The Case for Keeping Pruitt

#77
#77
DiderotsGhost said:
I'm as angry as everyone else at this years' performance. I'm not sure Pruitt is "the guy" or not, and I've said that since Day #1, but I also think there's a legit case for why he deserves at least 1-2 more years to figure it out. Here's why:

QB Struggles. I'm not going to mince words: Jarrett Guarantano has been dogs@#$ awful this season. With advanced stats, he's arguably the worst QB in the SEC right now; at the very least, he's in the bottom 3. Vandy's true Freshman QB is arguably better than JG at this point. JG single-handedly lost us that Kentucky game with 3 critical turnovers and in reality, we lost that Auburn game due to JG as well (14 point swing with that pick-6). Even the games JG isn't turning the ball over, he can't move us down the field either. So with a good QB, we're already back to 4-3 against SEC competition. But I'm not even sure we lose to Arkansas with a good QB; we might've even had a shot at Georgia. We're really that close to being a good team.

2018 vs 2020. In 2018, we could've had Peyton Manning behind center and still struggled to hit 6-6 with the terrible O-line play. It's the reverse now. The QB is, by far, the biggest thing holding us back. We are better at almost every other position than QB. The O-line is worlds better. We brought in one of the best WR classes in the country this season; albeit they are young and didn't get the reps in the offseason they needed, but they are going to be good (see Jalin Hyatt!). Our running game is much improved over 2018. The only thing that's worse on offense is the QB.

3-7 vs 7-5. A 3-7 SEC record (our likely result) sucks, but it's also a bit out of context. With our traditional schedule, we're likely 7-5 or 6-6 at the end of the season.

Bailey / Salter. Chaney needs his QB. You might think all of this is hogwash, but to me, this is the biggest point in favor of keeping Pruitt. Chaney hasn't had his QB yet. JG is Butch Jones' QB. Shrout is Helton's QB. Even Maurer was Helton's QB. Kaidon Salter is the first Chaney QB, but Harrison Bailey also probably qualifies as he was recruited at Georgia by Chaney, even if we're not sure if we was their #1 target. I wanna see how Chaney does with Bailey and Salter before throwing in the towel on Pruitt, because right now, I see a reasonably good team with very terrible QB play. If Chaney gets that fixed (and he has a track record of fixing QB play), this might suddenly be a competitive team.

Bailey shows promise. Not much to go on, but Bailey looked very impressive versus Auburn in his one drive. While I'm pissed at Pruitt for not playing Bailey more, I do at least understand the logic. Bailey is a true Freshman who came in during a global pandemic, which basically deprived him of an offseason. Even during the limited offseason, Bailey was quarantined at one point and got very few reps. I don't think Pruitt wants to throw Bailey to the wolves given this and may be playing it very safe as a result (too safe), but I at least understand it. I want to see how Bailey does before jumping to conclusions.

Recruiting has been very good. In spite of the bad, Pruitt brought in one of the best classes in the country last season. He might end up with one of the best this season as well; albeit the lack of progress on the field may be an issue for some recruits. Covid hurt us more than other teams precisely because of this; we were always more dependent upon Freshman talent this year than the rest of the SEC and Covid destroyed our offseason development.

Pruitt has been quick to address problems. I know he has his share of coach-speak (they all do), but Pruitt fired Brumbaugh pretty quickly after seeing problems on the DL. Pruitt has a very Johnny Majors way of handling the staff and I think it may take him more time to get settled than people think.

Like I said, I don't know if Pruitt is "the guy" or not, but at the very least, I want to see another year. I want to see how Chaney does with either Bailey or Salter at QB; see how we do with a full offseason. If Pruitt lets us down at that point, then it's time to look at replacing him, but right now, I see a team that has mostly gotten better, but still sucks because we've been terrible at the most important position on the field. And while Pruitt is partly to blame for some of those issues (including telling Michael Penix to take a hike and taking JT Shrout instead in 2017), we might simply not be seeing the improved results of having Chaney in charge of recruiting QBs yet.

So there it is ... flame away!

