Elliott on not taking UT job.

[GOVOLS 1]

Today’s kids are the same way, they want to win now. They’re not interested in fixer-upper’s, they want move in ready. Were 5 star players beating down the door to get into Alabama before Saban got there like they are now? I don’t think so.

 

[TNnative]

Well we definitely lucked out not getting Elliot.

We will see soon enough. If you wear orange colored glasses, you will criticize his decision. If you don't? You see Tennessee is what Tennessee is right now: A place where go coaches go to fail and collect a buyout. That may not be the truth, but it is the perception of those who said no. I don't know if Heupel will be "the guy" or not. If his stay ends without a s**t creamed pie fight for once? That will be progress.

 

[ButchPlz]

Didn't want him anyway.

For real though.

 

[TNnative]

“I wanna be in a situation where I can hunker down and really fully invest in the community. Fully invest in the institution. Fully invest in the program. Build something special.”


Well....eff you too Tony.

Why? How can anyone fully invest having to look over their shoulder? With sanctions looming, and recent history? I don't blame him.

 

[Longshank]

Some fans don’t want to admit it but Tennessee isn’t a attractive job right now and hasn’t been in a long time it’s a dead end job and a graveyard for coaches. I would argue that right now Kentucky and South Carolina are more attractive jobs than Tennessee.

Its so different then the 90s. Back then the many states Tennessee borders were not that great and tennessee could recruit a lot easier. All the carolina schools are better. Georgia and bama were good bit not always great. Kentucky was a basketball school.
Your totally right. Without a coach that could really light up college football with inferior players to get interest nationally Tennessee slips further and further.
Its all about QB play. Tennessee has been without a QB since Dooley I think. Sorry dobbs was good and a gamer but he wasnt all that great. I think dobbs was the last time tennessee really had good vibes.
Butch Jones wasnt horrible to start but the act got thin on everyone. Then he faded out fast.
I just ask the question, was that really good time under fulmer just a really freaky thing were so many things had to be to right for the team to be a national powerhouse that it will be very difficult to replicate?
Recruiting was a lot easier then, manning coming loaded the team with top talent wanting to play with him. The champs was loaded.
Again who can string a couple of good QBs together for a few years will get the better QB recruits. That is why I never thought cornbread was a good hire and he need to find a young offensive coach to being in offensive talent and get at least some positive production from the QBs.
If this guy has a top 20 team in 2-3 years, I wouldnt be so quick to get rid of him. Let them try to get a couple of QBs and see how they coach them up.

 

[Longshank]

I like the fact that we didn’t hire a coordinator from some place like Clemson or Alabama. Having elite players at every position can make you look like a better coach than you really are. Just look at Jeremy Pruitts defenses while he was a Tennessee for proof. Maybe Huepel can scheme us some upsets, and get some momentum going in recruiting.

That is the key. The other is that they are exciting and in games. He has to win some questionable games. Decent QB play will go a long way.
The other is tennessee needs to be happy to be a top 20 team. Then hope from time to time you have a great team.
Let the team lose a few and say we play good, it was fun and there is improvement.
Exciting and in games, although heart breaking at times, will be more fun. Pruitt was so boring. So was the team.
With all the players leaving and the mess here, this coach should get 2 years to sort it out. Just enjoy when the do win.

 

[Rooster1]

Elliott would have been a massive mistake. UT dodged one there tbh. When he was elevated to OC (co-OC to be exact), CU already had their offensive system in place and were stocked with some of the best talent in the nation. Elliott did not create the winning culture, and he did not create or design the offense. Tbh, he is a decent recruiter, but that school was already recruiting at the Bama level before he became co-OC. He was and is riding the Clemson wave, and the reason he only wants an opportunity where everything is already in place is because that’s all he has ever known. He has never created his own offense or built his own program and he knows he isn’t up to any job except a Cherry.

 

[Firebirdparts]

You know it’s funny that he didn’t take undefeated UCF. That was clearly his shot at exactly that. Missed it.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Why? How can anyone fully invest having to look over their shoulder? With sanctions looming, and recent history? I don't blame him.

Why would anyone take Elliott seriously as a candidate in interviews going forward?

Why? How can anyone fully invest having to look over their shoulder? With sanctions looming, and recent history? I don't blame him.

Thats all well and good but isn't what he was quoted as saying in my post.

If he said he was worried about sanctions or turnover in the administration, that is one thing.

What he essentially said was that he didn't deem the University of TN or the community worthy of his full investment.

 

[TNnative]

Why would anyone take Elliott seriously as a candidate in interviews going forward?


Thats all well and good but isn't what he was quoted as saying in my post.

If he said he was worried about sanctions or turnover in the administration, that is one thing.

What he essentially said was that he didn't deem the University of TN or the community worthy of his full investment.

