Unlike the last three coaches, the more I see of Pruitt the better I feel

[njvols]

Same concern that was voiced with Dooley and UGA? They’d shoot for Dabo first anyway. Let Pruitt coach a little before we crown him the Saban heir.

Yep and remember some clouded individual was concerned about Butch bolting for Michigan.

 

[vettefool]

I'm with ya; only thing is I've heard multiple Bammer's that are thinking he will be their next HC, and one of those that stated this is related to Pruitt, and his parent's live In Rainsville AL.

Yeah there were some Georgia fans that thought Derrick Dooley would be their head coach after a few years here. How did that work out all we can do is hope.

 

[Volfan2012]

I sincerely hope Pruitt gets the Alabama job if he wants it because that will mean some SEC Championships and at least playoff berths for Tennessee. He will have to win big here for Alabama to come calling and I suspect he would take that job if he is ever offered.
One thing we must learn from this if he is successful here is that never go for the mid-major guys again. If he does well here we'll learn that even Coordinators with SEC expereince are better than mid major coaches with large winning percentages.

 

[VolEngineer]

Yep and remember some clouded individual was concerned about Butch bolting for Michigan.

It's okay they got his brother, Jim.

 

[VolEngineer]

I sincerely hope Pruitt gets the Alabama job if he wants it because that will mean some SEC Championships and at least playoff berths for Tennessee. He will have to win big here for Alabama to come calling and I suspect he would take that job if he is ever offered.
One thing we must learn from this if he is successful here is that never go for the mid-major guys again. If he does well here we'll learn that even Coordinators with SEC expereince are better than mid major coaches with large winning percentages.

I just hope he doesn't win big year one or two and leave, and us fall back into obscurity again.

 

[fifties fan]

I'm with ya; only thing is I've heard multiple Bammer's that are thinking he will be their next HC, and one of those that stated this is related to Pruitt, and his parent's live In Rainsville AL.

FWIW Rainsville to Tusca vs Knox= 12 mi +/-

 

[Volosaurus rex]

I will not speculate on whether or not Coach Pruitt would accept the Alabama position following Saban’s retirement, except to say that he is undoubtedly aware of one simple fact, i.e. the immediate successor to a legend is rarely a long-term solution. Present-day Alabama fans are, arguably, spoiled by the level of success achieved by Saban to an even greater degree than ‘bama fans of the 1970s, when Bear Bryant reigned with an iron fist over the SEC. Those Sabanesque expectations will not disappear with Saban’s retirement, and his immediate successor will most probably pay the price in terms of long-term career success at Alabama.

 

[Henry Letham]

Remember who?

Him and "Hack Burton". The same people who bring it up constantly.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

I sincerely hope Pruitt gets the Alabama job if he wants it because that will mean some SEC Championships and at least playoff berths for Tennessee. He will have to win big here for Alabama to come calling and I suspect he would take that job if he is ever offered.
One thing we must learn from this if he is successful here is that never go for the mid-major guys again. If he does well here we'll learn that even Coordinators with SEC expereince are better than mid major coaches with large winning percentages.

Regarding UT going after a mid-major coach again, herein lies a truth. As long as Phil is the AD, it ain't gonna happen. And that's a stone written truth.

 

[Jack Burton]

Why the hell we wanna do that? You want to fire him before he coaches a game.

I’ve never advocated his firing. My opinion is that he shouldn’t have been hired in the first place with so many more experienced options out there. I’ve said you’re better off not donating money to the UTAD to support mediocrity. Our incompetent athletic department allowed THE WORST COACHING SEARCH OF ALL TIME to happen because they listen to the Haslam’s too much. Now we’re stuck with our next little experiment and have to let it play out.

It’s just mind boggling how quickly our fans forget history. Falling in love with Dooley and worrying about him jumping to UGA. Then the same with Butch and Michigan. “But that was different. Now we got us a real coach”. Let him coach a few games then we can bow and kiss his feet.

And if Pruitt is successful enough to win here, and Alabama wants him they’ll get him simply because we love to pinch pennies with head coaches. We’ll invest the millions in a stadium but not a top coach. Search your feelings you know it to be true.

 

[ptcarter]

I'm with ya; only thing is I've heard multiple Bammer's that are thinking he will be their next HC, and one of those that stated this is related to Pruitt, and his parent's live In Rainsville AL.

Backdoc.. I hear ya. I too live with that piece of paranoia, however - Bama won't take him if he's a dud here. Also, he's got little kids. Kids are going to be wearing a lot of orange in their youth.

