photovol
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If, if, if.I understand we've been shafted so many different times by the university, but if Fulmer was the one that vetoed the hire and not the board of trustees, that sounds like a healthy hiring process. Pruitt brought the name that would be best for the offense as a head coach is in charge of putting the best product he can on the field. Fulmer is in charge of not only the product on the field but the image away from football and the overall direction of the program.
If Fulmer deemed the baggage too much to overcome he told Pruitt to move on to the next name. If this is the case, it was probably decided early on in the process and they are now taking their time to get the next name right. Where this becomes a problem is if the process took too long and we lost out on chip Lindsey because of it. I don't know if Lindsey was his second choice or not but we don't know if the job was even offered to him. That brings me to my final point.
I think the uncertainty of the hiring process and the fact that everyone with "sources" has been full of it so far has irritated the fan base. No one knows how far along the freeze hire was when it got squashed and every single prediction on here from anybody with "sources" has been proven wrong when it comes to this search.
In reality, we all want the process to be close to the vest. There's nothing good that comes out of a publicized coaching search. They've done a masterful job of gathering attention without giving out too many details. We're still Tennessee. Were still a national brand and people are paying attention to our hire.
The names that have been mentioned would all be solid hires for our next OC. So sit back, relax, be happy they're not promoting within and try to control that BVS that hurts all of us so badly. And don't trust anybody that says they have sources cause they actually have no clue what's going on.
Sexton better move Freeze on someone soon...if UT and Auburn have moved on, his market value will start to drop, and he'll lose leverage.Maybe Pruitt and Fulmer were in agreement.
An interview doesn't mean he was Freeze or bust. Pruitt interviewed others also and they weren't hired either.
The hype about Freeze being the most wanted seems to have been generated by Freeze/Sexton. Local media ran with it then each found someone to blame.
I think many fans have done the same.
Here is my big question, why should an AD be involved with an OC hire? Why is that not just a HC decision?
Just in pro sports like the NFL, the AD (a.k.a. General Manager on the pro side) can be heavily involved in personnel decisions or not. It likely depends on the experience and maturity of the head coach. While a coach may want an assistant or coordinator, someone has to approve the funding for the hire. I'm sure that falls on the AD to approve and/or make the case to administration.
In college, I would doubt many coaches have free reign to hire a coach without some input from his superiors. I've heard that even Coach Pruitt initially had some trepidation concerning Hugh Freeze's much larger HC resume and the possible implications to him personally. I would also think that Coach Pruitt is having to learn the process concerning making coaching changes and new hires.
UT may be more dysfunctional than a lot of other places, but all universities have a policy and process that has to be followed. Perhaps Coach Pruitt wasn't aware and let it leak to some media that the hire was all but done when he hadn't went through the process. As a young manager, my first hire was an internal transfer from another department. I didn't follow the process, and I ended up making the director of the department losing their employee upset.
Rumor is Auburn won't hire him because they will only allow Gus to hire assistants with a 1yr contract and Freeze is looking for a multi-yr deal.Is it possible that Freeze was rejected because of the fact he would likely be a one and done deal, as he's seeking a HC gig? I love the idea of Freeze running the offense, but wouldn't it be better to have someone in place who actually wants to be here and help grow the program as opposed to using it as a stepping stone?
I understand nothing is guaranteed or forever, and success will lead to opportunity for assistant coaches, but why not actually build something solid that will last beyond the next coordinator change? It seems that is exactly what Pruitt and Fulmer have in mind, and so far I like the direction of the program after the disaster of Jones.
This hire is very unlikely to make Vol Nation happy at this point, but at this point I'm willing to give Pruitt the benefit of the doubt until he proves unworthy of it. Or starts crowning us 'champions of something or other' after another 5-7 season.
Rumor is Auburn won't hire him because they will only allow Gus to hire assistants with a 1yr contract and Freeze is looking for a multi-yr deal.
Is it possible that Freeze was rejected because of the fact he would likely be a one and done deal, as he's seeking a HC gig? I love the idea of Freeze running the offense, but wouldn't it be better to have someone in place who actually wants to be here and help grow the program as opposed to using it as a stepping stone?
I understand nothing is guaranteed or forever, and success will lead to opportunity for assistant coaches, but why not actually build something solid that will last beyond the next coordinator change? It seems that is exactly what Pruitt and Fulmer have in mind, and so far I like the direction of the program after the disaster of Jones.
This hire is very unlikely to make Vol Nation happy at this point, but at this point I'm willing to give Pruitt the benefit of the doubt until he proves unworthy of it. Or starts crowning us 'champions of something or other' after another 5-7 season.
Instead of new spark plugs for this offense next year we gonna be stuck with burnt worn out plugs....lol. Way I see this playing out....Without Freeze we won’t be as good as we could have been. Sometimes you have to be willing to take risks if you want to climb out of a hole.
We needed a spark now I’m afraid we won’t get one.
So did Butch... Going to a bowl is not the standard expected at UT by fans and hopefully by the administration. Its obvious to me he can coach a notch or two down from the SEC but it is not known if he can handle the heat.I find it funny that people on here still make fun of Dave Clawson. He didn’t have a successful season here but it wasn’t all on him. He is a P5 head coach now that just took Wake Forest to a bowl game for the 3rd season in a row. This is only the 2nd time it’s happened in school history. It’s obvious the guy can coach.
Valid points.A multi-year deal works beautifully for Freeze in that he has some security if the right HC gig doesn't open up, but it doesn't prevent him from leaving after a year if he so chooses. I'm not sure a school can keep an assistant from taking a job that is a promotion, regardless of the length of contract.
The turbulent nature of college staffs (and players, for that matter) seems to be an indelible part of the environment today - the only people who stay at a program a long time are those who aren't good enough to move upward somewhere else. Staff combinations that 'hit the jackpot' don't last very long, so you have to win with them while you can.
Of course, the exception is always Alabama, but that's a unique situation; Saban's entrenched "system" attracts a kaleidoscope of top-notch staff year after year because it wins, and everyone wants to be associated with a winner. However, Saban had to WIN first for his system to be attractive to others.
We need to WIN FIRST....with whatever combination of staff/players will work....to give CJP the chance to install his 'system' that will then attract top staff later on regardless. Winning habits are contagious, and you string enough of them together, you are entitled to call it a 'tradition.' We desperately need that winning mentality back again. Without establishing a winning pattern FIRST, nothing downstream will matter. A top-name OC can do that.
That's why a splash hire at OC would be so helpful for us. It shows UTAD commitment, gives CJP and his program credibility, gives the players and fanbase confidence that this school truly cares about the product it puts on the field every Saturday in the fall.
Just came back from LSU country and if UT is worried about the brand image as it relates to football....they can stop worrying because we are beyond notice as a serious football program. I would classify the responses as sympathetic or dismissive. Makes you wonder how a storied program could have been so mismanaged.I don't know if it's as much "involved" as it is approving the hire. It's like if a CFO of apple says okay I've done all the calculations, we need to make x number more phones this year rather than last year. So the CEO looks over the data makes sure everything looks good and approves or rejects the decision.
Everybody has a job to do. Pruitt's job is to put the best product on the field. Fulmers job is to make sure Pruitt is doing everything he can to do that along with maintaining the image of the program.
I could be wrong about all of this. But strictly looking from the outside I see a business like approach to getting this hire right with a balance of performing on the field and maintaining the quality of the brand