Yeah that is one way to look at it. BUT, with the way Tennessee's recent history has been? Why would any coach, outside of a very nice payday, want a stop at Tennessee to be on his resume? Why would a potentially promising coach like Elliot fully invest when the s**t keeps hitting the fan? Consider how many reporters cover the Vols, and are digging for the next big scoop? (Many of which have not been 100% reliable). If you were a coach, would you want to field questions from these jokers? Would you want to do a coaching show with Boring Bob? Hell, he asked some of the stupidest questions of them all! Would you want to fully invest with staff members and administration ready to quickly reports you? Would you even consider saying yes with the possibility that before you can grab a pen, the entire state is protesting you?

Hell, if I were a coach, I would have it in my contract that the band does not play Rocky top when our offense is on that end of the field. So my QB can call a freakin audible without a bunch of lame assed idiots needing to yell "WOO!" over him. There are so many levels of stupid in Knoxville that you cannot see, but coaches know about. But Hey, you live with your orange colored glasses on. More power to you, I guess. But until common sense, and putting the right people around you becomes a priority in Knoxville? I fully expect the guy doing a coaching search to vet at least 80 names to get one to come here. Between the press, administration, feuding donors, and half witted fans? It's no wonder our worthiness is questioned.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Yeah that is one way to look at it. BUT, with the way Tennessee's recent history has been? Why would any coach, outside of a very nice payday, want a stop at Tennessee to be on his resume? Why would a potentially promising coach like Elliot fully invest when the s**t keeps hitting the fan? Consider how many reporters cover the Vols, and are digging for the next big scoop? (Many of which have not been 100% reliable). If you were a coach, would you want to field questions from these jokers? Would you want to do a coaching show with Boring Bob? Hell, he asked some of the stupidest questions of them all! Would you want to fully invest with staff members and administration ready to quickly reports you? Would you even consider saying yes with the possibility that before you can grab a pen, the entire state is protesting you?

Hell, if I were a coach, I would have it in my contract that the band does not play Rocky top when our offense is on that end of the field. So my QB can call a freakin audible without a bunch of lame assed idiots needing to yell "WOO!" over him. There are so many levels of stupid in Knoxville that you cannot see, but coaches know about. Buy Hey, you live with your orange colored glasses on. More power to you, I guess. But until common sense, and putting the right people around you becomes a priority in Knoxville? I fully expect the guy doing a coaching search to vet at least 80 names to get one to come here. Between the press, administration, feuding donors, and half witted fans? It's no wonder our worthiness is questioned.

LMAO

My "orange colored glasses".

What a joke. I've dogged this program and coaches as much as anyone on here the past 10 years or so.

Hate to break it to you and your buddy Elliott, but any major program is going to deal with a semi hostile press looking for dirt, dim-witted fans, and meddling boosters and administration outside of Tuscaloosa. And it even took Saban awhile and a lot of wins to get everyone in lock step.

Elliott announced to any potential program he doesn't have the stones to deal with the outside noise and. that and even if you do interview him, he may not be fully invested in the program.

 

[TNnative]

LMAO

My "orange colored glasses".

What a joke. I've dogged this program and coaches as much as anyone on here the past 10 years or so.

Hate to break it to you and your buddy Elliott, but any major program is going to deal with a semi hostile press looking for dirt, dim-witted fans, and meddling boosters and administration outside of Tuscaloosa. And it even took Saban awhile and a lot of wins to get everyone in lock step.

Elliott announced to any potential program he doesn't have the stones to deal with the outside noise and. that and even if you do interview him, he may not be fully invested in the program.

Well, excuse my response seeming a joke. When you said Tennessee was not worth his time, I assumed you had those glasses super glued to your face. Yes, you have dogged them, even when I wasn't. And while other programs do have a level of outside noise? It seems to me we are the industry leader in that respect. So, despite all that, to take anyone saying no to Tennessee as offensive? I maintain I cannot fault them. Even Elliott.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Well, excuse my response seeming a joke. When you said Tennessee was not worth his time, I assumed you had those glasses super glued to your face. Yes, you have dogged them, even when I wasn't. And while other programs do have a level of outside noise? It seems to me we are the industry leader in that respect. So, despite all that, to take anyone saying no to Tennessee as offensive? I maintain I cannot fault them. Even Elliott.

You continue to attribute things to me I have never said.

I took little to no offense to coaches turning this program down and didn't need a book report from you on the shortcomings and problems in Knoxville any more than those coaches did.

What I found particularly short sighted was the specific comment I quoted from Elliott in that he took the time to at least discuss the job with White then turns around and says he couldn't fully invest in Knoxville or the program.

At this level, he can do the homework through back channels and know what was going on in Knoxville. Should have known ahead of time whether he could be " fully invested ".

What he did was parlay the interest from UT into a big raise from Clemson like Gundy and others have done in the past.

I am sure he prayed really hard on that 300,000$ raise he got from Clemson.

