DG's TL;DR Take on Pruitt, Coaching Search, Etc

[R481967]

Well thought out analysis OP...I also hope that Vols fans are patient with CJP.

According to Scripture, "Tribulation worketh patience..." we've had plenty of that!

 

[DiderotsGhost]

You and others over the last few days have referred the Leach's recruiting classes as being 20's to 50's class or maybe higher.

Now I know where a school is located could have something to do with this. But if Leach is that good, seems to me he would attract higher rated kids. It has always seemed to me these young guys want to play for a winner. I just wonder what might be the problem.

Very difficult to recruit to Pullman, WA. Leach has significantly improved Wash State's recruiting. So even though he's grabbing classes ranked in the 30's and 40's, his predecessor was getting classes in the 60's. Similar deal at Texas Tech; you're never going to get top classes in Lubbock, TX at Texas's 4th or 5th best program historically, but Leach improved recruiting there. Much easier to recruit to Tennessee than Texas Tech or Wash State. That said, I don't think Leach would ever be a guy who goes out and gets top classes, but I could envision him at Tennessee being like Chip Kelly at Oregon; grabbing #15 or #20 classes with guys that fit his system and winning with those.

Players do want to win, but the top players also want to go to the NFL and you have to consider that places like Tennessee, Alabama, USC, Florida, Ohio State, Clemson, etc have much better resources for that than places like Wash State, Miss State, Oregon State, Texas Tech, etc. Difficult to lure in top talent without top facilities and resources to get guys in the League.

 

[WesternNCVol]

Great points OP.

I agree a it's high risk high reward. I like the guy and think he can get it done.

I like that he's willing to base scheme on personnel instead of the butch jones square peg in a round hole technique.

I really think if you get elite players and design your game plan around your players natural skills you will win more than you loose.

 

[hmhawk]

Thanx DG. Really enjoy reading your tl;dr threads.

 

[terrypedigo]

Leach no defense, if you won't a ring you got to have a elite defense, look in the playoffs 3 out of the 4 have elite defense's, Oklahoma has the best offense they might win one but not the second one with that defense.

 

[m1al]

The craziest coaching search in college football history is over. Here are my thoughts on it all.


The search

The fan revolt was a success. We won’t know if the Pruitt hire will be a success till several years down the road, but one thing is clear: this was a better hire than Greg Schiano. I firmly believe that Schiano would’ve set the program back decades; as in, we could’ve seen 30,000 empty seats in Neyland in “Year 1” for a new coach. We would’ve been the laughing stock of college football. I’d rather take one week of negative publicity than 3+ years of a trainwreck hire. Schiano was a disaster at Tampa; an abusive autocrat who alienated anyone and everyone around him. He couldn’t land a single college or NFL job for two years because he was so toxic. While he improved Rutgers, the media often overstates this; Schiano improved recruiting, but never made Rutgers elite; he took them from a cellar-dwellar to middle-of-the-road program. While many fans latched onto the Sandusky scandal, that was far from the only reason to question his integrity, and it’s his time in Tampa that makes people less likely to believe him on Sandusky. The media may have demonized us, but we were 100% in the right; Schiano would’ve been one of the worst hires in college football history.

The decline of Haslam. Even more importantly, the revolt pushed the man who has doomed our program for the past decade out of power: Jimmy Haslam. His imprint has been all over every failure. He is now denying involvement with the search but I don’t buy it. Haslam wanted to hire Schiano at Cleveland, a few years earlier when no one else wanted to touch him. Which makes it quite a spectacular coincidence that his name would just randomly pop up as the #1 candidate at UT (and the only candidate seriously considered). I don’t know how Fulmer will fare, but without a doubt, the future is brighter without Haslam calling the shots.

It looks like Haslam was intentionally trying to tank the program.. He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the University, much less the Athletic Department...

 

[johnrlansford]

Originally posted in the Neyland thread, but figured I'd cross post it here.

