Grading the hires

[Lawrence Wright]

In that case, pruitt A++. Duh

I know right?

Mullen never won anything at Mississippi State...totally inexcusable. UF is screwed.

0-12

 

[BUBear]

I'm not sure why the Baylor administration loves you guys so much but y'all should send them an extra special Chistmas gift present every year for eternity. Not only did we serve y'all up Frank Broyles back in the day (took Hayden Fry to the Ozarks with him) but Chad Morris was begging for the Baylor job too...we hired Jim Grobe instead :banghead2:. Never let Baptist preachers near your football program!!!

WOW! That was a pretty quick flip in the Christmas giving. Y'all got anymore 4* commits?


BREAKING: Baylor lands four-star DB Byron Hanspard, Jr. | SicEm365

Baylor has added a verbal commitment to their 2018 recruiting class from four-star defensive back Byron Hanspard, Jr. (DeSoto). The commitment from Hanspard (6-0, 170) comes a little over a week after his trip to Waco for an official visit to Baylor from Dec. 1-3.


The son of former Texas Tech great Byron Hanspard, Hanspard previously committed to Arkansas from March 15 to Nov. 29 before opening up his recruitment when head coach Brett Bielema was fired by the SEC program.His father, Byron Sr., won the Doak Walker Award in 1996 at Texas Tech.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

It's just me but I think Chad Morris is the best hire of the bunch.....

It's a defensible position. Not sure why Morris gets so much hate on these boards. He was one of the best OCs in the nation at Clemson and developed the offense that would eventually win a national title. He took an SMU program that was a complete disaster and had it looking competitive again in 3 seasons.

Arkansas is a tough job right now, but Morris is a very good fit. Arkansas is not a state loaded with talent, so they need someone who can recruit one of the more talent-rich areas well, and Morris certainly fits the bill given his background in Texas and in the Southeast. I'm reluctant to predict a return to Petrino years given how brutal the SEC West is at this point, but Arkansas will improve under Morris for sure and he'll recruit at a much higher level than Bielema.

 

[gohogs14]

WOW! That was a pretty quick flip in the Christmas giving. Y'all got anymore 4* commits?


BREAKING: Baylor lands four-star DB Byron Hanspard, Jr. | SicEm365

Yeah I figured he'd be gone once Bielema was. Surprised Morris never attempted to get him back though, we flipped an in-state DB from Mississippi State instead.

This class was always going to be ranked lower than our usual classes since we don't have room to sign that many so Morris has his work cut out for him in the next week.

 

[UTK]

I know right?

Mullen never won anything at Mississippi State...totally inexcusable. UF is screwed.

0-12

Mullen B+ hire

Pruitt B- Hire.

There you go. Both could easily turn into A+ hires. I think they will honestly. But Pruitt has the better chance to fail. East will be a three headed monster in a couple years imo. And I think the West will be a three headed monster with A&M, Bama and Auburn. LSU isn't going to be elite under ED O

 

[NashVol11]

Chip Kelly is hands down a better coach than Jimbo. Jimbo is a mediocre coach who recruits well, but I doubt it's enough to win the SEC. Jameis Winston isn't coming back anytime soon

 

[NashVol11]

Moorhead is generally flying under the radar, but I think he will be a very good hire for MSU.

 

[zooguy]

Chip Kelly is hands down a better coach than Jimbo. Jimbo is a mediocre coach who recruits well, but I doubt it's enough to win the SEC. Jameis Winston isn't coming back anytime soon

Hands down? Uh, Ok. One has won a National Championship. One hasn't. They've both won multiple conference championships.

Results matter. :lolabove:

 

[NashVol11]

Hands down? Uh, Ok. One has won a National Championship. One hasn't. They've both won multiple conference championships.

Results matter. :lolabove:

Larry Coker and Phillip Fulmer won titles too. Didn’t stop them from getting fired

 

[TennFan]

Every article I’ve seen gives Tennessee a D/F for the hire, but attributes it mostly to the disaster that the coaching search was.

If we look at the hires themselves (with what we know regarding Pruitt’s staff), what grades do y’all give?

