The search, the hire, the results...

[volzfanz]

The Search:
1. This search was considered do or die for TN. We went thru a decade of mediocrity and could fall into an abyss with a bad hire this time.
2. A lot of big name top notch guys were available. Some proven and some not so proven.
3. TN made the biggest mess of a coaching search in the history of coaching searches.
4. We fired our AD in the midst of hiring a guy most would have been happy with.
The Hire:
1. He is unproven as HC. No question.
2. But he has recruited very well (at big time programs for elite coaches)
3. He is a defensive guy (coaching the worst offensive team in the SEC)
4. Elite programs and top coaches WANTED to work with him. That’s the most telling thing about him.
5. He is an Alabam guy born and bred. Not debatable
The Result:
1. We got a guy pretty much no other big school was even considering.
2. He has coached some of the top defenses in the country.
3. We got a seemingly good recruiter.
4. We got a guy with SEC experience and big program experience.
5. We got a Saban guy.

Time will tell if he can win here. But what are we gonna do ? Stop watching and stop going to games? I for one can’t do that. If that makes me a sheep then ok. But I will voice my opinion when I can and support the Vols until I die. One way or another.

 

[Boca Vol]

This coaching hire may turn out well but it's not exciting at this point.

 

[BubbaWms]

The search, the hire, the results...

there was a time I just knew We had a one of a kind 60 for 60 in our future but a very short post is all that's deserved !

 

[Grand Vol]

It's not flashy, but certainly can be solid.

And I don't know why he wasn't necessarily on anyone else's radar (cue the "CAUSE HE SUCKS AND IS A DIRTY BAMMER!" replies) other than he hadn't really been a DC at one school very long.

If Bama wins the playoffs this year, I'd be willing to bet his name would have come up even more next year.

 

[volzfanz]

It's not flashy, but certainly can be solid.

And I don't know why he wasn't necessarily on anyone else's radar (cue the "CAUSE HE SUCKS AND IS A DIRTY BAMMER!" replies) other than he hadn't really been a DC at one school very long.

If Bama wins the playoffs this year, I'd be willing to bet his name would have come up even more next year.

GV. I hope he works out

 

[volzfanz]

The search process is what is disappointing. Did we need to take this long, riot in public, paint the rock, have a booster war, fire our AD, and bring in Phil Fulmer just hire a DC at Alabama? Was all that necessary to get a guy on Pruitt’s level? Nothing against Pruitt. He is our coach now. Period. But the process was embarrassing and we came away with a guy we could have gotten a month ago with little resistance.

 

[jkaVol]

The search process is what is disappointing. Did we need to take this long, riot in public, paint the rock, have a booster war, fire our AD, and bring in Phil Fulmer just hire a DC at Alabama? Was all that necessary to get a guy on Pruitt’s level? Nothing against Pruitt. He is our coach now. Period. But the process was embarrassing and we came away with a guy we could have gotten a month ago with little resistance.

We protested because we didn't want Schiano as our HC. We got a bonus when Currie was fired. So if we had not objected we would of had Schiano.

 

[volzfanz]

We protested because we didn't want Schiano as our HC. We got a bonus when Currie was fired. So if we had not objected we would of had Schiano.

I get that. I’m just saying it sure took a lot of effort to get a guy we could have gotten at anytime without having any of these “wars”. It’s a bad look for the AD. Couldn’t have been handled worse and then you come up with Jeremy Pruitt. Not terrible. Not amazing. Just ok. Seems like a lot of unnecessary effort for an OK hire.

 

[OldandStillaVol]

The search process is what is disappointing. Did we need to take this long, riot in public, paint the rock, have a booster war, fire our AD, and bring in Phil Fulmer just hire a DC at Alabama? Was all that necessary to get a guy on Pruitt’s level? Nothing against Pruitt. He is our coach now. Period. But the process was embarrassing and we came away with a guy we could have gotten a month ago with little resistance.

Getting rid of Currie is a positive. The whole charade that there was a "search" when he was always planning on Greg Schiano tells me that he is an idiot.

 

[Grand Vol]

The search process is what is disappointing. Did we need to take this long, riot in public, paint the rock, have a booster war, fire our AD, and bring in Phil Fulmer just hire a DC at Alabama? Was all that necessary to get a guy on Pruitt’s level? Nothing against Pruitt. He is our coach now. Period. But the process was embarrassing and we came away with a guy we could have gotten a month ago with little resistance.

Objectively speaking, we did far more than you give credit for including hiring someone we could have a month ago.

Allegedly (we may never know for sure) the power among the boosters shifted away from a sole booster calling the shots. That's huge if it turns out this is the case.

We helped install an AD that has Tennessee at his heart, not what, again, a single booster calls him up and makes him do.

Yes, we did a lot of work and showed the UT Admin we as fans didn't accept mediocrity any longer. Nor were we going to accept an AD sneaking in a coach that was barely above .500 and potentially connected to the Sandusky horrors.

Yes, many things needed to happen before this hire was made.

 

[VolForLife83]

This coaching hire may turn out well but it's not exciting at this point.

