grid coaching search debacle. Fulmer had to make a hire and he had to make it very fast. He was somewhat handcuffed because candidates were limited and he really didnt have a lot of time to vet a ton of guys. Pruitt was considered a hot up and comer because of his success as Alabama's D-coordinator. At the time I think most fans understood and accepted the hire.
 
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#90
#90
BartW said:
Petersen catching strays? He turned around a UW program that had been down a decade longer than UT. 3 consecutive division titles, 2 conference championships, and a (4-team) CFP appearance in 6 seasons
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I may have the timeline wrong. I thought he was at Washington when we all got our hopes up
 
#91
#91
Brave Volunteer said:
Dooley I concur. That was an absolute disaster that could have been avoided if cooler heads wouldve prevailed, and they had just appointed Kippy as interim until they could conduct a proper search.

Regarding Butch, I dont really blame Dave Hart for that hire. We had already been turned down by our top targets and Butch was the best we could get at that time. Sometimes "homerun" hires just arent available and you have to take what you can get.

As for Pruitt, you have to consider the situation we had put ourselves in with the whole Greg Schiano fiasco and us appointing Fulmer as AD after Curry's nationwide off the grid coaching search debacle. Fulmer had to make a hire and he had to make it very fast. He was somewhat handcuffed because candidates were limited and he really didnt have a lot of time to vet a ton of guys. Pruitt was considered a hot up and comer because of his success as Alabama's D-coordinator. At the time I think most fans understood and accepted the hire.
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The smartest move after firing Fulmer would've been to hire Gary Patterson instead of Kiffin.

Maybe we win at a high level, maybe Patterson couldn't get it done in the SEC, but either way, we would've had a somewhat stable program for 5-10 years
 
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#92
#92
Rickyvol77 said:
Mike Gundy
Kirk Ferentz
Charlie Strong
James Franklin
Hugh Freeze
Bobby Petrino
Dan Hawkins
Chris Petersen
Rich Rodriguez
Tommy Tubberville
Mike Leach
Scott Frost
Kevin Sumlin
Frank Beamer
Justin Wilcox
Chip Kelly
Kalen DeBoer
Lance Leopold
Dan Mullen
Dave Aranda
Deion Sanders
Tony Elliott
PJ Fleck
Troy Calhoun
Sam Pittman
Dave Doeren
Billy Napier
Tee Martin
Hal Mumme
Mike Norvell
Jimbo Fisher
Guz Malzahn
Bryan Harsin
Alex Golesh


It never fails what the board thinks is a "great coach for UT" in the last 20 years....a bunch of mediocre coaches who haven't won anything that matters..and it's hilarious that Heupel wasn't the most hyped HC but he clears them all easily.
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Also the guy at UConn in 2008 who was considered a candidate. Many of those guys ended up getting big jobs so athletic directors thought alot of them too. Coach searches are crap shoots. Fans have opinions. Some coaches are good coaches that fail at their next stops. All of this is true.
 
#93
#93
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Jimmy Hyams is glad that nobody is remembering that in 2018 he reported that TN had hired Jeff Brohm after 1 year at Purdue. Wait…
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Yes Brohm had actually accepted the job. Hyams inside guy at UT leaked it so he reported it.Brohm had recruited a QB and told him he wasn’t going anywhere and had planned on talking to the QB before the news got out so Brohm kept his word.He would have been an upgrade over Pruitt.Thanks Jimmy!
 
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