Where would we be with Leach?

#76
#76
We had Orgeron as the OL coach under Kiffin. He just spanked Georgia Southern who is a much better team than Georgia State. Hell, I've been saying Vanderbilt should hire Jeff Fisher, maybe Tennessee should.

For whatever it's worth at this point, Orgeron was the DL coach.
 
#79
#79
Leach is a good coach however he is a below average recruiter.

He's only been a below average recruiter because he's been at below average programs with below average facilities. Tennessee's facilities are light years ahead of Texas Techs or Washington States.

Also, has his ability to recruit ever really mattered? He finds guys who can play football.

We would have scored 60 tonight with Leach.
 
#80
#80
Butch and Pruitt are both good recruiters and what has it mattered if the coaching isn’t up to par? On paper, our third stringers should’ve blown the doors off of Georgia State just based on star ratings alone but guess what?

Besides, Leach would’ve been just fine on the recruiting front considering our facilities, recruiting budget and close proximity to places like Georgia and Florida. I can only imagine what Leach could do with some of the athletes in the southeast regions.

It’s a damn shame we’re left fantasizing about what could’ve been.
 
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#81
#81
If we're now fantasizing about missed opportunities, what if we would have hired Gary Patterson before TCU enters the Big 12 or Brian Kelly out of Cincinnati instead of Lane Kiffin?
 
#82
#82
I have no idea why people think Leach couldn't have recruited here. Derek Dooley signed top 25 classes here. Every coach who has ever coached here signed great classes. Leach would have gotten the players he needed and used his extensive knowledge of rebuilding moribund never been programs to get us back on track. As hard as it is to believe, Washington State was in much worse shape than we are now when he got there. Plus they are virtually in the middle of nowhere. Historically they are a worse program than Vanderbilt.

Missouri leaving the Big 12 and immediately winning the East should also put to rest any of the discounting what he did in the Big 12. The guy has multiple successful coaches from his tree too. Fulmer's greatest failure was producing no coaching tree. That basically tells you a lot about the staff Fulmer surounded himself with and the ability to mold players into coaching candidate. Leach took Lincoln Riley aside and told him he was never going to be a great player but he saw something in him that could be molded into a coach. So he took him under his wing at 21 and taught him how to coach. Now look at Riley, two heisman winning QBs and a regular CFB playoff contender.

The Leach decision by Fulmer likely set the program back another decade. Maybe more when you consider Leach would likely have groomed his replacement here.
 

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