But I'll be calling for Pruitt's head just like many of you if I see similar results in 2021. For now, I'm willing to give Pruitt a pass, but if JG is the starter in 2021, I'll probably be screaming "FAHR PRUITT!" with all the other miserables.
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You can't be serious with the staff comment? Helton took a head coaching job, Sherrer went to the NFL, and the previous dline coach essentially retired. Will Friend is an unmitigated disaster, Jim Chaney has been subpar, Weinke brings nothing to the table, and Tee Martin is collecting a paycheck. I am not sure what your point is about Johnny Majors?? Define one of the "best" classes in the country. UT was seventh in the SEC in 24/7 composite team rankings last season and is currently fifth in the SEC 24/7 composite rankings. Pruitt has been quick to address problems?? Friend and Weinke add nothing to the staff and are average at best recruiters. The biggest problem on the entire team is at qb, yet Pruitt continues to play the same horrific qb even though the team has absolutely nothing to play for at this point in the season other than building for the future.
 
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#78
#78
Pruitt will be gone soon after A&M. Probably the following Monday. Tee will take over. Done and done. See you all in a few months.
 
#80
#80
DiderotsGhost said:
I'm as angry as everyone else at this years' performance. I'm not sure Pruitt is "the guy" or not, and I've said that since Day #1, but I also think there's a legit case for why he deserves at least 1-2 more years to figure it out. Here's why:

QB Struggles. I'm not going to mince words: Jarrett Guarantano has been dogs@#$ awful this season. With advanced stats, he's arguably the worst QB in the SEC right now; at the very least, he's in the bottom 3. Vandy's true Freshman QB is arguably better than JG at this point. JG single-handedly lost us that Kentucky game with 3 critical turnovers and in reality, we lost that Auburn game due to JG as well (14 point swing with that pick-6). Even the games JG isn't turning the ball over, he can't move us down the field either. So with a good QB, we're already back to 4-3 against SEC competition. But I'm not even sure we lose to Arkansas with a good QB; we might've even had a shot at Georgia. We're really that close to being a good team.

2018 vs 2020. In 2018, we could've had Peyton Manning behind center and still struggled to hit 6-6 with the terrible O-line play. It's the reverse now. The QB is, by far, the biggest thing holding us back. We are better at almost every other position than QB. The O-line is worlds better. We brought in one of the best WR classes in the country this season; albeit they are young and didn't get the reps in the offseason they needed, but they are going to be good (see Jalin Hyatt!). Our running game is much improved over 2018. The only thing that's worse on offense is the QB.

3-7 vs 7-5. A 3-7 SEC record (our likely result) sucks, but it's also a bit out of context. With our traditional schedule, we're likely 7-5 or 6-6 at the end of the season.

Bailey / Salter. Chaney needs his QB. You might think all of this is hogwash, but to me, this is the biggest point in favor of keeping Pruitt. Chaney hasn't had his QB yet. JG is Butch Jones' QB. Shrout is Helton's QB. Even Maurer was Helton's QB. Kaidon Salter is the first Chaney QB, but Harrison Bailey also probably qualifies as he was recruited at Georgia by Chaney, even if we're not sure if we was their #1 target. I wanna see how Chaney does with Bailey and Salter before throwing in the towel on Pruitt, because right now, I see a reasonably good team with very terrible QB play. If Chaney gets that fixed (and he has a track record of fixing QB play), this might suddenly be a competitive team.

Bailey shows promise. Not much to go on, but Bailey looked very impressive versus Auburn in his one drive. While I'm pissed at Pruitt for not playing Bailey more, I do at least understand the logic. Bailey is a true Freshman who came in during a global pandemic, which basically deprived him of an offseason. Even during the limited offseason, Bailey was quarantined at one point and got very few reps. I don't think Pruitt wants to throw Bailey to the wolves given this and may be playing it very safe as a result (too safe), but I at least understand it. I want to see how Bailey does before jumping to conclusions.

Recruiting has been very good. In spite of the bad, Pruitt brought in one of the best classes in the country last season. He might end up with one of the best this season as well; albeit the lack of progress on the field may be an issue for some recruits. Covid hurt us more than other teams precisely because of this; we were always more dependent upon Freshman talent this year than the rest of the SEC and Covid destroyed our offseason development.

Pruitt has been quick to address problems. I know he has his share of coach-speak (they all do), but Pruitt fired Brumbaugh pretty quickly after seeing problems on the DL. Pruitt has a very Johnny Majors way of handling the staff and I think it may take him more time to get settled than people think.