Concerning the Helton hire. I wonder if perhaps Tee turned us down since he's likely in line for a HC gig at some point in the next little bit, but recommended Helton to Fulmer/Pruitt. I really don't think Tee would ever turn his back on us completely and you have to think he and Fulmer are still tight. "I'm honored, but I would rather wait for a head coach gig. But I have this guy on staff that's sharp..."

I like to think Tee still has us in his heart and wouldn't want to see the Vols fail. And I can't make any link with Pruitt and Helton, so it might stand to reason he'd take the advice of Fulmer if Tee planted the bug in his ear.

My conspiracy theory for the day.

I don't think Tee Pitched him to us, It was reported that Pruitt had told Mississippi State that Helton would be his OC if hired.

 

[me_grag53]

I'll speak from my ignorance (do not follow west coast ball much), but is there any strong indication that Leach's offense works against the SEC? A major rap on Butch was that his did not.

Interesting to wonder about. Interesting read on the Leach offense. It was 9-3 with 6-3 PAC 12 record this year. Explains the concepts pretty well . I think it would work here, especially with a SEC caliber running back.Can the Air Raid offense still be successful in the Pac-12? - CougCenter

 

[photovol]

The craziest coaching search in college football history is over. Here are my thoughts on it all.


The search

The fan revolt was a success. We won’t know if the Pruitt hire will be a success till several years down the road, but one thing is clear: this was a better hire than Greg Schiano. I firmly believe that Schiano would’ve set the program back decades; as in, we could’ve seen 30,000 empty seats in Neyland in “Year 1” for a new coach. We would’ve been the laughing stock of college football. I’d rather take one week of negative publicity than 3+ years of a trainwreck hire. Schiano was a disaster at Tampa; an abusive autocrat who alienated anyone and everyone around him. He couldn’t land a single college or NFL job for two years because he was so toxic. While he improved Rutgers, the media often overstates this; Schiano improved recruiting, but never made Rutgers elite; he took them from a cellar-dwellar to middle-of-the-road program. While many fans latched onto the Sandusky scandal, that was far from the only reason to question his integrity, and it’s his time in Tampa that makes people less likely to believe him on Sandusky. The media may have demonized us, but we were 100% in the right; Schiano would’ve been one of the worst hires in college football history.

The decline of Haslam. Even more importantly, the revolt pushed the man who has doomed our program for the past decade out of power: Jimmy Haslam. His imprint has been all over every failure. He is now denying involvement with the search but I don’t buy it. Haslam wanted to hire Schiano at Cleveland, a few years earlier when no one else wanted to touch him. Which makes it quite a spectacular coincidence that his name would just randomly pop up as the #1 candidate at UT (and the only candidate seriously considered). I don’t know how Fulmer will fare, but without a doubt, the future is brighter without Haslam calling the shots.

Don’t blame Fulmer. Whether or not Pruitt is a success, Fulmer took over the AD role in less than ideal circumstances. Most of the best coaches had already made their moves by the time Currie was fired. Fulmer has some weaknesses, but I do think he'll get the Athletic Department back in order as it's been one of the biggest things hampering us over the past decade.

Don’t Eeyore UT. I get sick of the “no one great wants to coach at Tennessee” narrative. It’s simply not true. We have the best facilities in the nation. We have more resources than any other program. We have a strong tradition. Our recruiting base has improved significantly over the past decade and we’re a top 10 program on recruiting advantages. The idea that no great coaches want to come here is absurdly false. It’s not that great coaches don’t want to be here. Gary Patterson wanted the job in ’08. Kirby Smart wanted it in ’12. Mike Leach wanted it this year. You wouldn’t believe the names we’ve passed up on over the past decade. The problem is that we have had several ADs (under the influence of Haslam) who didn’t want to sell and hire top candidates; Haslam wanted the candidate willing to grovel and beg for the job, rather than the great candidate who we might’ve had to sell. It’s not like Nick Saban was knocking down Alabama’s doors in 2006; Bama sold him.

