To play Devil's Advocate

[Joe Dirt]

Ehhh. I have a friend who works in the AD who is adamant that unless we get blown out by Vandy he ain't going anywhere. Much like y'all, I hate that answer.

At this point, I'm just coming to terms with a 4th year under Pruitt and hoping like hell that he figures it out during the offseason.

If not, he HAS to be gone. Cannot go into a dead man walking year 5. That 5th year under Butch is what made Pruitt's job that much harder.

 

[Simpleminded]

Just say we have a Head Coach vacancy (which I don't think we will for a couple of years, at least), How will everybody on the Freeze Train be if he comes in and does the same or worse than Pruitt has by year three? Just curious.

FYI: My stance on the whole situation is this. Pruitt is our coach. I will not dog or disrespect him, the athletic program or the university. I will support all things Tennessee. Now, do I like the state our program is in? NO! But at this time, we have no coaching vacancy. Also, I have nothing against Freeze. May be my top choice if we do have a spot open.

All I know is that we’ve gone backwards- no progress. Fans need to believe we are competitive. That’s just how it is.

 

[ABINGDON VOL FAN]

Some program needs to establish a precedent to set large incentive based contracts for HC’s for the first three years with smaller buyouts and yearly salaries. Any coach knowing he’s got the goods will accept the challenge.
In Pruitts case he has financial security for the rest of his life, his kids lives and his grandchildren’s lives. He has no incentive other than personal pride to do the best coaching job he can do.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

Spot on! Why can’t people understand this^

Intelligence is the number 1 reason I feel.

 

[SaintLouisVol]

I don't take issue with anything you stated. Maybe I'm naive...but I believe you could structure a contract with lucrative tiered incentives that would protect both parties. Structure it so that as you reach the top levels you have the ability to become the top paid coach in the country. Tie extensions directly to performance. Somebody has to start looking out for the employer in this situation. The problem is we look to agents like Sexton, and don't seem to have any aces up our sleeve.

While I absolutely can see the appeal of such a structure and understand (and appreciate) your point of view, I think you'd be hard pressed to get an "in demand" coach to accept those kinds of terms because he very likely has a few other offers out there that don't include them.

I have managed sales reps for years. For the longest time, we offered pay plan options that include base plus commission. We used to let them pick. If they chose the lower base, we would give them a commission plan that would allow them to earn 15-20% more total income than if selecting the higher base. 9 of 10 took the higher base. We even offered existing reps with great performance records the opportunity to switch. Almost none did.

If you offered a contract like you suggest to an unproven hire, I imagine they might be more likely to take it, but that is what we would like to avoid, isn't it?

 

[90 Vol]

Just say we have a Head Coach vacancy (which I don't think we will for a couple of years, at least), How will everybody on the Freeze Train be if he comes in and does the same or worse than Pruitt has by year three? Just curious.

FYI: My stance on the whole situation is this. Pruitt is our coach. I will not dog or disrespect him, the athletic program or the university. I will support all things Tennessee. Now, do I like the state our program is in? NO! But at this time, we have no coaching vacancy. Also, I have nothing against Freeze. May be my top choice if we do have a spot open.

If there's not a discernible upward trajectory by the end of year 3, a coach needs to be shown the door. By upward trajectory, I don't mean win the SEC or a Natty. What I'm saying is by year 3, we shouldn't suck and should at least be competitive with Georgia, Florida, and Bama. By year 3, we should be beating the likes of S. Carolina, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and equivalent teams in the SEC west.

 

[90 Vol]

Ehhh. I have a friend who works in the AD who is adamant that unless we get blown out by Vandy he ain't going anywhere. Much like y'all, I hate that answer.

At this point, I'm just coming to terms with a 4th year under Pruitt and hoping like hell that he figures it out during the offseason.

If not, he HAS to be gone. Cannot go into a dead man walking year 5. That 5th year under Butch is what made Pruitt's job that much harder.

Even is we beat Vandy (not a given), it's being projected that we may play Memphis in a bowl game. If we get our azz handed to us by Memphis, that could seal the deal as well.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

Just say we have a Head Coach vacancy (which I don't think we will for a couple of years, at least), How will everybody on the Freeze Train be if he comes in and does the same or worse than Pruitt has by year three? Just curious.

FYI: My stance on the whole situation is this. Pruitt is our coach. I will not dog or disrespect him, the athletic program or the university. I will support all things Tennessee. Now, do I like the state our program is in? NO! But at this time, we have no coaching vacancy. Also, I have nothing against Freeze. May be my top choice if we do have a spot open.

I’m willing to bet Freeze would be closer to 6-2 than 2-6. Quit acting like this job is so hard that Pruitt is faring about the same as anyone out there.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

If there's not a discernible upward trajectory by the end of year 3, a coach needs to be shown the door. By upward trajectory, I don't mean win the SEC or a Natty. What I'm saying is by year 3, we shouldn't suck and should at least be competitive with Georgia, Florida, and Bama. By year 3, we should be beating the likes of S. Carolina, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and equivalent teams in the SEC west.

Butch fooled us, because that’s when we made our move. But we gutted the strength program, and guys were transferring and getting hurt like crazy. He didn’t keep it going.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

If not, he HAS to be gone. Cannot go into a dead man walking year 5. That 5th year under Butch is what made Pruitt's job that much harder.

True, but important to understand the reason why. And the reason is that Butch destroyed the S&C program, his coaching hires were awful, and his recruiting was bad in the last few years as well.

Can't really say the same things about Pruitt. If Pruitt gets fired, it's for not figuring out how to develop and utilize his QBs properly. Most of the other stuff is in much better shape now. S&C in better shape. Player development has been good for the most part. Recruiting has been good. Pruitt has been thinking long-term rather than short-term. I don't think a new coach would walk into the same situation as Pruitt did in 2017 or Butch did in 2012. Probably closer to the situation Nick Saban walked into in 2007.

 

[VolArmy74]

Some program needs to establish a precedent to set large incentive based contracts for HC’s for the first three years with smaller buyouts and yearly salaries. Any coach knowing he’s got the goods will accept the challenge.
In Pruitts case he has financial security for the rest of his life, his kids lives and his grandchildren lives. He has no incentive other than personal pride to do the best coaching job he can do.

This. If they leave while producing championships they have a huge buyout owed us. If they aren't producing championships, they can walk away with no buyout for us. They have no buyout if we want to fire them, but a 6 million dollar base salary. 200k for a bowl game, 500k for a New Years 6 Bowl, 500k for SEC East title, 750k for SEC Championship, 1 million for CFP championship.

The floor is making 2 million more than Pruitt with no buyout if you suck. The ceiling is Saban/Dabo money if you're good at your job.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

True, but important to understand the reason why. And the reason is that Butch destroyed the S&C program, his coaching hires were awful, and his recruiting was bad in the last few years as well.

Can't really say the same things about Pruitt. If Pruitt gets fired, it's for not figuring out how to develop and utilize his QBs properly. Most of the other stuff is in much better shape now. S&C in better shape. Player development has been good for the most part. Recruiting has been good. Pruitt has been thinking long-term rather than short-term. I don't think a new coach would walk into the same situation as Pruitt did in 2017 or Butch did in 2012. Probably closer to the situation Nick Saban walked into in 2007.

I think if you dismiss Pruitt NOW the roster will be OK. That one time transfer likely to be approved by the NCAA would allow our top players to move on if they choose.