Like I said, I don't know if Pruitt is "the guy" or not, but at the very least, I want to see another year. I want to see how Chaney does with either Bailey or Salter at QB; see how we do with a full offseason. If Pruitt lets us down at that point, then it's time to look at replacing him, but right now, I see a team that has mostly gotten better, but still sucks because we've been terrible at the most important position on the field. And while Pruitt is partly to blame for some of those issues (including telling Michael Penix to take a hike and taking JT Shrout instead in 2017), we might simply not be seeing the improved results of having Chaney in charge of recruiting QBs yet.

So there it is ... flame away!

But I'll be calling for Pruitt's head just like many of you if I see similar results in 2021. For now, I'm willing to give Pruitt a pass, but if JG is the starter in 2021, I'll probably be screaming "FAHR PRUITT!" with all the other miserables.
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How many ways do people need to say NO??

Gluten for punishment much?

There is ZERO case to keep him.
 
#82
#82
Here's the deal.

Most of the original post is a long excuse, IMO. Losers lose. Winners win. It's what they do.

For any team to win in the SEC, you have to have a superior coach. You don't out talent anyone. Even Alabama doesn't win by out talenting their opponent. Half of the league finishes with top 10 recruiting classes.

And at Tennessee, that's paramount because if we are going to get real here, you're not going to bring more talent to the table than Georgia, Alabama and Florida. You may bring the same level of talent to the table, but the recruiting grounds for those schools is way too strong.

He's been at Tennessee 3 years and fallen below expectations every year. His teams have quit on the field in game at least once every year. He's lost games to multiple teams that have finished below .500 and that doesn't include a loss to a Georgia State team that lost to Western Michigan by 47 or other teams who managed to finish above .500 only because of the cupcakes on the OOC schedule boosted their record.

Now, I have been down the road you are traveling with this QB thing. Driskel stinks. Brissett isn't any good. Wait until Muschamp gets his own QB. That QB never came. Meanwhile, Driskel and Brissett are still cashing checks in the NFL.

Am I saying that JG will be in the NFL? No. What I am saying is that the QBs on that roster are probably a lot like Nathan Peterman....guys who magically look a lot better when not playing where they currently are. I don't buy the QB excuse, because I don't think they're all bad QBs or at least not the level of bad we've seen.

So, do what we did. Hold onto him another year or two. Watch them go out and find some new assistants on the offensive side of the ball, the kind who are willing to take a job knowing the coach has one more season before he's fired and see how it turns out.

You'll go into the season believing that Florida, Georgia, and Alabama will be losses. You'll believe that you can beat Ole Miss. You'll argue Tennessee should beat Missouri, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Vandy. Pitt is the only non-conference team with a pulse and c'mon, it's Pitt. Tennessee will go 8-4 and with some luck 9-3. And they'll go 7-5, 6-6 and someone is going to argue that things are trending in the right direction because it's an improvement from 2020.

He's not the guy, aight
 
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#83
#83
Looking at Salters offer list I'm not that impressed. Who is he comparable too?
 
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#84
#84
Decommits are starting to pile up. We've had the worst losses in program history under Pruitt including being dominated by Georgia State and blown out by Kentucky at Neyland Stadium. Recruits are noticing and they know that Pruitt doesn't have a lot of time left here at UT. I've said this before and I'll say it again. No recruit wants to play for a lame duck coach that will likely be fired the following season. If we wait to fire Pruitt, the recruiting class will completely tank, and we will leave the following coach with a truly bare cupboard with very little to work with.

I don't know how anyone, other than a money argument, can justify keeping Pruitt.
 
#85
#85
I think Fulmer’s strategy is to just get Pruitt into the 2021 season so he can beat a weak OOC schedule and possibly win a SEC game or two to go 5-7, or possibly 6-6. Then he will proclaim we have turned the corner and doesn’t that shade of lipstick look beautiful on that pig.

There is absolutely no desire for excellence at the University of Tennessee.
 
#88
#88
The Tall Gguy said:
5-7 or 6-6 in year 4 is turning the corner?
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There will be plenty of people on this board ready to carry water for Pruitt with that record. They will talk about covid, and how it was the primary reason we went 3-7, and how Pruitt has literally 100% more wins in 2021 than in 2020.
 
#90
#90
99gator said:
Here's the deal.

Most of the original post is a long excuse, IMO. Losers lose. Winners win. It's what they do.

For any team to win in the SEC, you have to have a superior coach. You don't out talent anyone. Even Alabama doesn't win by out talenting their opponent. Half of the league finishes with top 10 recruiting classes.

