This Team Was Not Ready to Play Football!

[KBVol]

One benefit of being a Tennessee fan in this era is seeing new discoveries in levels of ignorance so frequently.

More pure stupidity than ignorance imo.

 

[TGFHeupel16]

We will get better. Have you seen Pruitts past game presser? He revealed a lot of info into why the OL struggled. He talked about the D and how he and his staff have to do a better job. Didntbtrow any players under the bus and took responsibility.

He said exactly the right things, and was sincere. I’m confident moving foward. I would Trade Pruitt for Smart or really anyone. I think He really does lead us back to where we’re supposed to be...National Champions! I hope I can revisit this post in 3 years and be correct. GBO!!

 

[Jackcrevol]

Typically these kids will play their heart out in the first game for a first year head coach. These guys came out completely flat, slow, and very little emotion. The O line missed way to many easy assignments throughout the game. The DBs looked pitiful. This team did not look well coached in any way shape or form. I expected a loss but expected a competitive game which this game was not even close to a competitive game. I just cannot believe how unprepared this team was. Pruitt has used his "mulligan". Get this team prepared for the 4th week.

 

[McDad]

Its funny though, anyone that has offered opinions on what the problem was, are just offering excuses. Ask them what they think and they either don't know or it was poor coaching. They don't know what it was, but "that" wasn't it.

My point? I think there are many that are itching to pull that trigger.

I'm sure some are ready. Heck, some want Phil to take over.

Otoh, my position...and I think it is reasonable...is we did not look well prepared/coached kn Saturday and I'm still "prove it, Pruitt".

 

[TGFHeupel16]

Pruitt is working his butt off for this team. If you can't see that you aren't paying attention. He will make Tennessee better.

Agreed. He’s sincere and WIll make us better again. He has his dream job, he’s a head football coach in the SEC! He will do Everything in his power to be successful HERE. It doesn’t matter where he grew up. GBO

 

[FlyFishnVol]

I predicted months ago that after a few unavoidable losses this season, that our coach would begin to be called Bama Jeremy. I had no idea that such idiocy could manifest literally after one game we were picked to lose easily. What world do these people live in?

Well, it is a fact, that every team has fans that have no clue as to what it takes to shake off a decade of mediocracy. Nine months and <50 days of live practice will not solve the problem at UT. Do I think CJP can turn the program around? yes, he has seen what it takes to play winning football, but to fix UT's 10 years of drama, coaches, players, administration etc. etc., this is going to be the question for years..........what does it really take to fix a program that so many have made countless mistakes and decisions? It is absolutely short sighted to think this program will be fixed in 1 or 2 years. If any us think their is a coach that can walk in and fix what took 10 years to get to this point, not even Nick Saban would have a successful first year..........that is the reality. What has not changed is my support of this team, I want them to be competitive as much as anyone. However, there are a few UT Fans, that are just........to put it mildly, too ignorant to grasp the severity of how a once proud program was completely destroyed by people that had no business being at UT. Coach Pruitt is a coach, he knows what it takes, even he didn't know how these kids were going to react to adversity..............no one did. So, sit back cheer them on and I believe they will improve............WV was not a good team to start a season with, but Pruitt feels it will help develop and teach what needs to be done to be successful. There is a reason why the other HCs didn't want this job, they knew how messed up this program was, and they did not have the intestinal fortitude to take on the challenge.

Go Vols!!

 

[Behr]

I'm sure some are ready. Heck, some want Phil to take over.

Otoh, my position...and I think it is reasonable...is we did not look well prepared/coached kn Saturday and I'm still "prove it, Pruitt".

Yea, some didn't want him in the first place and some didn't want anybody but the one they wanted. They won't hope for his failure, but you won't be able to tell it.

Obviously its wait and see, but I just have a hard time not giving him and his staff the benefit of the doubt. That game was hard for me to watch, as I'm sure it was for you and many others, but I just don't believe Pruitt sucks that bad. Some dont want to hear any excuses but won't say what they think the problem is. Some will throw out little hints, but won't come out and say it. That's my opinion anyway.

Really need to look good this week. I mean we need to look like we're playing who we're playing. Let's hope errrrybody gets playing time.

 

[McDad]

Yea, some didn't want him in the first place and some didn't want anybody but the one they wanted. They won't hope for his failure, but you won't be able to tell it.

