Which coach walked into the worst situation

[#1fulmerite]

As the title said, which coach do you believe took over the worst program? Fulmer is not listed, obviously because the program was already doing well. Seems over the years and still now, there is debate in many threads as to the quality of players in the program when each of these choices became the HC

Though Dooley had Bray, I give a nod to him as virtually none of CLK’s one recruiting class panned out. Runner up on my list would have to be Jones as there was nothing but, I’m tempted to switch CJH due to all of the transfers when Pruitt was let go.

 

[KittenVol]

“Kiffen” is a German slang term that means smoke pot. “Kiffin” refers to the American football coach.

 

[DaddyChad]

As the title said, which coach do you believe took over the worst program? Fulmer is not listed, obviously because the program was already doing well. Seems over the years and still now, there is debate in many threads as to the quality of players in the program when each of these choices became the HC

Though Dooley had Bray, I give a nod to him as virtually none of CLK’s one recruiting class panned out. Runner up on my list would have to be Jones as there was nothing but, I’m tempted to switch CJH due to all of the transfers when Pruitt was let go.

Question is did Dooley piss that talent away? Heupel took guys that didn’t look so good here and at other places and made a run.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Kiffin, but he was better at dealing with it. Fulmer left the cupboard almost bare, headed by a QB whose confidence was even below sewer level. If Kiffin hadn't forked up and stayed, I believe we would have stormed back. He did a lot of things wrong in his rush to succeed, the bolted for USC. I detest what he did, but the fact is, he was/is one heil of a coach.

 

[Special Ed]

Kiffin be Kiffen?

 

[The Original Fade]

Kiffin, but he was better at dealing with it. Fulmer left the cupboard almost bare, headed by a QB whose confidence was even below sewer level. If Kiffin hadn't forked up and stayed, I believe we would have stormed back. He did a lot of things wrong in his rush to succeed, the bolted for USC. I detest what he did, but the fact is, he was/is one heil of a coach.

Kiffin has been above average as a head coach but no better. He’s matured a bit but I still think he’s better as an OC than leading a program

 

[RDU VOL#14]

As the title said, which coach do you believe took over the worst program? Fulmer is not listed, obviously because the program was already doing well. Seems over the years and still now, there is debate in many threads as to the quality of players in the program when each of these choices became the HC

Though Dooley had Bray, I give a nod to him as virtually none of CLK’s one recruiting class panned out. Runner up on my list would have to be Jones as there was nothing but, I’m tempted to switch CJH due to all of the transfers when Pruitt was let go.

You can’t dismiss the massive NCAA cloud hanging over the program when Heupel arrived and had to recruit not only players, but a staff to that was really going into the unknown . What Heupel has done has been pretty remarkable. Averaging 9 wins through his first 3 seasons and navigating the NCAA stuff. I don’t think anyone else has had to deal w/ similar issues, including a massive amount of transfers .

 

[VolBricks]

I voted for Heupel because of all of the players that left right before he was hired. I started to vote for Jones because Fooley left the cupboards bare when he was fired.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Kiffin has been above average as a head coach but no better. He’s matured a bit but I still think he’s better as an OC than leading a program

Granted. But had he behaved and stayed, we wouldn't have endured Dooley - do wrong, Lyle Allen, or Puddinghead, I* mean Pruitt. At the risk of being drawn and quartered by the Vols faithful, I believe had Lyle Allen not made stupid decisions like firing Jancek, preferring light weight OLs, stubbornly staying with his spread offense, and lying to Hurd, he would have been more successful than he was. An utter failure to understand he was coaching in the SEC, not some low tier conference. But Kiffin, was an upgrade IF, he had behaved and had 1/10 oz of integrity. I severely doubt he would have pissed away the talent Dooley and Butch had.

 

[volglass]

I voted Jones because Kiffin obviously torched one recruiting class and Dooley didn’t recruit OL and didn’t improve players as far as I could tell. Jones came in and Worley was his starting QB.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

Tough call but I think it’s Heupel. That list of transfers after Pruitt was fired is really long, not to mention the NCAA cloud that he had to navigate. I saw a quote from Heupel this past season that they have a ton of freshmen and sophomores then a huge gap and then some seniors. So basically an entire recruiting class was missed from the Pruitt fallout.