Mike Leach. I’m not down on the Pruitt hire, but I do feel like we missed a golden opportunity to hire Leach. Leach has succeeded with less talent consistently. He’s 9-3 this season at Washington State. Wash State is arguably the toughest (or 2nd toughest behind Oregon State) program to win at in the Pac-12. Remember, the only season where Mike Leach arguably had top 30 talent, he went 11-2 at Texas Tech with Michael Crabtree. With the resources of a place like Tennessee, I think Leach could’ve competed for a national title within 3-8 years. We made a reasonable hire in Pruitt, but we also missed a golden opportunity. Let’s hope we don’t regret it.


The Pruitt hire.

Jeremy Pruitt. Pruitt knows defense well. I had many reservations about him due to his time in Georgia (where he was seen as causing locker room chaos), but the more I’ve read, the more I like him. That said, this is not a “home run hire” by any stretch. This is a “High Risk, High Reward” type hire. Pruitt is a great DC who could turn out to be a great HC. We know the defense will be good. We don’t know if he can fix the offense. We’ll have to wait and see.

Don’t judge the hire based on “the list.” Pete Carroll was USC’s 4th or 5th choice and was considered a poor hire. The Clemson search that resulted in Dabo Swinney getting hired was considered a complete failure. Bama had RichRod at the altar in ’06, before he backed out at the last minute, and they had to settle for Nick Saban. Some of the sports websites are giving our hire an “F” because “the process”, but it’s not exactly like we’re the first school to have a “disastrous coaching search” before and some of those “disastrous searches” yielded great coaches. In fact, it almost seems like the trainwreck searches have resulted in better candidates. Keep in mind our "smooth search" would've yielded Greg Schiano.

Offensive staff hires will be crucial. The good news is that we have a ton of talent on offense. The bad news is that it’s not been developed properly for years. You can make a legitimate case that on a talent-adjusted basis, we had the worst offense in the NCAA this season. You don’t recover from that instantly. Can Pruitt bring in the right guys to get the offense moving again? The answer to that question will tell you a lot about how Pruitt fares in Rocky Top.

Worst case scenario: Will Muschamp. This is my nightmare scenario for Pruitt. Muschamp turned Florida’s defense into an elite unit, but the offense was pretty awful for most of his time in Gainesville. During Year #2, it looked like Muschamp had turned the corner with an 11-2 Season and a trip to the Sugar Bowl. Muschamp went 10-13 the next two seasons after that. Just because Pruitt has been good on D doesn’t mean he can magically fix the offense.

Best case scenario: Dabo Swinney. The assistant that takes over a major program, struggles for a few seasons, before turning it into a superpower. Unfortunately, there have been very few Dabo Swinneys in college football history. There are some very promising things about Pruitt, though, so this isn’t far-fetched either. I do think Pruitt will be smarter than Muschamp and that Pruitt’s track record suggests he might be a better guy to run an organization.

Staff hires. One of my concerns on Pruitt is that virtually every person on this staff is getting a promotion from a previous position. Tyson Helton is a QB coach at USC, who will likely be our OC. Kevin Sherrer is an LB coach at Georgia who will be our DC. These “promotion” type hires are the least likely to work out; which isn’t to say they couldn’t work. But you can see our recent history is littered with failures of this type: Sal Sunseri and Larry Scott both fit into this bucket. Whereas, our more successful coordinators have had experience at their position before (Chaney, Wilcox).

Reasons for optimism on staff. While I would rather get a proven OC like Tee Martin, I like that we’re getting a guy familiar with the USC offense in Tyson Helton. I think the USC style offense (also similar to Kiffin’s offense) is a good fit for the University of Tennessee. While I can complain that Pruitt is mostly “promoting” rather than getting proven guys, I will say that the guy’s he’s getting are generally regarded very highly. Helton is a great QB coach and will be a major upgrade over Butch Jones era QB coaches. Will Friend looks like a good hire for O-line. I’d be happy to see Chris Weinke on staff. Tracy Rocker was highly regarded at Georgia. Kevin Sherrer is also highly regarded at Georgia. So I at least view these “promotion” type hires to be more likely to succeed than Butch Jones’ “promotion hires” last season which had huge question marks. Still, it’s a “wait and see” thing for me.

