The Case For Coach Pruitt

#1
Vol8188

Vol8188

revolUTion in the air!
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#1
2017 class-2 remaining blue chip players (Smith and Chandler). Obviously this was due to horrible recruiting by CBJ.

2018 class-4 remaining blue chip players (Banks, Emerson, Taylor, and Carvin). Not entirely his fault because he didn’t have long to put the class together.

2019 class- First full cycle and 10 blue chip players remain on the team (Darnel, Henry T, Wanya, Crouch, Jaylen M, Tyus Field, Gray, Harrison, Keyton, Lampley).

2020 class- 14 blue chip players remain on the team.

This isn’t counting multiple blue chip transfers such as Mays. Seems like he has 100% improved the roster. Granted I still worry about his to coach and his ability to hire coaches
 
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#3
#3
sonofUT62 said:
How many of them has he or his staff actually coached up? Certainly not Morris, Wright or Crouch. Henry T is a good athlete but is constantly out of position. Has Field even played a down this year?
Click to expand...

Idk if judging any coach off the production of sophomores is what we should be going after. And I agree staff changes are a must. Not playing Chandler made 0 sense to me
 
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#7
#7
I think the biggest problem is CJP has no coaching chemistry with the other coaches. He seems to be a loner type that needs someone like Saban or Jimbo to keep him in his lane as an assistant coach. Also if he has better players than all 113 D1 teams he's aight. He also was under Richt who wasn't A hole enough and CJP caused a lot of problems at UGA before leaving.
We are gonna be middle of the pack recruiting wise for years to come so CJP cannot coach up or lead assistant coaches to out coach over 1/2 of the SEC that will be ahead of us in recruiting. It's just a frustrating place to be for the Vols.
 
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#8
#8
Last year the last half of the season we were beating average SEC teams, even though JG was getting clobbered in the pocket. I thought we were turning the program around and I started believing the hype the oline was going to be a beast. I thought we would be at least 6-4. I would never imagine 3-7 but what is really surprising is that we were not even competitive in a lot of those games. Also there was a lot of head scratching with Fuller staying on ( I believe he had said he was going to be a temporary AD) and giving Pruitt an extension, staying with JG most of the season, getting blown out of games, firing coach in middle of game, etc..
When Pruitt was hired I remember he and Fuller calling recruitment the lifeblood of a program and it would take time so I told myself that year 4 will be the real deciding year and I still think that is true but it doesn't look good so far. We need to beat the average SEC teams and be competitive against Florida and Georgia. I am realistic enough to not expect a close game against Bama but it would be a very nice surprise if it is a nail biter.
 
#10
#10
hondac said:
Those Sophomores will be Sophomores next season. This season doesn't count as far as eligability is concerned.
Click to expand...
Yes they get an extra year IF the teams offers them a scholarship for year 5. A lot of that depends on if the NCAA goes back to the 85 scholarship limit in 2022. No determination has been made yet.
There is a pretty strong push to go back to the old limit in 2022 because of the added costs of having more student athletes. For a school like UT you might be looking at a couple million dollars.
 
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#12
#12
I can see NO case to keep him. You're evaluation of this coach is based on an extremely narrow view. How would one think CJP will recruit here over the next year if allowed to stay? Remember to count in staff changes that are ongoing and the complete lack of energy surrounding the program. This argument you're making is the weakest one I've seen to keep him. It has been shown that to do so makes no sense financially. His on the field coaching and off the field management is why he is in dire trouble at UT. He is NOT a game-day coach and makes almost zero adjustments at half. He is NOT able to help the defense - and remember that is supposedly his specialty. We are told he meddles with the offense and this is certainly NOT his specialty. And he has been shown to be dishonest when discussing the program and specific player circumstances. JP has lost credibility with fans, players, coaches, and nearly everyone associated with UT. JP is not an SEC caliber head coach. We are not even entirely sure he is a SEC level D coordinator when one faces the fact that Saban likely ran the defense in Bama and puppet-managed JP. HE MUST GO NOW.
 
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#18
#18
Vol8188 said:
2017 class-2 remaining blue chip players (Smith and Chandler). Obviously this was due to horrible recruiting by CBJ.

2018 class-4 remaining blue chip players (Banks, Emerson, Taylor, and Carvin). Not entirely his fault because he didn’t have long to put the class together.

2019 class- First full cycle and 10 blue chip players remain on the team (Darnel, Henry T, Wanya, Crouch, Jaylen M, Tyus Field, Gray, Harrison, Keyton, Lampley).

2020 class- 14 blue chip players remain on the team.

This isn’t counting multiple blue chip transfers such as Mays. Seems like he has 100% improved the roster. Granted I still worry about his to coach and his ability to hire coaches
Click to expand...
This is a very important point. One correction, 2018=5. You left off Bryce.
 
#24
#24
given the thread title, this should be the shortest thread ever on VN...but it wont be
 
#25
#25
The case for Pruitt.......

Only needing a win over a mediocre Missouri team or woefully bad Vandy team in year one Gomer's team is blown out 50-17 at home versus Missouri then goes to Nashville and is beaten down 38-13.

Year two, he only "practices" for the Georgia State game a couple of days with no real gameplan for them thinking it will be a cakewalk. Not only was it not a cakewalk, his team loses 38-30. Georgia State has 213 rushing yards to Tennessee's 93. Georgia State was up 38-23 until Tennessee scored a garbage time TD with 2 seconds to go. Then, the next week, Gomer's team loses to BYU 29-26.

Year three, get obliterated by a crappy Kentucky team at home 34-7. Get beaten by first year coach Sam Pittman's Arkansas team who was 0fer the SEC for the previous couple of years until this year.

Then a couple of stats that makes a definitive case for Pruitt - for his firing:

Tennessee did not score in the 2nd half from 2:52 left in Q3 vs Bama until 4:07 left in Q4 vs Auburn. That would be 73 minutes and 45 seconds between 2nd half scores for Tennessee.

Tennessee only has beaten four Division 1 teams by 21+ points in 3 years - in 2018 he beat a 1-11 UTEP team 24-0. In 2019 beat 9-5 UAB 30-7. This year beat a coach in his first ever game at Missouri who finished 5-5 35-12 and beat an 0-9 Vandy team that fielded about 37 players and a female kicker 42-17. Biggest win over a D1 team ever against the worst Vandy fielded squad in history.

Pruitt led Vols teams have been beaten by 21+ points 13 times in his tenure so far making him statistically the worst coach in the SEC in that category in many, many years. Worse than the likes of Joker Phillips. Worse than Houston Nutt at Ole Miss. Even Curley Hallman at LSU - who was a complete trainwreck and dumpster fire - only lost 7 games by 21+ points in his first 3 years.

There's no way IMO it can be argued that he should be retained because all retaining him does is set the entire program back another year for an even harder rebuild for the next coach. This guy's got to go.
 
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