But then he took it a step further to make it seem like Knoxville and the program was beneath him. A simple no comment or it wasn't a good fit but I appreciate the interest would have sufficed.

By the way, Josh Heupel is the coach now. Not going to worry much about a potential Chad Morris 2.0 at this point.

 

[Mike_3720]

Don’t blame Elliott for not coming he could see the writing on the wall. Trouble everywhere!

 

[butchna]

LMAO

My "orange colored glasses".

What a joke. I've dogged this program and coaches as much as anyone on here the past 10 years or so.

Hate to break it to you and your buddy Elliott, but any major program is going to deal with a semi hostile press looking for dirt, dim-witted fans, and meddling boosters and administration outside of Tuscaloosa. And it even took Saban awhile and a lot of wins to get everyone in lock step.

Elliott announced to any potential program he doesn't have the stones to deal with the outside noise and. that and even if you do interview him, he may not be fully invested in the program.

And note the chattering dissent whenever Bama loses. Winning championships at an unprecedented pace merely holds them at bay. Trevor Lawrence and Burrows had them craving blood.

 

[rocytop2624]

So he wanted the opportunity to "win now". IOW, wanted to walk into a loaded roster on a winning program.

What, he doesn't think he can build a winning program in 3-4 years?

Hmmm...

He ain't no pal.

 

[Rooster1]

Elliott is an imposter, he won’t make it as a HC. Guys like Franklin (Vandy), Fickell (Cinn), Campbell (Iowa St.), Kiffin (Fla Atl) etc all had the confidence and willingness to jump into a program that wasn’t set up on a tee by any means, and they just built and won. That’s what UT needs, that alpha type, not a glorified cheerleader like Elliott.

 

[zidanefan]

All day long, this. I don’t know if Heupel is the one to bring us back. I don’t know if anyone is the one to bring us back. I sure hope it’s Heupel.

What I am sure of is that we didn’t need to give another coordinator his first HC gig.

I know, it’s ridiculous to quote your own post.

I was thinking about this the other day and thought of an addendum. Elliott may go on to be an amazing head coach. My post wasn’t a commentary on his ability.

It was a commentary on UT as a gig. Being a head coach is difficult enough, but the overall environment here has been proven to be difficult at best, possibly even toxic toward head coaches. I wouldn’t expect any first time head coach to succeed here, regardless of pedigree or talent.

If Elliott ends up successful somewhere that doesn’t necessarily mean he’d have succeeded here.

 

[MWAVolfan]

I hate to say it, but I find myself not respecting that perspective very much.

It seems as if Elliott doesn't trust himself and his own skills enough to succeed under trying conditions. That he only believes he can do well if things are handed to him on a platter, relatively speaking.

By comparison, Josh Heupel seems supremely confident. He certainly seems significantly more self-assured than Tony Elliott, at this point in time.

Give it a couple years.

I'd restate what you said a different way. Elliott is wise enough to know whoever takes the UT job is going to get his nuts handed to him, no matter how good a coach you are. This program is so broken that it's going to take a while.

Huepel on the other hand is Jeremy Pruitt 2.0. He's confident because he just got handed 4 million bucks out of the blue. Nobody else was looking to hire him. It's awful easy to be that confident when you got a huge pay raise of guaranteed money that is yours even if you fail miserably. And Heupel KNOWS he wasn't the guy UT wanted. So the expectations are very low that he will succeed.

Elliott on the other hand can have any job he chooses and the expectations on him are through the roof. Why would he NOT walk into the best possible opportunity to win? Huepel wasnt in that position. Nobody was looking at him.

 

[VAVol85]

Bump…this discussion thread has links and thoughts that may explain why Danny White was a little prickly about Elliot’s recent comments.

TLDR…Elliot wanted to step into a win now situation rather than build something and UT wasn’t a good enough opportunity.

 

[Vol8188]

I wonder if both White and Elliot were telling the truth here? Maybe when he says he “turned the job down” he doesn’t mean he was offered but rather “I interviewed and it didn’t feel like the right fit so I withdrew”

 

[Sarms58]

Yea, Virginia was a much better option than Tennessee....

You want a coach with good decision-making skills...

 

[Vol8188]

Yea, Virginia was a much better option than Tennessee....

You want a coach with good decision-making skills...

That’s more about the difference a year makes than it is VA vs TN. I don’t think he had a choice but to leave Clemson that year

 

[GreyWolf1129]

So he wanted the opportunity to "win now". IOW, wanted to walk into a loaded roster on a winning program.

What, he doesn't think he can build a winning program in 3-4 years?

Hmmm...

And now he's about to get his ass kicked up between his ears by the team he "turned down" back then.

Thank goodness he did.

How'd that work out for you, Chuckles?

Go Vols.

 

[Jax_Vol]

Who the heck is Tony Elliott?

I thought that was a NASCAR driver.