Obviously its wait and see, but I just have a hard time not giving him and his staff the benefit of the doubt. That game was hard for me to watch, as I'm sure it was for you and many others, but I just don't believe Pruitt sucks that bad. Some dont want to hear any excuses but won't say what they think the problem is. Some will throw out little hints, but won't come out and say it. That's my opinion anyway.

Really need to look good this week. I mean we need to look like we're playing who we're playing. Let's hope errrrybody gets playing time.

I dont think CJP sucks. I think he is unproven as a head coach. I hope he's the next Neyland.
There is a difference for me in expecting to lose (I have us at 4-8 this year) and watching our O line and D line have no push, Our LBs (except DKjr) disappear. I understand the DBs and the get a pass (pun) from me. CJP is a defensive guy and I was expecting better even though I didn't expect to win.

 

[BeecherVol]

Yea, some didn't want him in the first place and some didn't want anybody but the one they wanted. They won't hope for his failure, but you won't be able to tell it.

Obviously its wait and see, but I just have a hard time not giving him and his staff the benefit of the doubt. That game was hard for me to watch, as I'm sure it was for you and many others, but I just don't believe Pruitt sucks that bad. Some dont want to hear any excuses but won't say what they think the problem is. Some will throw out little hints, but won't come out and say it. That's my opinion anyway.

Really need to look good this week. I mean we need to look like we're playing who we're playing. Let's hope errrrybody gets playing time.

I don't think he was #1 on anyones list when it started. Doesn't mean he can't or won't look like a #1 or the right choice in the end either.

Saturday was a rough start, one nobody wanted to see. Can he take somebody elses mess and make it better while he changes the culture to what he's doing? That's what you re looking for. I want to see how his team reacts after that type of game with 3 weeks and 2 games before UF. The next 2 are not gonna tell me much unless they struggle and or lose. His next test is a winnable game against UF.

 

[Behr]

I dont think CJP sucks. I think he is unproven as a head coach. I hope he's the next Neyland.
There is a difference for me in expecting to lose (I have us at 4-8 this year) and watching our O line and D line have no push, Our LBs (except DKjr) disappear. I understand the DBs and the get a pass (pun) from me. CJP is a defensive guy and I was expecting better even though I didn't expect to win.

I think we might be going in circles here. I wasn't accusing you of anything, I was mostly just "thinking out loud". You know, if he doesn't suck and is actually an exceptional coach, maybe even the next Saban....wtf happened?

 

[McDad]

I think we might be going in circles here. I wasn't accusing you of anything, I was mostly just "thinking out loud". You know, if he doesn't suck and is actually an exceptional coach, maybe even the next Saban....wtf happened?

I dunno.

What the heck has VN come to when people like us have a cordial and calm discussion???

 

[Alex10]

Hi guys, I’ve been reading volnation for many years but never really wanted to get into arguments 24/7 so never signed up for an account until now. Anyway I’ll go ahead and just throw my useless 2 cents in real quick.
Firstly I’m not of the opinion to call for our coaches job after one game or even one season. Having said that there wasn’t really anything that impressed me personally Saturday outside of that one offensive possession in the second quarter, that’s just my opinion. I like many didn’t really feel the energy coming off of our team like I did for wv and that seems strange to me because coming off of last season and a new coach I really would have thought that both the coaches and players would have come out with their hair on fire, perhaps I misread the situation but I just didn’t see it.
Secondly I see many people calling all those who don’t want to be patient idiots and other names, I would like to point Out that the ones being continuously called idiots on here are the ones who have been consistently right over the past 9 years and the past two coaches, also many of the ones doing the name calling are the ones that have been extremely wrong on the past two coaches... I don’t know it’s just a funny thing to me. Furthermore the ones preaching patients and pointing out the dumpster fire he inherited, you realize he inherited a dumpster fire because of far to much patients with the previous staff? And the staff before that? It’s my opinion that patients has absolutely not paid off for this program and this fan base so it’s a tough pill for many to swallow to get it jammed down their throat over and over for 10 years and to actually be in worse shape now than it was then.
Having said all that I’m not advocating for Pruitt’s job to already be in jeapordy, that’s nonsense and I don’t think that’s what most are trying to convey, everyone just gets so defensive on here because both sides of the fence have been saying the same thing for 10 years. Everyone’s automatic reaction is to just roll the eyes and say “ o brother here we go again.”
Maybe I just got lucky with the previous two coaches, but my eyes told me after the first two years for both that they weren’t the answer, I had no fact to back it up, that was just my thoughts. I’ve since decided that it seems fairly reasonable to expect to be able to tell if you have the right guy for the job after roughly 2 years.
Ultimately everyone on this site wants the same thing, they want the vols to be good again so one obvious sign of if Pruitt is the right guy or not will be if by the end of the year next year if this place is finally a more united front, there will always be some bickering but this place has been a civil war for 10 years now, and the same things have been said over and over for 10 years... if we are still doing this by the end of next year we have not found our guy..... and I sure hope he is the guy, I now live in South Georgia and I can honestly say with the current landscape of college football I no longer get joy out of it... I pray that ends soon.

