Real facts to make everyone but you feel better...
In the post-Fulmer era, we hired Lane Kiffin. His major claim to fame was being the son of legendary NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. Lane, good DNA and all, was a backup QB at Fresno State...was at USC during a 23-2 run which saw him advance to Offensive Coordinator...and then went 5-15 as an NFL head coach. Had a good year here, and then bailed for his true love, USC. Brilliant offensive mind, but dumped us for the hot California job that would later fire him for losing. Currently tearing it up at FAU, which will be the next school he dumps for more money and brighter lights. My guess would be somewhere back out west. Lane was the one-night stand with the super hot chick that turns out to be a stripper that used us as the rebound guy.
Strike One.
Next came Derek Dooley. Go figure, we went with the good DNA thing again, because Derek came to us after a sterling 17-20 run at Louisiana Tech. The Son of Vince turned out to be a bust, but hey...those orange pants were worth the wasted millions, right?
Strike Two.
Time to shake things up, so we went with a former trumpet player from somewhere in Michigan who built his rep by following Chip Kelly, and losing to Derek Dooley. His record was 27-13 at a directional Michigan school, and 14-11 at Cincinnati, which is one level above a directional Michigan school. Helluva recruiter, not so much a coach. He went 34-27 at UT, which would be okay for, say...Central Michigan or Cincinnati...but not at UT. In the end, he was probably as glad to get fired as we were that he got fired.
Strike Three. Still with me?
So now it's Jeremy Pruitt. Here's where nothing we did makes sense. After chasing (or not) a former NFL head coach who really had no interest in us other than the fawning adoration of a starving, misled, and desperate fan base; then a succession of "they would do good here" coaches who used us to get pay raises at their current jobs; Chip Kelly, who was never going to come here; and then finding out that our beloved (and "ex") AD only had one name in mind, and that it was a coach with a mediocre record at a mediocre school in New Jersey, and an NFL record that proved he should have stayed in New Jersey, not to mention the fact that exactly zero other schools with a head coaching vacancy had even bothered to call him; and then after a series of events that would make for a great soap opera episode...we go back to our past to shape our future by hiring the guy we fired so many years ago as our head football coach to be...yep, you guessed it...our new AD.
And in less time than it took you to read this (well, sort of) he hires the Defensive Coordinator at Alabama as our new head football coach. Can it get any worse, you might ask?
Well...compared to our last 3 head coaches, here's what we got:
- He actually played college football. At MTSU and Alabama. That fact alone puts him ahead of Kiffin, Dooley, and third trumpet.
- As a high school assistant coach, he was on a staff that won state championships in 2004 and 2005.
- In 2009 (Alabama) and 2013 (Florida State) he was on a staff that won a national championship.
- As the defensive coordinator at Georgia and Alabama, he has coached defenses that consistently ranked among the best on the nation.
- His defense at Alabama, this year, is probably the main reason they are in the CFB playoff. He might have one more ring on his hand when he arrives in Knoxville to stay next month.
In short, Jeremy Pruitt is everything that Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, and Butch Jones were not. He's a proven winner.
So I'm of the opinion that we ought to give him a year onboard, at least, before we start burning couches again. Based on what he's done in just two weeks on the job, I don't think that's too much to ask for.
He's a winner. Let's give him the chance to prove it. Here.
Go Vols.