Pruitt is a better hire than Kiffin ’08, Dooley, or Butch. I was not a fan of our last three hires; and I don’t simply mean in hindsight. I thought Kiffin and Dooley were both poor hires when they happened. I thought Butch was an OK, but not great hire. Pruitt is the best of the bunch, but still far from “1st tier.” Let’s hope he fares better than the last three.

Pruitt understands the Saban-system. I do think Pruitt understands the Saban “system” better than almost anyone else outside of Kirby Smart and that’s a plus. He’s making some interesting moves that seem to mimic or expand upon things Saban has been doing to get an edge.

Great recruiters. Pruitt is bringing in some great recruiters. That’s good, but I guess you can say I’m less impressed by this than I might have been a few seasons ago. Butch brought in great recruiters that couldn’t coach. I’m hoping Pruitt brings in great recruiters who can also coach well.

Aight! Pruitt wasn’t my first choice, but I’m behind him 100% right now.


Next season

The SEC just got tougher. Florida just got a major upgrade with Dan Mullen. Arkansas and Texas A&M also likely got upgrades with Chad Morris and Jimbo Fisher, respectively. This conference is a Murderer’s Row that can eat up even very good coaches. Kevin Sumlin was a very good coach that failed at A&M. Even if Pruitt is very good, to succeed in this league, you have to be great right now. It’s a very difficult standard. Hopefully, he at least gets us beating Vandy, Kentucky, Mizzou, and SC again. If you can’t do that consistently, you stand no shot at Bama, Florida, and Georgia.

Don’t expect miracles. Our development on offense is so far behind the curve at this point, it’s unfair to expect it to suddenly turn elite in a single season. I think its Years 2 and 3 that will be critical for Pruitt. We have the talent, but it’s been undercoached for so long, that I don’t think we’re going to see the offense magically click simply because we have a new coach. No one wants to hear it, but if Pruitt makes it to 6-6 and gets us to a bowl game in ’18, be happy. Save your great expectations for ’19 and ’20.

The good news. When Butch was hired, it wasn't realistic to expect great results until at least Year 3 or Year 4. Butch inherited a trainwreck. Pruitt is inheriting a much better situation talent and depth-wise. If Pruitt is good, I think we can start seeing improved results in Year 2.

Hybrid defense. Pruitt ran the 3-4 defense at Bama and Georgia. He ran the 4-3 Multiple defense at Florida State. Pruitt has stated he wants to get the best players on the field and scheme around that, which probably means we have a look more similar to his time at Florida State next season. We probably don't have the personnel to run the 3-4 right now, but don't be surprised if we see a slow evolution towards it.

Refreshing ability to adapt. I don't put much stock into things said in the introductory press conference, but I will say the one thing I liked hearing is that Pruitt will scheme around his own player's strengths and weaknesses. After years of having Butch Jones trying to fit square pegs into round holes, that's refreshing. Butch Jones was one of the least adaptive coaches I can ever recall seeing.

Recruiting class. Obviously, it would be nice to finish strong, but realistically, we know that any year with a coaching change is going to be a weaker class. If we can finish with a top 20 class, I’d say be pretty happy. But it’s the 2019 class that’s really going to show how this staff can recruit.



GBO!

I believe in Ghost.......Aliens too

 

[wtmvol]

I share your concern about the staff's ability to develop talent. I'm more anxious about that aspect than the recruiting rankings. Talent will continue to come to UT. That's never been an issue, even under Dooley. And most of the coaches that have been hired so far are known for their recruiting prowess.

I mean, if Pruitt can't get a top 10ish class in 2019 I will be worried, for sure. But for now, I'm going to assume we'll get a very nice class on paper next year. But can this staff develop it? That will ultimately determine whether CJP is successful here.