 

[Chad F]

Kiffin is human garbage.

Sorry … any time he comes up I feel like puking.

 

[BigBadVol]

It’s not even close. Heupel inherited the worst roster in college football with only around 40 scholarship players.

 

[savannahfan]

Kiffin, but he was better at dealing with it. Fulmer left the cupboard almost bare, headed by a QB whose confidence was even below sewer level. If Kiffin hadn't forked up and stayed, I believe we would have stormed back. He did a lot of things wrong in his rush to succeed, the bolted for USC. I detest what he did, but the fact is, he was/is one heil of a coach.

No ""If's" or "buts" --- This is a fact that can't be denied.

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

Heupel came in after the most incompetent AD and the most incompetent HC I have ever seen for the Vols.

So I voted Heupel.

 

[Vol8188]

I voted for Jones. Those DBs and LBs when he came in were horrific. Same with most of that roster

 

[VolInDayton]

Most people were predicting 4 or 5 wins when Heupel was hired. Dooleys timing was awful and it was much hard to replace talent quickly then, but Heupel came in at the worst time.

 

[igotworms]

Kiffin is human garbage.

Sorry … any time he comes up I feel like puking.

So why be sorry?

 

[DaddyChad]

Kiffin, but he was better at dealing with it. Fulmer left the cupboard almost bare, headed by a QB whose confidence was even below sewer level. If Kiffin hadn't forked up and stayed, I believe we would have stormed back. He did a lot of things wrong in his rush to succeed, the bolted for USC. I detest what he did, but the fact is, he was/is one heil of a coach.

Kiffin wasn’t in a place mentally to be successful even if he stayed. He was a drunk with a lot of distractions at that point in his life whose marriage would unravel shortly after that.

 

[GAVol]

I voted for Jones. Those DBs and LBs when he came in were horrific. Same with most of that roster

To me, Dooley and Jones were neck and neck. Every coaching change wrecks the roster. Multiple coaching changes inside a 4 year window absolutely nukes the roster. It was like we got hit with NCAA sanctions in 2009 followed by the death penalty in 2012.

 

[bigorangepoppa]

I voted Jones because Kiffin obviously torched one recruiting class and Dooley didn’t recruit OL and didn’t improve players as far as I could tell. Jones came in and Worley was his starting QB.

Butch for some reason, kept changing the strength and conditioning coach. Seems like the first one he hired was doing good things with the players, but then Butch must have decided he wanted smaller, quicker players, instead of the road graders the SEC requires.

If I remember correctly, Dooley wasn't very good at monitoring the players about strength and conditioning program. Seems I remember some of the players talked about signing the attendance sheet, then left. No accountability.

 

[Pump Guy]

I remember taking my two boys to the 2009 Spring practice that was open to the public (there was no game in Neyland that year, I think they were replacing the sod). So this was Kiffin's first Spring. I was taken aback at how small we were. Obviously we had some really good players, including Eric Berry, but the cubbard was bare.

We signed five, 5 Stars in 2007, but only one (Berry) panned out. The 2008 recruiting class was ranked 35th by Rivals with only 18 signees. I think Fulmer was coasting going into 2008 both recruiting and team discipline after losing several assistants and the result was a disastrous 2008 season (we lost to Wyoming and nearly lost to Northern Illinois).

I would say the worst situation was what Kiffin walked into, except for how Kiffen left, I think there was a compound effect for Dooley. Too bad Dooley was a colossal prick.

 

[FBtime]

Kiffin, but he was better at dealing with it. Fulmer left the cupboard almost bare, headed by a QB whose confidence was even below sewer level. If Kiffin hadn't forked up and stayed, I believe we would have stormed back. He did a lot of things wrong in his rush to succeed, the bolted for USC. I detest what he did, but the fact is, he was/is one heil of a coach.

This isn't about who you think is the best coach it is about who inherited the worst situation when they became head coach and it's really not even close, Heupel.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

This isn't about who you think is the best coach it is about who inherited the worst situation when they became head coach and it's really not even close, Heupel.

Correct, and if you read the post less critically, you would see I was saying despite the mess, he did and would have done well IF he had not forked up. Does that help?

 

[VolBricks]

Reading these comments I am starting to feel BVS creeping in around the edges. So glad we have Heupel and a competent coaching staff that can recruit and teach the game.