I wonder if people at Georgia Tech ever got nervous that Bobby Dodd would come back to Knoxville? Didn't happen with him and it might not happen with Pruitt, and if it does, it's good problem to have.

If Derrick Dooley had ended up being a good coach, he might be at Georgia now. Wonder how many threads were started with that fear?

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

He might but when you put that much sweat into something and build it from the ground up, it becomes "yours." Sometimes that can trump fanship.

I've been in Atlanta since 2004, but I never bothered to think I would become a Falcons fan. Then the Superbowl loss happened, and we all had to process that pain together, and now I feel comfortable cheering for the birds. Like, why wouldn't I? So, I'm kind of agreeing with you. I'm just saying that group trauma can also bind a group together.

Man, I hope we don't all go through another group trauma together. Twittergate and Kiffin's departure are probably enough for me for a while.

 

[280vol]

There is a guy in our golf group in Birmingham that is very good friends with Saban. Has full access to the program and i am certain that he and his wife will dine with Saban and wife sometimes after games.

Good guy. To dig him a little i brought up our new lineman grad transfer and the fact that Tua's little brother was in Knoxville. Which brought us around to Pruitt and his thoughts. The first thing he said is that he is not afraid of or will he back down from anyone including Saban.

He went on to say that he hopes Pruitt and UT can stick to Kirby as there is a lot of bad feelings there.

I hope Pruitt works out as we all hope.

What really impresses me about him is the level of coaches that have left really good programs to follow him to the ****show that is currently UT football.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Behr]

I’ve never advocated his firing. My opinion is that he shouldn’t have been hired in the first place with so many more experienced options out there. I’ve said you’re better off not donating money to the UTAD to support mediocrity. Our incompetent athletic department allowed THE WORST COACHING SEARCH OF ALL TIME to happen because they listen to the Haslam’s too much. Now we’re stuck with our next little experiment and have to let it play out.

It’s just mind boggling how quickly our fans forget history. Falling in love with Dooley and worrying about him jumping to UGA. Then the same with Butch and Michigan. “But that was different. Now we got us a real coach”. Let him coach a few games then we can bow and kiss his feet.

And if Pruitt is successful enough to win here, and Alabama wants him they’ll get him simply because we love to pinch pennies with head coaches. We’ll invest the millions in a stadium but not a top coach. Search your feelings you know it to be true.

Not sure what your problem is, but I've agreed with you on at least two different occasions on the same subject and here you are telling me to search my feelings that I know it to be true?

You knew we couldn't fire him now because there was no one available, if Mullen was still available today and you had your way, Pruitt would be gone. You can't bullchit a bullchitter. You are funny tho.

Its mind boggling you don't understand how fandom works. Not everyone thinks like you and you're not right about everything. Who cares if someone was afraid DD would go to Georgia or Butch would go to Michigan? Does that matter today? So what if Joan is afraid Pruitt is going to go to Alabama 2 years from now? Wgaf? Does that change or record thus year because of what Joan thinks? Good grief.

 

[RavinDave]

There was an article earlier this year stating that very powerful donors to Alabama's program would never allow Pruitt to return because he became head coach of a bitter rival.

This I could believe.

 

[Revengevol]

If Pruitt gets it going here I can see him staying. Look the first call the Gumps are gonna make is gonna be to Dabo. If he says no and Pruitts been a success here then they'll call Pruitt. But I will say this. It's not a 100% lock Pruitt would say yes to Bama. There has already been someone on this staff that has said no to Bama three days after he got here, so it's not out of the realm of possibility for Pruitt to say no.

 

[Ten_Titans]

Okay but you have seen exactly one scrimmage and zero games.

Not to harp on that too much. I know it's the offseason.

But everyone loved Butch Jones brick by brick stuff until he started losing.

Off the field, no one who stays out of trouble can say something bad enough to get fired if they are winning, and no one can say anything to keep their job if they are losing.

 

[tnvols72]

Pruitt might be Bama through and through but he might have enough sense to know that he will be following one of the greatest coaches ever and he knows that the fans base will not be happy with a 6-6 season and would be fired in a year. I dont think those clowns would give him 2 years to keep the ball rolling. But if Bama hired him then that means Tennessee is back to being Tennessee.

 

[reecetn]

There was an article earlier this year stating that very powerful donors to Alabama's program would never allow Pruitt to return because he became head coach of a bitter rival.

