The myth of Pruitt being an elite recruiter

#1

Vols1891

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2015
Messages
954
Likes
1,410
#1
A lot of people on here seem to think Pruitt is an elite recruiter but if you look at the numbers, that really isn’t the case. His recruiting rankings tend to be right in the middle of the pack for the SEC, and he’s behind where Butch was at this point in his tenure, and he’s about equal to Dooley. I won’t count the 2018 class for Pruitt since that was a transition year, but according to 247Sports, our recruiting class was 7th best in the SEC in both 2019 and 2020...so basically right in the middle. Our 2021 class is currently 5th but that is a little deceiving because we’ve already filled out 27 spots, while the highest of any team behind us just has 20 spots filled. In particular, Texas A&M is 6th with 9 fewer commitments than us, Auburn is 7th with 14 less commitments, and Arkansas is 8th with 8 fewer commitments. It is fairly likely that we will get passed by all those teams, especially with the way we have been playing lately. So the best case scenario is probably ending up 8th in the SEC for the 2021 class.

People often criticize Dooley for dropping the ball in regards to recruiting, so let’s take a look at his two full classes. In 2011, 247Sports had us at 6th in the SEC, and then we were 8th in 2012. That is an average of 7th, the same as Pruitt through his first two full classes. Finally, if we look at Butch’s first 3 full classes, we were 5th in 2014, 2nd in 2015, and 7th in 2016 in the SEC. Therefore, Butch had an average of 4.7, compared to 7 for Dooley and Pruitt. So basically, my point is that while Pruitt’s recruiting has been decent, it is definitely not elite, at least not to the point it would make up for our deficiencies in coaching and player development. Pruitt would need to be recruiting at a Kirby Smart level probably for it to actually make up for his bad coaching. Also, coaches typically get a bump in recruiting their first several seasons when they can sell recruits on hope for the future and immediate playing time. You have to figure Pruitt won’t be able to do that for much longer and will need to show actual results on the field.
 
#6
#6
I don’t think many have called him an elite recruiter
I agree that I haven’t seen too many people on this board say that, but when I talk to a lot of friends who are UT fans, the majority of them seem to think he is this amazing recruiter. Keep in mind that the people on this forum don’t necessarily represent the average UT fan.
 
#7
#7
I agree that I haven’t seen too many people on this board say that, but when I talk to a lot of friends who are UT fans, the majority of them seem to think he is this amazing recruiter. Keep in mind that the people on this forum don’t necessarily represent the average UT fan.

I’ve really not seen much on his resume’ that even qualifies for an SEC head coaching position. Being the DC at Bama means you implement whatever Nick wants you too or you’ll be canned. Plus, job isn’t that hard when you have elite talent in your 3 deep on defense like JP had
 
#8
#8
A lot of context is missing here. Regarding Dooley, his Achilles heel was the class where he took 0 offensive linemen. And he didn't like to recruit, lots of TN HS coaches didn't like him. He was going to fail.

Butch's numbers were smoke and mirrors. We all know the top recruits he brought in, many of them transferred and those who stayed seemed to regress. Butch got kids in by telling then what they wanted to hear. Eventually that catches up to you.

Pruitt has not proven to be the talent-developer he claimed to be, but to his credit he hasn't lost transfers other than those who were recruited over. But again this post is irrelevant. The only team UT's talent cost them the game was bama. UT had the talent to compete with and beat every other team. Recruiting is important but it's not the reason for getting blasted by KY and AR.
 
#9
#9
Also, there are a number of kids across the country that simply want to play in the SEC for the exposure, the competition and a chance to play in the premier college football in America. With scholarship limits at 85 players, generally 25 scholarships per recruiting class, on any given year there are 350 slots in the SEC for new players, Florida, Georgia and Alabama cannot sign them all, such that the SEC schools will have more interest and get more looks given the conference they play in,

Pruitt has a hard time communicating in a press conference, I'm sure his in home speeches are not much better, aight, ok, see? But he is at the helm of a middle of the road SEC football program with incredible facilities in a traditional southern college town where sports is the front porch of the university, he will get his fair share of talent, particularly if he has help from his assistants along the way.
 
#10
#10
Agree with this overall thesis.

Pruitt is recruiting about middle of the pack in the SEC and has little to nothing to sell beyond playing time going forward.