I'm on the Pruitt train. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. Just very curious about staff and what he cab do with recruiting with such short time. Good thing is though, he has recruited the best at Bama and already has relationships with top notch recruits. Half the work is done

 

[volzfanz]

Objectively speaking, we did far more than you give credit for including hiring someone we could have a month ago.

Allegedly (we may never know for sure) the power among the boosters shifted away from a sole booster calling the shots. That's huge if it turns out this is the case.

We helped install an AD that has Tennessee at his heart, not what, again, a single booster calls him up and makes him do.

Yes, we did a lot of work and showed the UT Admin we as fans didn't accept mediocrity any longer. Nor were we going to accept an AD sneaking in a coach that was barely above .500 and potentially connected to the Sandusky horrors.

Yes, many things needed to happen before this hire was made.

My point exactly. The AD made this way harder than it had to be. I hope that turns around. Because this was a lot of effort and bad press to get Jeremy Pruitt. Why did it take all this? Hopefully this makes people open their eyes to the real problems. Not the head coach of the football team.

 

[volzfanz]

I'm on the Pruitt train. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. Just very curious about staff and what he cab do with recruiting with such short time. Good thing is though, he has recruited the best at Bama and already has relationships with top notch recruits. Half the work is done

Recruiting seems to be his most notable attribute. But you can’t fault people for saying everyone that recruits for Alabama does pretty well these days.

 

[Orange_Vol1321]

I'm on the Pruitt train. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. Just very curious about staff and what he cab do with recruiting with such short time. Good thing is though, he has recruited the best at Bama and already has relationships with top notch recruits. Half the work is done

Lol. Bama plug & plays coaches like they do players. He is not going to pull 5* recruits committed already to Bama to Tennessee.

 

[volzfanz]

Lol. Bama plug & plays coaches like they do players. He is not going to pull 5* recruits committed already to Bama to Tennessee.

The only thing we have to offer over other schools is you can play right now. And that may be enough for some. But he ain’t stealing Bama recruits.

 

[Grand Vol]

My point exactly. The AD made this way harder than it had to be. I hope that turns around. Because this was a lot of effort and bad press to get Jeremy Pruitt. Why did it take all this? Hopefully this makes people open their eyes to the real problems. Not the head coach of the football team.

Well, we helped take care of that pesky AD problem, didn't we?

If we hadn't gone to the lengths we had, Greg Schiano would be wearing UT Orange right now. We made it harder because the hard things in life are worth doing.

 

[GreyWolf1129]

I'm on the Pruitt train. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. Just very curious about staff and what he cab do with recruiting with such short time. Good thing is though, he has recruited the best at Bama and already has relationships with top notch recruits. Half the work is done

- Getting the right staff is very important. Let's see what he can do in the short term, and a year or two down the road when he gets "dialed in".
- Whatever else you can or might say about Coach Fulmer, no one can dispute the fact that he is a VFL, through and through. If Coach Fulmer wanted Coach Pruitt, then that's good enough for me. For now.
- The best he can reasonably be expected to do is salvage a decent 2018 recruiting class. The real test comes with what he does in the '19 and '20 classes. That's just how it is. Will be interesting to see if he looks to the JUCO ranks for short-term depth / talent.
- He will have everything he needs to do well at UT except the wins. Those are on him. He's an "SEC guy". He knows what it takes to win here. All I'm looking for in 2018 is a team that knows how to fight for 60 minutes.
- This time next year, we'll have a good idea of what we got. Until then, I'm all in.


Go Vols.

 

[a vol n tears]

The first option was a DC that was a good recruiter and had HC experience. A month later and lots of bad publicity and money spent, we get a DC that is a good recruiter without HC experience. Fans can spin this any way they want, but the issue with Schiano was way more about hiring a tier 2 or 3 coach than the unproven talk about his past. After being turned down by so many and taking so long, all of sudden many fans are acting like TENN made a tier 1 hire and got the best coach money could buy. According to many on here, TENN recruits itself. If true, did they just hire a $4M a year DC. I'll support him, but not exactly excited yet. Hopefully next Fall I will be excited for my favorite sport to begin. This season was over at week 3 this year.

 

[Advol]

The Search:
1. This search was considered do or die for TN. We went thru a decade of mediocrity and could fall into an abyss with a bad hire this time.
2. A lot of big name top notch guys were available. Some proven and some not so proven.
3. TN made the biggest mess of a coaching search in the history of coaching searches.
4. We fired our AD in the midst of hiring a guy most would have been happy with.
The Hire:
1. He is unproven as HC. No question.
2. But he has recruited very well (at big time programs for elite coaches)
3. He is a defensive guy (coaching the worst offensive team in the SEC)
4. Elite programs and top coaches WANTED to work with him. That’s the most telling thing about him.
5. He is an Alabam guy born and bred. Not debatable
The Result:
1. We got a guy pretty much no other big school was even considering.
2. He has coached some of the top defenses in the country.
3. We got a seemingly good recruiter.
4. We got a guy with SEC experience and big program experience.
5. We got a Saban guy.

Time will tell if he can win here. But what are we gonna do ? Stop watching and stop going to games? I for one can’t do that. If that makes me a sheep then ok. But I will voice my opinion when I can and support the Vols until I die. One way or another.

You really need to get out more often. Ya know, maybe take up a hobby or just drink more. Enjoy the ride!!