 

[zydane47]

Leach no defense, if you won't a ring you got to have a elite defense, look in the playoffs 3 out of the 4 have elite defense's, Oklahoma has the best offense they might win one but not the second one with that defense.

Washington State is ranked 15th in total defense this year........that's pretty dang good

 

[k-town_king]

Best case should be Kirby Smart.

Second year playoff appearance. It could happen depending on recruiting and the development of JG.

 

[Sat330pmAppt]

DG -

Agree with your analysis and want to Go for Two...

1) Helton from USC to UT actually gives Tee Martin a chance to run the show.

2) If Haslam likes Schiano so much, Jimmy can take a mulligan and name him Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns.

GBO!

 

[Grand Vol]

I don't think Tee Pitched him to us, It was reported that Pruitt had told Mississippi State that Helton would be his OC if hired.

Twas a theory only.

I just like "connecting the dots" so to speak and trying to figure out the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon of how Pruitt came up with that name.

 

[Glocker_Alum_2005]

Best case should be Kirby Smart.

Second year playoff appearance. It could happen depending on recruiting and the development of JG.

Great Points DG! I too would have loved Leach, I'd I hope Phil just didn't "Tennessee" this hire. But I do believe our ceiling with Leach would have been 8-9 wins per year. He wasn't bringing his excellent DC. We would have blown out KY, Vandy, maybe SC too...but GA, FL, Bama would have run the ball all over us, just like this year. And as you stated, Pruitt has a high ceiling. IMO, substantially higher than Leach. Also IMO, Pruitt will recruit substantially better than Leach...I just have trouble seeing the Pirate related to parents south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

I believe on your Coaching List you had Pruitt as a Do Not Hire. I am quoting here.."6. Jeremy Pruitt. I'd rather hire Lane Kiffin again than Pruitt. Pruitt was a toxic locker room presence while at Georgia and I also don't think it's a coincidence that he left Tallahassee after one season (in which he won a national title, and yet still made a lateral move to another school.) He's a great DC, but needs to be reigned in by someone like Saban. As a head coach, I think his toxic personality flaws would come to the forefront. "

The last of your DNHs behind the likes of Mike MacIntyre, Mike Bobo, Bobby Petrino, to name a few. Oh yeah and behind Greg Schiano and Scott Satterfield. So that gives me pause. Hopefully now that the dye is cast, were not looking at the Pruitt hire with orange colored glasses.

Lastly no one should expect more than 6-6 next year, nor be severely disappointed with 5-7. We have a super touch schedule. FL and SC will be better. GA will be slightly worse. KY will be worse. Vandy bad as well. Bama will be better. Auburn returns Stidham. Enough said. So unless one of these QB's lights up Dobbs style...6-6 should be the baseline.

 

[a vol n tears]

Good write up OP. Just a couple of my thoughts after reading the above comments.
Patience and VOL fans does not go together. Yea, everyone says patience, but I heard the same with CBJ. Just happy to be in a bowl, then saying that was a crappy bowl. Give him a little time to learn SEC football, then he'll never learn. We are a fickle fan base.
Now for Pruitt. I was so ready for CBJ to be gone. I can accept losing if a coach loses because he doesn't have talent, but hate stupid coaching decisions. I was one who was looking for a tier 1 coach. Was kinda disappointed in "settling" for Pruitt as I am thinking this staff will have to grow and learn. Now I look around at coach hires around the country for the past 8 - 10 years and there is no blueprint that guarantees hiring a winner. Each situation is different. A winner at one place does not guarantee a winner at another. I think Pruitt has as good a chance of succeeding here as any hire they could have made, including Kelley, Mullen, Kiffin, or Leach.

 

[Volteacher]

The craziest coaching search in college football history is over. Here are my thoughts on it all.


The search


Recruiting class. Obviously, it would be nice to finish strong, but realistically, we know that any year with a coaching change is going to be a weaker class. If we can finish with a top 20 class, I’d say be pretty happy. But it’s the 2019 class that’s really going to show how this staff can recruit.



GBO!