Not going to win many titles with middle of the road talent running antiquated defensive and offensive schemes.

Think Dooleys biggest gaffe in recruiting had more to do with his final season. He basically didn't even try and they went a class with zero O linemen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FLVOL_79
#12
#12
Anybody that’s paid attention to recruiting over the past 10 years knows you didn’t relish being on the other side of him for a prospect. Even when you landed one, they’d feel bad about disappointing him. Recruiter of the year in 2012. Man’s made a lot of mistakes worth bashing. Let’s not make up crap.
 
#13
#13
A lot of people on here seem to think Pruitt is an elite recruiter but if you look at the numbers, that really isn’t the case. His recruiting rankings tend to be right in the middle of the pack for the SEC, and he’s behind where Butch was at this point in his tenure, and he’s about equal to Dooley. I won’t count the 2018 class for Pruitt since that was a transition year, but according to 247Sports, our recruiting class was 7th best in the SEC in both 2019 and 2020...so basically right in the middle. Our 2021 class is currently 5th but that is a little deceiving because we’ve already filled out 27 spots, while the highest of any team behind us just has 20 spots filled. In particular, Texas A&M is 6th with 9 fewer commitments than us, Auburn is 7th with 14 less commitments, and Arkansas is 8th with 8 fewer commitments. It is fairly likely that we will get passed by all those teams, especially with the way we have been playing lately. So the best case scenario is probably ending up 8th in the SEC for the 2021 class.

People often criticize Dooley for dropping the ball in regards to recruiting, so let’s take a look at his two full classes. In 2011, 247Sports had us at 6th in the SEC, and then we were 8th in 2012. That is an average of 7th, the same as Pruitt through his first two full classes. Finally, if we look at Butch’s first 3 full classes, we were 5th in 2014, 2nd in 2015, and 7th in 2016 in the SEC. Therefore, Butch had an average of 4.7, compared to 7 for Dooley and Pruitt. So basically, my point is that while Pruitt’s recruiting has been decent, it is definitely not elite, at least not to the point it would make up for our deficiencies in coaching and player development. Pruitt would need to be recruiting at a Kirby Smart level probably for it to actually make up for his bad coaching. Also, coaches typically get a bump in recruiting their first several seasons when they can sell recruits on hope for the future and immediate playing time. You have to figure Pruitt won’t be able to do that for much longer and will need to show actual results on the field.

So, you agree that Pruitt has only had two years to assemble any kind of elite teams, then, he should be given an additional 2 years to actually show the benefits of his only 2 recruiting classes.
 
#14
#14
Butch’s numbers were an aberration as he benefited from quite a few legacies coming to play for him.

The other issues is he recruited to star ranking and not players that fit what he wanted to do and then he spent more time trying to get the recruits star ranking up rather than getting them ready to play.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Big Al Orange
#15
#15
A lot of context is missing here. Regarding Dooley, his Achilles heel was the class where he took 0 offensive linemen. And he didn't like to recruit, lots of TN HS coaches didn't like him. He was going to fail.

Butch's numbers were smoke and mirrors. We all know the top recruits he brought in, many of them transferred and those who stayed seemed to regress. Butch got kids in by telling then what they wanted to hear. Eventually that catches up to you.

Pruitt has not proven to be the talent-developer he claimed to be, but to his credit he hasn't lost transfers other than those who were recruited over. But again this post is irrelevant. The only team UT's talent cost them the game was bama. UT had the talent to compete with and beat every other team. Recruiting is important but it's not the reason for getting blasted by KY and AR.
I think you’d have to include Georgia in there as well, in terms of teams that can beat us on talent alone.
 
#16
#16
So, you agree that Pruitt has only had two years to assemble any kind of elite teams, then, he should be given an additional 2 years to actually show the benefits of his only 2 recruiting classes.
I was not arguing for or against Pruitt being fired in my post. I was simply pointing out that he’s only recruiting at about a middle of the pack level in the SEC. There was a lot of hype about Pruitt’s recruiting acumen when he was hired, and I think he’s been a disappointment in that regard. While he may have been a great recruiter at his previous stops, he was recruiting for programs that were frankly just easy to recruit top players to.
 
#18
#18
How can Pruitt & Weinke be considered good coaches, just look at JG pathetic QB fundamentals. JG's footwork, or should I say lack of footwork is pathetic for a 5th yr senior, as his starring down receiver something he should have fixed in high school.

