Self-Imposed Death Penalty

#176
#176
It sucks to love a team with an absolute disaster of an admin behind it. I seriously question the whole organization. Something is rotten in Knoxville and it just keeps getting worse. These people don’t know their heads from their butts and which direction is forward. From a business standpoint, a COMPLETE disaster. They should be ashamed for letting down the university. They said in their news conference that it starts at the top with the hc...what they don’t realize is that it goes higher than that. You can’t highlight Fulmer’s accomplishments and completely blow up the most money producing part of the AD. Dumb.
 
#178
#178
You can't go lower in the SEC East than last place. We've been there and seems like we'll be heading back to that spot. So the death penalty doesn't mean a lot. What they gonna do, put us on double secret probation last place in the SEC East? GMAFB
 
#179
#179
I really don't understand the logic of keeping a coach you know for a fact you will fire. Tennessee would have been so much better off after going 4-8 next year? What's the point? Tennessee wrote it's own death sentence by hiring a dumb@ss bammer to begin with. We are all just realizing that now (well some of you are).
 
  • Like
Reactions: CR-vol
#180
#180
DiderotsGhost said:
Rucker tweet is spot on:

I feel sorry for Kevin Steele. They gave him the interim job to prove himself, but they gave him no cards to play with. He's just a sacrificial lamb; it's a Matt Luke situation, where there's no way to win.
Click to expand...


OMG LOL they did not give Steele the job to "prove himself" Good Lord!

Steele was purposefully brought here to be the interim coach because the university knew the next 1-2 years were going to be rough like Penn State and they wanted a guy to just "get them through it" until sanctions were cleared and UT could have a proper coaching search.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolNExile
#181
#181
DiderotsGhost said:
Rucker tweet is spot on:



Terrifying to think it, but this whole chain of events looks even dumber than the Derek Dooley hire.

There was no reason to fire Pruitt. We could've just kept him thru the end of the 2021 season and made a decision then. No reason he couldn't be fired for cause in December 2021 if he could've in January 2021.

Now, we're stuck in limbo for possibly the entire 2021 season. We have to hire an AD which could take awhile. By the time we do that, it's February or March. Not a lot of coaches are going to want to take the UT job at that time of year. So either we make a terrible hire or we wait till December.

Meanwhile, all of our best players are entering the transfer portal. We're losing Gray, To'o To'o, Crouch, and probably a lot of others.

We can't effectively recruit, so we probably have a lost 2022 class, in spite of it being one of the best years for talent in Tennessee in the entire state's history.

What did we gain by firing Pruitt right now? Why not can Fulmer first, hire a replacement AD in Feb / Mar, then figure things out in November or December?

And does any competent AD really want to walk into this situation? Maybe, since there's a lot more to the job, but everyone knows they'll be judged based on football and little else.

I feel sorry for Kevin Steele. They gave him the interim job to prove himself, but they gave him no cards to play with. He's just a sacrificial lamb; it's a Matt Luke situation, where there's no way to win.

I really hope there's a light at the end of the tunnel and we somehow hire an amazing AD and an amazing HC, but right now, this looks like one of the dumbest maneuvers in college football history. A self-imposed death penalty.

Hate being this pessimistic, but even wearing orange-colored glasses, this looks ugly.
Click to expand...

It was time for Pruitt to go regardless!!!!!!
 
#182
#182
DiderotsGhost said:
Rucker tweet is spot on:



Terrifying to think it, but this whole chain of events looks even dumber than the Derek Dooley hire.

There was no reason to fire Pruitt. We could've just kept him thru the end of the 2021 season and made a decision then. No reason he couldn't be fired for cause in December 2021 if he could've in January 2021.

Now, we're stuck in limbo for possibly the entire 2021 season. We have to hire an AD which could take awhile. By the time we do that, it's February or March. Not a lot of coaches are going to want to take the UT job at that time of year. So either we make a terrible hire or we wait till December.

Meanwhile, all of our best players are entering the transfer portal. We're losing Gray, To'o To'o, Crouch, and probably a lot of others.

We can't effectively recruit, so we probably have a lost 2022 class, in spite of it being one of the best years for talent in Tennessee in the entire state's history.

What did we gain by firing Pruitt right now? Why not can Fulmer first, hire a replacement AD in Feb / Mar, then figure things out in November or December?

And does any competent AD really want to walk into this situation? Maybe, since there's a lot more to the job, but everyone knows they'll be judged based on football and little else.

I feel sorry for Kevin Steele. They gave him the interim job to prove himself, but they gave him no cards to play with. He's just a sacrificial lamb; it's a Matt Luke situation, where there's no way to win.