Next year in Tennessee ALONE has 19 four stars IF he is what they say he is, we can and should get 13/19 four star players from our own state!!!

 

[rdk4121]

The good news about our coordinators is Tyson Helton has already been an OC and successful QB coach. Was OC for WKU under Brohm. They put up 44ppg and their QB threw for 4800 yards. And while Sherrer is our DC, Pruitt is still our HC and will potentially call the plays on defense if needed.

 

[Volletterman83]

Interesting to wonder about. Interesting read on the Leach offense. It was 9-3 with 6-3 PAC 12 record this year. Explains the concepts pretty well . I think it would work here, especially with a SEC caliber running back.Can the Air Raid offense still be successful in the Pac-12? - CougCenter

I believe the offensive coordinator at Missouri was a Leach offense disciple. I also believe Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma is a Leach offense disciple, so I think his offense would work in the SEC.

 

[shotgun83]

Good post

 

[robmgrig]

The craziest coaching search in college football history is over. Here are my thoughts on it all.


The search

The fan revolt was a success. We won’t know if the Pruitt hire will be a success till several years down the road, but one thing is clear: this was a better hire than Greg Schiano. I firmly believe that Schiano would’ve set the program back decades; as in, we could’ve seen 30,000 empty seats in Neyland in “Year 1” for a new coach. We would’ve been the laughing stock of college football. I’d rather take one week of negative publicity than 3+ years of a trainwreck hire. Schiano was a disaster at Tampa; an abusive autocrat who alienated anyone and everyone around him. He couldn’t land a single college or NFL job for two years because he was so toxic. While he improved Rutgers, the media often overstates this; Schiano improved recruiting, but never made Rutgers elite; he took them from a cellar-dwellar to middle-of-the-road program. While many fans latched onto the Sandusky scandal, that was far from the only reason to question his integrity, and it’s his time in Tampa that makes people less likely to believe him on Sandusky. The media may have demonized us, but we were 100% in the right; Schiano would’ve been one of the worst hires in college football history.

The decline of Haslam. Even more importantly, the revolt pushed the man who has doomed our program for the past decade out of power: Jimmy Haslam. His imprint has been all over every failure. He is now denying involvement with the search but I don’t buy it. Haslam wanted to hire Schiano at Cleveland, a few years earlier when no one else wanted to touch him. Which makes it quite a spectacular coincidence that his name would just randomly pop up as the #1 candidate at UT (and the only candidate seriously considered). I don’t know how Fulmer will fare, but without a doubt, the future is brighter without Haslam calling the shots.

Don’t blame Fulmer. Whether or not Pruitt is a success, Fulmer took over the AD role in less than ideal circumstances. Most of the best coaches had already made their moves by the time Currie was fired. Fulmer has some weaknesses, but I do think he'll get the Athletic Department back in order as it's been one of the biggest things hampering us over the past decade.

Don’t Eeyore UT. I get sick of the “no one great wants to coach at Tennessee” narrative. It’s simply not true. We have the best facilities in the nation. We have more resources than any other program. We have a strong tradition. Our recruiting base has improved significantly over the past decade and we’re a top 10 program on recruiting advantages. The idea that no great coaches want to come here is absurdly false. It’s not that great coaches don’t want to be here. Gary Patterson wanted the job in ’08. Kirby Smart wanted it in ’12. Mike Leach wanted it this year. You wouldn’t believe the names we’ve passed up on over the past decade. The problem is that we have had several ADs (under the influence of Haslam) who didn’t want to sell and hire top candidates; Haslam wanted the candidate willing to grovel and beg for the job, rather than the great candidate who we might’ve had to sell. It’s not like Nick Saban was knocking down Alabama’s doors in 2006; Bama sold him.