Just watch the video of the Auburn touchdown interception. Watch his helmet and you can see he never looked anywhere except at the receiver, easy interception. Even more troubling is look at this feet, he receives the snap not with his feet close together so he can go left, or right, or forward, or backward, or jump if snap is high, but his feet are spread in a fixed position and he can't move from that point, and he can't step up to throw, he is flat footed and relies entirely on arm strength and flinging his hip to generate velocity which is why he is so inaccurate throwing. It is also why he gets killed in backfield, he can't side step the defender because he is in a stationary fixed position, similar to how those plastic toy soldiers were made that we had as kids.

What has Weinke been doing for 2 years?

Note to Weinke, watch how Harrison Bailey does it, great footwork.

Smoke Monday smokes UT for 100-yard pick-six
 
#19
#19
I was not arguing for or against Pruitt being fired in my post. I was simply pointing out that he’s only recruiting at about a middle of the pack level in the SEC. There was a lot of hype about Pruitt’s recruiting acumen when he was hired, and I think he’s been a disappointment in that regard. While he may have been a great recruiter at his previous stops, he was recruiting for programs that were frankly just easy to recruit top players to.
The rankings are what they are. He is recruiting at mid pack levels in the SEC. What isn't known is what is UT's top end on recruiting rankings given our lack of competitiveness on the field and our instability in coaching, as well as, AD tenure.
A problem with our recruiting is who are we passing on...magnified by Penix at IU.
 
#20
#20
I think Pruitt has done a good job recruiting here, especially considering the one field product. If he has weaknesses, it's not recruiting. He did a good job making inroads into Memphis and Baltimore. I think if you want to nitpick recruiting, he hasnt placed enough emphasis on Middle TN (this is from several coaches at schools who produce D1 talent where they say Pruitt is far less visible than Jones).
 
#21
#21
How can Pruitt & Weinke be considered good coaches, just look at JG pathetic QB fundamentals. JG's footwork, or should I say lack of footwork is pathetic for a 5th yr senior, as his starring down receiver something he should have fixed in high school.

Just watch the video of the Auburn touchdown interception. Watch his helmet and you can see he never looked anywhere except at the receiver, easy interception. Even more troubling is look at this feet, he receives the snap not with his feet close together so he can go left, or right, or forward, or backward, or jump if snap is high, but his feet are spread in a fixed position and he can't move from that point, and he can't step up to throw, he is flat footed and relies entirely on arm strength and flinging his hip to generate velocity which is why he is so inaccurate throwing. It is also why he gets killed in backfield, he can't side step the defender because he is in a stationary fixed position, similar to how those plastic toy soldiers were made that we had as kids.

What has Weinke been doing for 2 years?

Note to Weinke, watch how Harrison Bailey does it, great footwork.
There are several on this staff that have no business coaching D1 Football

Brian Niedermeyer
Will Friend
Shelton Felton
Tee Martin
Derek Ansley
Chris Weinke

They all need to GTFO
 
#22
#22
I think Pruitt has done a good job recruiting here, especially considering the one field product. If he has weaknesses, it's not recruiting. He did a good job making inroads into Memphis and Baltimore. I think if you want to nitpick recruiting, he hasnt placed enough emphasis on Middle TN (this is from several coaches at schools who produce D1 talent where they say Pruitt is far less visible than Jones).
Tennessee won't finish in the top 20 this year in recruiting, which puts them in the bottom 1/3 of the conference. Pruitt and this staff cannot develop, so thats a problem
 
#23
#23
There are several on this staff that have no business coaching D1 Football

Brian Niedermeyer
Will Friend
Shelton Felton
Tee Martin
Derek Ansley
Chris Weinke

They all need to GTFO

Include Osovet as well. I think Nieds and Tee are good enough recruiters to justify a spot on the staff. Ansley deserves spot on staff but is over head as DC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: igotworms
#25
#25
Include Osovet as well. I think Nieds and Tee are good enough recruiters to justify a spot on the staff. Ansley deserves spot on staff but is over head as DC.
Nieds should not have a spot on this staff as a coach, he needs to be in an admin role as recruiting coordinator but not coaching. Tee is here because he played here, he's not coaching in major college football if not.
 

VN Store



Back
Top