And at Tennessee, that's paramount because if we are going to get real here, you're not going to bring more talent to the table than Georgia, Alabama and Florida. You may bring the same level of talent to the table, but the recruiting grounds for those schools is way too strong.

He's been at Tennessee 3 years and fallen below expectations every year. His teams have quit on the field in game at least once every year. He's lost games to multiple teams that have finished below .500 and that doesn't include a loss to a Georgia State team that lost to Western Michigan by 47 or other teams who managed to finish above .500 only because of the cupcakes on the OOC schedule boosted their record.

Now, I have been down the road you are traveling with this QB thing. Driskel stinks. Brissett isn't any good. Wait until Muschamp gets his own QB. That QB never came. Meanwhile, Driskel and Brissett are still cashing checks in the NFL.

Am I saying that JG will be in the NFL? No. What I am saying is that the QBs on that roster are probably a lot like Nathan Peterman....guys who magically look a lot better when not playing where they currently are. I don't buy the QB excuse, because I don't think they're all bad QBs or at least not the level of bad we've seen.

So, do what we did. Hold onto him another year or two. Watch them go out and find some new assistants on the offensive side of the ball, the kind who are willing to take a job knowing the coach has one more season before he's fired and see how it turns out.

You'll go into the season believing that Florida, Georgia, and Alabama will be losses. You'll believe that you can beat Ole Miss. You'll argue Tennessee should beat Missouri, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Vandy. Pitt is the only non-conference team with a pulse and c'mon, it's Pitt. Tennessee will go 8-4 and with some luck 9-3. And they'll go 7-5, 6-6 and someone is going to argue that things are trending in the right direction because it's an improvement from 2020.

He's not the guy, aight
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This is my fear.....and exactly why I have been on the “fire him now” band wagon for a while.

Tennessee will win 6 or 7 next year. Some will be ecstatic, many will be like “well it’s way better than last year.”........and he’ll wind up staying another year or two after that.

Only to destroy the program even further. This guy can’t coach.......he needs to go.
 
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#91
#91
DaddyChad said:
Just don’t see why we haven’t started focusing on the future. We’ve wasted time in preparing JG instead of preparing Bailey. Just poor coaching and development.
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its just the opposite. when has bailey had time to learn the offense? by using this yr to give him slow time to adjust is very smart of pruitt. next yr, he can be the man
 
#93
#93
Vol423 said:
Nobody makes excuses like Vol fans. EVERY team in the nation has dealt with Covid, but we're somehow special. The only thing that makes us unique is that we have a horrifically incompetent coaching staff that is unable to deal with any issues whatsoever.
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We're not the only fans making excuses. There's a lot of teams that are way down or way up this year from typical norms.

I'm not going to disagree with you that this staff looks incompetent. I've called for Pruitt's head already. But, with a decent QB I can't help but wonder could it have been different?
 
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#96
#96
A 3-7 record playing Bailey and the young guys does not have Pruitt on the hot seat. I really believe that.

It's the fact that he is 3-7 and being stubborn is what is really hurting him. At this point he has to know JG isn't getting it done yet he still puts him out there. JG single handily lost us KY and was responsible for a 14 point swing with a 99 yard pick-6 against AU. It's inexcusable and coaching malpractice he kept playing him.

Friend also needs to go yesterday. Sorry, he does. We have Bama level talent on the OL and middling results. It's also inexcusable and coaching malpractice his best friend still has a position on this staff. Pruitt wants this program to win or he wants his friend to have a job. Seems he has made his choice and that is another reason Pruitt needs to git.
 
#97
#97
DiderotsGhost said:
I'm as angry as everyone else at this years' performance. I'm not sure Pruitt is "the guy" or not, and I've said that since Day #1, but I also think there's a legit case for why he deserves at least 1-2 more years to figure it out. Here's why:

QB Struggles. I'm not going to mince words: Jarrett Guarantano has been dogs@#$ awful this season. With advanced stats, he's arguably the worst QB in the SEC right now; at the very least, he's in the bottom 3. Vandy's true Freshman QB is arguably better than JG at this point. JG single-handedly lost us that Kentucky game with 3 critical turnovers and in reality, we lost that Auburn game due to JG as well (14 point swing with that pick-6). Even the games JG isn't turning the ball over, he can't move us down the field either. So with a good QB, we're already back to 4-3 against SEC competition. But I'm not even sure we lose to Arkansas with a good QB; we might've even had a shot at Georgia. We're really that close to being a good team.