I really hope there's a light at the end of the tunnel and we somehow hire an amazing AD and an amazing HC, but right now, this looks like one of the dumbest maneuvers in college football history. A self-imposed death penalty.

Hate being this pessimistic, but even wearing orange-colored glasses, this looks ugly.
Click to expand...
The reason to fire Pruitt is that he is the HC and he is responsible for the coaches and assistants under him. He should know what is going on under him so the responsibility falls on him. The school is trying to distant themselves from the situation and people responsible for the violations so that maybe the penalty isn't as hard. We as fans may not like the out come that is happening right now but all is not lost. I do feel like the Kevin Steele hire was a hire to bring someone in that was not with the staff previously to make him interim to look good for the NCAA that we are distancing ourselves. We can hire a great coach through this because this is TN and we do have a good history of having a strong program, coaches will want to come but we have to fork out some $$$ for it now more than ever.
 
#183
#183
I totally agree with the ineptness of the administration. Reminds me of how they handled the Bruce Pearl situation and just hung him out to dry. They could have waited to fire Pruitt at the end of next season to avoid the payoff. As it is Pruitt will probably sue and get a lot of it anyway. The Wiley Coyote syndrome rules at UT.
 
#184
#184
Fact is, NO ONE on the outside including Wes Rucker really knows what the hell is going on. Pure speculation and conspiracy theories at this point.
 
#185
#185
Keeping a staff that had multiple level 1 violations certainly would have caused a lot of problems. Perhaps firing Pruitt and the consequences that have followed was the best case.

Pretty much a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.

The situation is still changing daily and it is hard to predict where it will end.

Perhaps, maybe it would be better to make Kevin Steele the interim couch for the coming year and do damage control and save as much as possible, to enable a building process to begin.
 
#186
#186
No two ways about it - Kevin Steele is / was the best option available (other than possibly Cheney, but he's too close to the situation and likely being investigated and questioned as well) to bring in and make interim HC while the NCAA wraps up and hands down the penalties.

He's experienced in all facets of a program, has been in a "clean" program everywhere he went, is well liked by most college and high school coaches, seems to be a person of outstanding character, is an alum that can help hold the fanbase together, and likely doesn't mind getting a short term deal to help guide the ship through the fog.
 
#187
#187
DiderotsGhost said:
It's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. We've burned down the entire program, so Steele may end up being the only half-decent coach interested in coaching here.

Nothing against Steele, but frankly, I think even Nick Saban would struggle if he were dealt these cards.

We're going to have to seriously commit to a coach for 5-6 years to even have a shot at anyone decent.
Click to expand...
Your last sentence is our best out. Undoubtedly, in lieu of the goings on, any reasonable coach is going to have the upper-hand in contract negotiations. It almost has to be that way because there's gonna be a huge amount of distrust that any coach/agent is going to cover their hind-end to the hilt. What university in this nation goes to the extent to self-impose penalties upon itself in the manner UT does? The new hire will know that he's not dealing with a logical, rational administration from get-go.

With that in mind decent and capable coaches likely will decline interviews and those who do even consider taking the job are gonna make damn sure they will be handsomely compensated. Rucker referenced a cost/benefit calculation in a recent article and stated the enviroment at UT was toxic. This is a total lack of foresight yet once again by UT's admin. and leads one to feel.........will they ever learn? An administration should do everything in their power to have a coach's back and suspecting these violations are just a normal part of the process and from there let the NCAA do their own digging.That's, by far, the most common route taken. It's not going to be worth saving $12 mil compared to the losses UT will incur in the long run over this, imo.
 
#188
#188
Well it looks like we have our AD, and it's a quality hire. How does that change your narrative DG? Could have a new HC in place in time to make a last ditch effort at this year's recruits.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DiderotsGhost
#190
#190
VOLywood said:
Well it looks like we have our AD, and it's a quality hire. How does that change your narrative DG? Could have a new HC in place in time to make a last ditch effort at this year's recruits.
Click to expand...

Considering how many 'in defense of retaining Pruitt' post he made in December, I think he's just having one last go at saving face.
 
  • Like
Reactions: landscapingvol, VolArmy74 and VOLywood
#191
#191
VOLywood said:
Well it looks like we have our AD, and it's a quality hire. How does that change your narrative DG? Could have a new HC in place in time to make a last ditch effort at this year's recruits.
Click to expand...

A pretty reputable hire in my opinion
 
#192
#192
This could have all been avoided as this just found secret recording from the last SEC Days reveals:
Don Fulmer: We're all grateful to Don Saban for calling this meeting. We all know him as a man of his word. A modest man who will always listen to reason.
Don Pruitt Yes, Phil, he is too modest. He had all the compliance officials and referees in his pocket and refused to share them.
Don Saban When, when did I ever refuse an accommodation? All of you know me here. When did I ever refuse an accommodation?
 