I'm glad they feel the same way about us as I do them. I will feel less guilty now if Bama becomes a dumpster fire and I take selfies roasting marshmallows in the ensuing flames.

 

[orange parmejohn]

Pruitt might be Bama through and through but he might have enough sense to know that he will be following one of the greatest coaches ever and he knows that the fans base will not be happy with a 6-6 season and would be fired in a year. I dont think those clowns would give him 2 years to keep the ball rolling. But if Bama hired him then that means Tennessee is back to being Tennessee.

He also knows that the turnover at Bama will give him an easier road to Atlanta. If he jumps to Bama, he will have the west and a newly powerful Tennessee, that he built, to contend with.

 

[Remy]

Same concern that was voiced with Dooley and UGA? They’d shoot for Dabo first anyway. Let Pruitt coach a little before we crown him the Saban heir.

Who immediately followed Rockne at ND? Who immediately followed the Bear at Bama? Who immediately followed Parseghian at ND? Who immediately followed Hayes at OSU? Who immediately followed Bo at Michigan? Who immediately followed The General at Tennessee? (Bowden Wyatt) . The point is the coach who immediately follows a legendary iconic coach usually ends up in obscurity. Pruitt and Dabo both know that. Would either be willing to be the sacrificial lamb to immediately follow Saban? IMO it would largely depend on when it happens, how old they are, and wherew they see themselves in their careers. Take a look at Doug Dickey's career as a coach after jilting us to return to his alma mater, Florida. It's not a slam dunk returning to where you went to school, espec ially following an icon. It's a head vs heart thing.

 

[njvols]

It's a funny thing, success.

I agree with ru4real that the only way Bama tries to hire Pruitt away is after he has won a national title. Otherwise, they go after Dabo or someone else who has.

So let's play out Pruitt having won a national title as the Vols coach. He now has a choice: go home to one of his alma maters (remember, MTSU is his other college home), or stay at the place where he's already having dramatic success.

If money's not a deciding factor (which, with Fulmer pushing the right buttons, I'd think it would not be), that's a close call. He could go home to Bama, sure. Some pretty strong ties that bind him spiritually to there. But he could stay where he's succeeding, as well, attempt to build a lasting legacy on what he has already achieved.

We'll never know until and unless it happens.

And one thing's for sure: at that point, we'll be very happy that he's our coach, regardless of what comes after.

Go Vols!

That will be a high class problem. If Pruit wins and goes home to Bama, we'd be in a position to garner serious interest from others coaches...on top of which Pruitt is building a great "back bench" of future head coaches.

 

[Jack Burton]

Not sure what your problem is, but I've agreed with you on at least two different occasions on the same subject and here you are telling me to search my feelings that I know it to be true?

You knew we couldn't fire him now because there was no one available, if Mullen was still available today and you had your way, Pruitt would be gone. You can't bullchit a bullchitter. You are funny tho.

Its mind boggling you don't understand how fandom works. Not everyone thinks like you and you're not right about everything. Who cares if someone was afraid DD would go to Georgia or Butch would go to Michigan? Does that matter today? So what if Joan is afraid Pruitt is going to go to Alabama 2 years from now? Wgaf? Does that change or record thus year because of what Joan thinks? Good grief.

I realize we’ve agreed on a few points, I was just quoting Star Wars in humor.

However, you keep engaging my posts and implying things I haven’t communicated so I have to to reiterate the message. I don’t want to fire Pruitt. Mullen was a better choice, and we could have landed someone even more successful than Mullen, but that’s been debated ad nauseam. Most here have convinced themselves that Pruitt was the #1 college football hire so there’s no way to persuade them otherwise. That ship has sailed.

If someone posts a silly opinion it’s OK for me to disagree and call it silly. It’s silly to be concerned about Pruitt leaving before even one game has been played. Especially after we’ve done the same exact thing for 2 of the worst coaches in UT history. Maybe we should wait a minute before going through it again. Maybe it will help with the karma/curse/pit of misery we’re experiencing.

Forums are for discussions. Fandom doesn’t mean we all agree about everything otherwise we’re not fans, or maybe I missed that in the VolNation user agreement all those years ago.

 

[OnlyGodForgives]

If Pruitt has the level of success being discussed here would he garner interest from the NFL? He's reasonably young and seems to have some degree of physical energy.

 

[sjt18]

He talks and acts like a football coach. He may or may not be good... but he actually acts the part. Jones is a used car salesman. Dooley should have stayed in law... maybe he could have represented Kiffin…