Mike Leach. I’m not down on the Pruitt hire, but I do feel like we missed a golden opportunity to hire Leach. Leach has succeeded with less talent consistently. He’s 9-3 this season at Washington State. Wash State is arguably the toughest (or 2nd toughest behind Oregon State) program to win at in the Pac-12. Remember, the only season where Mike Leach arguably had top 30 talent, he went 11-2 at Texas Tech with Michael Crabtree. With the resources of a place like Tennessee, I think Leach could’ve competed for a national title within 3-8 years. We made a reasonable hire in Pruitt, but we also missed a golden opportunity. Let’s hope we don’t regret it.


The Pruitt hire.

Jeremy Pruitt. Pruitt knows defense well. I had many reservations about him due to his time in Georgia (where he was seen as causing locker room chaos), but the more I’ve read, the more I like him. That said, this is not a “home run hire” by any stretch. This is a “High Risk, High Reward” type hire. Pruitt is a great DC who could turn out to be a great HC. We know the defense will be good. We don’t know if he can fix the offense. We’ll have to wait and see.

Don’t judge the hire based on “the list.” Pete Carroll was USC’s 4th or 5th choice and was considered a poor hire. The Clemson search that resulted in Dabo Swinney getting hired was considered a complete failure. Bama had RichRod at the altar in ’06, before he backed out at the last minute, and they had to settle for Nick Saban. Some of the sports websites are giving our hire an “F” because “the process”, but it’s not exactly like we’re the first school to have a “disastrous coaching search” before and some of those “disastrous searches” yielded great coaches. In fact, it almost seems like the trainwreck searches have resulted in better candidates. Keep in mind our "smooth search" would've yielded Greg Schiano.

Offensive staff hires will be crucial. The good news is that we have a ton of talent on offense. The bad news is that it’s not been developed properly for years. You can make a legitimate case that on a talent-adjusted basis, we had the worst offense in the NCAA this season. You don’t recover from that instantly. Can Pruitt bring in the right guys to get the offense moving again? The answer to that question will tell you a lot about how Pruitt fares in Rocky Top.

Worst case scenario: Will Muschamp. This is my nightmare scenario for Pruitt. Muschamp turned Florida’s defense into an elite unit, but the offense was pretty awful for most of his time in Gainesville. During Year #2, it looked like Muschamp had turned the corner with an 11-2 Season and a trip to the Sugar Bowl. Muschamp went 10-13 the next two seasons after that. Just because Pruitt has been good on D doesn’t mean he can magically fix the offense.

Best case scenario: Dabo Swinney. The assistant that takes over a major program, struggles for a few seasons, before turning it into a superpower. Unfortunately, there have been very few Dabo Swinneys in college football history. There are some very promising things about Pruitt, though, so this isn’t far-fetched either. I do think Pruitt will be smarter than Muschamp and that Pruitt’s track record suggests he might be a better guy to run an organization.

Staff hires. One of my concerns on Pruitt is that virtually every person on this staff is getting a promotion from a previous position. Tyson Helton is a QB coach at USC, who will likely be our OC. Kevin Sherrer is an LB coach at Georgia who will be our DC. These “promotion” type hires are the least likely to work out; which isn’t to say they couldn’t work. But you can see our recent history is littered with failures of this type: Sal Sunseri and Larry Scott both fit into this bucket. Whereas, our more successful coordinators have had experience at their position before (Chaney, Wilcox).

Reasons for optimism on staff. While I would rather get a proven OC like Tee Martin, I like that we’re getting a guy familiar with the USC offense in Tyson Helton. I think the USC style offense (also similar to Kiffin’s offense) is a good fit for the University of Tennessee. While I can complain that Pruitt is mostly “promoting” rather than getting proven guys, I will say that the guy’s he’s getting are generally regarded very highly. Helton is a great QB coach and will be a major upgrade over Butch Jones era QB coaches. Will Friend looks like a good hire for O-line. I’d be happy to see Chris Weinke on staff. Tracy Rocker was highly regarded at Georgia. Kevin Sherrer is also highly regarded at Georgia. So I at least view these “promotion” type hires to be more likely to succeed than Butch Jones’ “promotion hires” last season which had huge question marks. Still, it’s a “wait and see” thing for me.