 

[Behr]

I dunno.

What the heck has VN come to when people like us have a cordial and calm discussion???

I think it worked for us because neither one us thought we knew everything.

 

[UTChicagoV]

Underclassmen = Freshmen and sophomores so the max Bud or any VT coach could teach them is 2 seasons. Are you saying he's a far superior coach than Pruitt or their players are a lot smarter?

There were 3 True Sophomores and 1 Redshirt Freshman starting in that game...the rest of the starters (the majority, 7 of the 11) have been in the system more than 2 seasons.

Compare that to our situation where everyone is in the first year of the system AND the majority of the players were not recruited to play in the system.

That's how easily your argument falls apart.

 

[Vol Main]

LMAO!! don't flatter yourself. I am not STALKING you... I suspect no one is for that matter. Your post count and your pitiful amount of likes are public knowledge and show on every one of your posts....to the left of your message if you cant find it. THE LEFT OF YOUR MESSAGE. This post is actually the first time I've ever noticed one of your posts, guess I've been incredibly lucky in that regard.

Of course you're not stalking! Beat it, dd.

 

[AndyMizunogolfer]

I agree 100% they were not ready. Now is that all coaching? Nope. It is going to take a while for the S&C, new schemes, correct fundamentals to all take place. Now if we are still seeing the same mental mistakes around game 5/6 then yeah somehow someway the coaches are not reaching the kids mentally. This game was a terrible matchup for UT. We needed a tune up game to get some of the basics like OL starters figured out. I mean who thinks that the Kennedy kid would suck so bad for the first 8-10 snaps? Then the D. It was garbage. "yeah thats what she said". For all the talk of Grier throwing dimes. It wasn't hard when you had the CB on his heels. Even the few plays the CB was close he wasn't. Still a bunch of the same where they don't get their heads turned. Lets hope like h*ll they get some of this figured out for UF.

 

[indian rick]

This is laughable. Your thread posting abilities should be removed.

Edit: @Freak

Dilly Dilly, remove him to the land of crayons and paper

 

[vol4good]

Everyone - All across the board expected this game to be competitive. It was clearly not a competitive game. In my opinion, this game falls squarely on the shoulders of Pruitt. Granted its one game, in a long season, but a bad omen. WV an elite team??? Oh how we have fallen. LOL

Do you Believe we were competitive in the first half only down 13-7? Long layover really played into WV's favor!

 

[Roustabout]