2018 vs 2020. In 2018, we could've had Peyton Manning behind center and still struggled to hit 6-6 with the terrible O-line play. It's the reverse now. The QB is, by far, the biggest thing holding us back. We are better at almost every other position than QB. The O-line is worlds better. We brought in one of the best WR classes in the country this season; albeit they are young and didn't get the reps in the offseason they needed, but they are going to be good (see Jalin Hyatt!). Our running game is much improved over 2018. The only thing that's worse on offense is the QB.

3-7 vs 7-5. A 3-7 SEC record (our likely result) sucks, but it's also a bit out of context. With our traditional schedule, we're likely 7-5 or 6-6 at the end of the season.

Bailey / Salter. Chaney needs his QB. You might think all of this is hogwash, but to me, this is the biggest point in favor of keeping Pruitt. Chaney hasn't had his QB yet. JG is Butch Jones' QB. Shrout is Helton's QB. Even Maurer was Helton's QB. Kaidon Salter is the first Chaney QB, but Harrison Bailey also probably qualifies as he was recruited at Georgia by Chaney, even if we're not sure if we was their #1 target. I wanna see how Chaney does with Bailey and Salter before throwing in the towel on Pruitt, because right now, I see a reasonably good team with very terrible QB play. If Chaney gets that fixed (and he has a track record of fixing QB play), this might suddenly be a competitive team.

Bailey shows promise. Not much to go on, but Bailey looked very impressive versus Auburn in his one drive. While I'm pissed at Pruitt for not playing Bailey more, I do at least understand the logic. Bailey is a true Freshman who came in during a global pandemic, which basically deprived him of an offseason. Even during the limited offseason, Bailey was quarantined at one point and got very few reps. I don't think Pruitt wants to throw Bailey to the wolves given this and may be playing it very safe as a result (too safe), but I at least understand it. I want to see how Bailey does before jumping to conclusions.

Recruiting has been very good. In spite of the bad, Pruitt brought in one of the best classes in the country last season. He might end up with one of the best this season as well; albeit the lack of progress on the field may be an issue for some recruits. Covid hurt us more than other teams precisely because of this; we were always more dependent upon Freshman talent this year than the rest of the SEC and Covid destroyed our offseason development.

Pruitt has been quick to address problems. I know he has his share of coach-speak (they all do), but Pruitt fired Brumbaugh pretty quickly after seeing problems on the DL. Pruitt has a very Johnny Majors way of handling the staff and I think it may take him more time to get settled than people think.

Like I said, I don't know if Pruitt is "the guy" or not, but at the very least, I want to see another year. I want to see how Chaney does with either Bailey or Salter at QB; see how we do with a full offseason. If Pruitt lets us down at that point, then it's time to look at replacing him, but right now, I see a team that has mostly gotten better, but still sucks because we've been terrible at the most important position on the field. And while Pruitt is partly to blame for some of those issues (including telling Michael Penix to take a hike and taking JT Shrout instead in 2017), we might simply not be seeing the improved results of having Chaney in charge of recruiting QBs yet.

So there it is ... flame away!

But I'll be calling for Pruitt's head just like many of you if I see similar results in 2021. For now, I'm willing to give Pruitt a pass, but if JG is the starter in 2021, I'll probably be screaming "FAHR PRUITT!" with all the other miserables.
Click to expand...
As others pointed out, the QB issues are to be laid squarely in the lap of Pruitt. He's had ample time to address the JG issue so why does he deserve another 2 years to fix it? Same for the lack of development. This is the staff HE chose. Now we give him more time to fix the problems HE created? Sorry, but when I look at other SEC coaches in year 3 vs our chit show, it's hard to swallow giving this clueless bum more time. He's not deserving. Hell, look at what Pittman has done in YEAR ONE! Nope. It's the definition of insanity to give Pruitt more time and more money. We're already paying for Brumbaugh so now we boot 2-3 more guys and add even more to the buyout pile? Why? If we're gonna go down that road, start with Pruitt and get a real head coach who knows what the hell he's doing instead of a career DC/saban wannabe.
 
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#99
#99
hog88 said:
So out of the frying pan and into the fire with Tee?
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That would be the most UT move ever. Fulmer Fires CJP & goes the cheapest of cheap by hiring Tee. Rip off the band aid, increase the size of the laceration, and put scotch tape on top of the cotton ball. The entire college football world is already laughing at the Vols so make them laugh even louder. Amazed at how low this program has fallen.
 
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