Pruitt is a better hire than Kiffin ’08, Dooley, or Butch. I was not a fan of our last three hires; and I don’t simply mean in hindsight. I thought Kiffin and Dooley were both poor hires when they happened. I thought Butch was an OK, but not great hire. Pruitt is the best of the bunch, but still far from “1st tier.” Let’s hope he fares better than the last three.

Pruitt understands the Saban-system. I do think Pruitt understands the Saban “system” better than almost anyone else outside of Kirby Smart and that’s a plus. He’s making some interesting moves that seem to mimic or expand upon things Saban has been doing to get an edge.

Great recruiters. Pruitt is bringing in some great recruiters. That’s good, but I guess you can say I’m less impressed by this than I might have been a few seasons ago. Butch brought in great recruiters that couldn’t coach. I’m hoping Pruitt brings in great recruiters who can also coach well.

Aight! Pruitt wasn’t my first choice, but I’m behind him 100% right now.


Next season

The SEC just got tougher. Florida just got a major upgrade with Dan Mullen. Arkansas and Texas A&M also likely got upgrades with Chad Morris and Jimbo Fisher, respectively. This conference is a Murderer’s Row that can eat up even very good coaches. Kevin Sumlin was a very good coach that failed at A&M. Even if Pruitt is very good, to succeed in this league, you have to be great right now. It’s a very difficult standard. Hopefully, he at least gets us beating Vandy, Kentucky, Mizzou, and SC again. If you can’t do that consistently, you stand no shot at Bama, Florida, and Georgia.

Don’t expect miracles. Our development on offense is so far behind the curve at this point, it’s unfair to expect it to suddenly turn elite in a single season. I think its Years 2 and 3 that will be critical for Pruitt. We have the talent, but it’s been undercoached for so long, that I don’t think we’re going to see the offense magically click simply because we have a new coach. No one wants to hear it, but if Pruitt makes it to 6-6 and gets us to a bowl game in ’18, be happy. Save your great expectations for ’19 and ’20.

The good news. When Butch was hired, it wasn't realistic to expect great results until at least Year 3 or Year 4. Butch inherited a trainwreck. Pruitt is inheriting a much better situation talent and depth-wise. If Pruitt is good, I think we can start seeing improved results in Year 2.

Hybrid defense. Pruitt ran the 3-4 defense at Bama and Georgia. He ran the 4-3 Multiple defense at Florida State. Pruitt has stated he wants to get the best players on the field and scheme around that, which probably means we have a look more similar to his time at Florida State next season. We probably don't have the personnel to run the 3-4 right now, but don't be surprised if we see a slow evolution towards it.

Refreshing ability to adapt. I don't put much stock into things said in the introductory press conference, but I will say the one thing I liked hearing is that Pruitt will scheme around his own player's strengths and weaknesses. After years of having Butch Jones trying to fit square pegs into round holes, that's refreshing. Butch Jones was one of the least adaptive coaches I can ever recall seeing.

Recruiting class. Obviously, it would be nice to finish strong, but realistically, we know that any year with a coaching change is going to be a weaker class. If we can finish with a top 20 class, I’d say be pretty happy. But it’s the 2019 class that’s really going to show how this staff can recruit.



GBO!

Great comments as always. You outta get paid to write this stuff for a magazine or website, not post it for free on volnation. 😁

 

[fla orange]

I'M SORRY COULD YOU REPEAT THAT?



Nice take man!

 

[DiderotsGhost]

Great comments as always. You outta get paid to write this stuff for a magazine or website, not post it for free on volnation. 😁

Maybe one day, I'll launch my own site, but for now, I just post here. Not as if there are a great shortage of websites dedicated to Tennessee football, though

 

[aaronvol]

Sorry, but this really bugs me!
From UT Sports
On the process of appointing his staff:
"We are going to take our time. We are going to choose the right guys who are the right fit. We're not going to talk about any names, but that is what we are going to do."

The following day we have an offensive and defensive coordinator.

Yeah that mist be really tough. Sorry it's hard on you man.