Hi guys, I’ve been reading volnation for many years but never really wanted to get into arguments 24/7 so never signed up for an account until now. Anyway I’ll go ahead and just throw my useless 2 cents in real quick.
Firstly I’m not of the opinion to call for our coaches job after one game or even one season. Having said that there wasn’t really anything that impressed me personally Saturday outside of that one offensive possession in the second quarter, that’s just my opinion. I like many didn’t really feel the energy coming off of our team like I did for wv and that seems strange to me because coming off of last season and a new coach I really would have thought that both the coaches and players would have come out with their hair on fire, perhaps I misread the situation but I just didn’t see it.
Secondly I see many people calling all those who don’t want to be patient idiots and other names, I would like to point Out that the ones being continuously called idiots on here are the ones who have been consistently right over the past 9 years and the past two coaches, also many of the ones doing the name calling are the ones that have been extremely wrong on the past two coaches... I don’t know it’s just a funny thing to me. Furthermore the ones preaching patients and pointing out the dumpster fire he inherited, you realize he inherited a dumpster fire because of far to much patients with the previous staff? And the staff before that? It’s my opinion that patients has absolutely not paid off for this program and this fan base so it’s a tough pill for many to swallow to get it jammed down their throat over and over for 10 years and to actually be in worse shape now than it was then.
Having said all that I’m not advocating for Pruitt’s job to already be in jeapordy, that’s nonsense and I don’t think that’s what most are trying to convey, everyone just gets so defensive on here because both sides of the fence have been saying the same thing for 10 years. Everyone’s automatic reaction is to just roll the eyes and say “ o brother here we go again.”
Maybe I just got lucky with the previous two coaches, but my eyes told me after the first two years for both that they weren’t the answer, I had no fact to back it up, that was just my thoughts. I’ve since decided that it seems fairly reasonable to expect to be able to tell if you have the right guy for the job after roughly 2 years.
Ultimately everyone on this site wants the same thing, they want the vols to be good again so one obvious sign of if Pruitt is the right guy or not will be if by the end of the year next year if this place is finally a more united front, there will always be some bickering but this place has been a civil war for 10 years now, and the same things have been said over and over for 10 years... if we are still doing this by the end of next year we have not found our guy..... and I sure hope he is the guy, I now live in South Georgia and I can honestly say with the current landscape of college football I no longer get joy out of it... I pray that ends soon.

Love your points, but it’s patience.
Patients are people in a hospital.

 

[checkerboards09]

BINGO !!! This absolutely nailed it. The team was not mentally prepared to play. The looked shell shocked starting this game. There's no excuse for that. Pruv-itt and his staff better up their game going forward. No one expects miracles, but we expect better than that embarrassing crap!

Shell shocked? But yet it was 13-7 at the half? What happened was WV quit trying to throw us off guard by running the ball and started picking on our freshman corners. That was one hell of a test for their first start.

 

[columbia vol]

Typically these kids will play their heart out in the first game for a first year head coach. These guys came out completely flat, slow, and very little emotion. The O line missed way to many easy assignments throughout the game. The DBs looked pitiful. This team did not look well coached in any way shape or form. I expected a loss but expected a competitive game which this game was not even close to a competitive game. I just cannot believe how unprepared this team was. Pruitt has used his "mulligan". Get this team prepared for the 4th week.

 

[Vol Main]

The important positives we saw in the team v. WV did not keep the score in our favor by a long shot, because there were just too many negatives. Was I disappointed? Hell, yes. I expected to see a more skilled and determined Tennessee team for sixty minutes, instead of fifteen. Coach Pruitt obviously takes the results of his work product very seriously -- and personally. He might have a wrench on all of the nuts and bolts of the program, but they are not all snugged up to spec. The entire staff watched every moment of that game. They know what happened, and they ought to know how and where their players came up short and what our guys need to do to make plays in future games. Big question is how the coaches went through scrimmages without seeing the problems which were so disastrously evident in the game? How was it even possible for the coaches to miss or neglect the messed up O-line assignments? I understand there were complications with new and injured players coming in late to camp, but I think the team could and should have played better.

 

[Volsdeep4]

Typically these kids will play their heart out in the first game for a first year head coach. These guys came out completely flat, slow, and very little emotion. The O line missed way to many easy assignments throughout the game. The DBs looked pitiful. This team did not look well coached in any way shape or form. I expected a loss but expected a competitive game which this game was not even close to a competitive game. I just cannot believe how unprepared this team was. Pruitt has used his "mulligan". Get this team prepared for the 4th week.

This dude used his mulligan against #17 team in nation. That will be higher by end of year. What is wrong with you guys

 

[jjnealfl]

One game season? Really. Sad.

 

[jjnealfl]

Pruitt is a bammer. He found a easy pay raise with a wonderful buyout.

Take your pick genius (serious blue font). Some attribute the quote to Mark Twain, others to Abraham Lincoln, but they all in essence say the same thing from Proverbs17:28, all of which apply to you. In the common vernacular, “Better a man to remain silent and thought a fool than to open his mouth and remove all doubt.” Maybe you needed more hugs growing up. Bless your heart.