  • Like
Reactions: volinbham
#193
#193
DiderotsGhost said:
Rucker tweet is spot on:



Terrifying to think it, but this whole chain of events looks even dumber than the Derek Dooley hire.

There was no reason to fire Pruitt. We could've just kept him thru the end of the 2021 season and made a decision then. No reason he couldn't be fired for cause in December 2021 if he could've in January 2021.

Now, we're stuck in limbo for possibly the entire 2021 season. We have to hire an AD which could take awhile. By the time we do that, it's February or March. Not a lot of coaches are going to want to take the UT job at that time of year. So either we make a terrible hire or we wait till December.

Meanwhile, all of our best players are entering the transfer portal. We're losing Gray, To'o To'o, Crouch, and probably a lot of others.

We can't effectively recruit, so we probably have a lost 2022 class, in spite of it being one of the best years for talent in Tennessee in the entire state's history.

What did we gain by firing Pruitt right now? Why not can Fulmer first, hire a replacement AD in Feb / Mar, then figure things out in November or December?

And does any competent AD really want to walk into this situation? Maybe, since there's a lot more to the job, but everyone knows they'll be judged based on football and little else.

I feel sorry for Kevin Steele. They gave him the interim job to prove himself, but they gave him no cards to play with. He's just a sacrificial lamb; it's a Matt Luke situation, where there's no way to win.

I really hope there's a light at the end of the tunnel and we somehow hire an amazing AD and an amazing HC, but right now, this looks like one of the dumbest maneuvers in college football history. A self-imposed death penalty.

Hate being this pessimistic, but even wearing orange-colored glasses, this looks ugly.
Click to expand...

I did not read all 8 pages so forgive me if someone already commented on this. From a contractual standpoint, if we didn’t fire Pruitt when we found out he violated the terms of his contract and willingly let him stay despite knowing he violated the terms, it’s unlikely we would have a solid argument to fire him for cause in Dec 2021 after he coached another season. We would have essentially acquiesced to his contractual violation and a court would likely find it was implied we intended to continue with the terms of the contract despite the violation on his part. Long story short, you fire him when you find out he violated the terms of his contract or you don’t fire him at all. You don’t get to have it both ways. Faced with possible NCAA sanctions from Pruitt’s failure to monitor, we had no choice but to fire him. Granted, that’s all due to someone within the program snitching, so it’s also possible all of this was self-sabotage just to get him out.
 
#194
#194
DiderotsGhost said:
Rucker tweet is spot on:



Terrifying to think it, but this whole chain of events looks even dumber than the Derek Dooley hire.

There was no reason to fire Pruitt. We could've just kept him thru the end of the 2021 season and made a decision then. No reason he couldn't be fired for cause in December 2021 if he could've in January 2021.

Now, we're stuck in limbo for possibly the entire 2021 season. We have to hire an AD which could take awhile. By the time we do that, it's February or March. Not a lot of coaches are going to want to take the UT job at that time of year. So either we make a terrible hire or we wait till December.

Meanwhile, all of our best players are entering the transfer portal. We're losing Gray, To'o To'o, Crouch, and probably a lot of others.

We can't effectively recruit, so we probably have a lost 2022 class, in spite of it being one of the best years for talent in Tennessee in the entire state's history.

What did we gain by firing Pruitt right now? Why not can Fulmer first, hire a replacement AD in Feb / Mar, then figure things out in November or December?

And does any competent AD really want to walk into this situation? Maybe, since there's a lot more to the job, but everyone knows they'll be judged based on football and little else.

I feel sorry for Kevin Steele. They gave him the interim job to prove himself, but they gave him no cards to play with. He's just a sacrificial lamb; it's a Matt Luke situation, where there's no way to win.

I really hope there's a light at the end of the tunnel and we somehow hire an amazing AD and an amazing HC, but right now, this looks like one of the dumbest maneuvers in college football history. A self-imposed death penalty.

Hate being this pessimistic, but even wearing orange-colored glasses, this looks ugly.
Click to expand...


If we would have just waited until after NSD to fire him it would have been better. Fulmer could have retired in the meantime.
 
#195
#195
VOLywood said:
Well it looks like we have our AD, and it's a quality hire. How does that change your narrative DG? Could have a new HC in place in time to make a last ditch effort at this year's recruits.
Click to expand...

Not sure yet. AD hire looks very good. And incompetent administration has been an even bigger problem than coaching over the past 2 decades. So this is at least a very good first step.

Still remains to be seen what kinda coaches are willing to come here with the current mess and also who we're willing to hire. But I'm at least impressed with the AD hire.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top