Here are mine:

Chip Kelly - UCLA
A+
Obvious home run. Tremendous success in the same conference. No reason why it shouldn’t translate to UCLA.

Jimbo Fisher - Texas A&M
A
Solid hire for A&M. If you have the money to spend, why not go big? Seems to have fallen off a bit, even with top tier talent, but he does have a championship so...

Scott Frost - Nebraska
A
Obvious hire is obvious. Nebraska lands the top up and coming coach in the nation. Athough, considering he’s bringing his entire staff from the AAC, I’m a little skeptical.

Dan Mullen - Florida
B+
Solid job building the program at Mississippi State. Mediocre record against top 25 teams, now we’ll see how much of a difference he can make with top talent, and if he can recruit that talent.

Jeremy Pruitt - Tennessee
B
The search was a dumpster fire, but I really think we ended up with a good one. Lots of risk with taking a coordinator, but the upside is clear to see. You want to see a coordinator surround himself with good coaches, and he’s going far and away above that standard.

Willie Taggart - Florida State
B
Consistently elevates the talent at his programs, but has never stuck around long enough to reap the benefits of said talent. Recruiting is proven, winning hasn’t been yet.

Chad Morris - Arkansas
B-
Brilliant offensive mind, more than decent job rebuilding SMU, but nothing awe-inspiring. If he somehow poaches Venables, this gets upgraded to an A-.

Joe Morehead - Mississippi State
B-
Another good coordinator coming to the SEC. I rank him below Pruitt only due to staff decisions at this point. Did a good job as the HC at Fordham, but as we all know the SEC is a totally different animal.

Josh Heupel - UCF
B-
Decent hire for UCF became much better with the addition of Randy’s Shannon at DC. Will be interesting to see how they continue the run that Frost started.

Jonathan Smith - Oregon State
C
QB at Oregon state, coached under Chris Petersen. The fans like him, so that’s a step in the right direction for the Beavers.

Mario Cristobal - Oregon
C-
Really feel like Oregon could’ve done better here. Cristobal’s offense was defense before Herbert went down, but how much of that credit belongs to Taggart? Apparently the players pressured the AD into this hire; petition from the locker room wanted Cristobal bad.

Matt Luke - Ole Miss
D
Considering the situation, this was the Rebels’ only option. Sorry not sorry...

Herm Edwards - Arizona State
F
Haha, wow. Somebody in another thread mentioned that Herm probably has CTE. Strong agree. Pro tip - when you sign up to coach a team, make sure you know what they’re called!

I read that Herm Edwards didn't know the macot was a Sun Devil!😱😨😕

 

[BUBear]

Yeah I figured he'd be gone once Bielema was. Surprised Morris never attempted to get him back though, we flipped an in-state DB from Mississippi State instead.

This class was always going to be ranked lower than our usual classes since we don't have room to sign that many so Morris has his work cut out for him in the next week.

Good news for Arkansas fans: John Stephen Jones passed for 320+ yards last weekend and is primed to win his second straight 5A D1 championship this coming weekend. Jones is the best QB from Highland Park since that kid that finished 2nd to RGIII for the Hiesman.

Also, Baylor secured the commitment of 4* QB Gerry Bohanon (Earle, Ark) today.

 

[gohogs14]

Sounds like we're in negotiations with Chavis for DC. Meh...

 

[HSTVol]

JUST grading the HIRES. It’s not relevant to factor in subsequently hired assistants because (1) they came in AFTER the HC hire, and (2) every staff is incomplete at this point.

JUST rating how each school did with selecting their next HC:

Chip Kelly - UCLA
A Proven winner at the college level. Only reason he’s not an A+ is his brush with the NCAA while at Oregon.

Jimbo Fisher - Texas A&M
A Another proven winner with the 2013 BCS Championship in his trophy case. If he did better this past season, he’d of been an A+.

Scott Frost - Nebraska
A A no-brainer for the Huskers. Made UCF scary good in a hurry.

Dan Mullen - Florida
B Solid offensive coach. Offense seems to put too much on the QB position at times.

Jeremy Pruitt - Tennessee
B- Super DC, stud recruiter, but throwing out my “homer” bias, what was he, our 8th choice? Throw in, no HC experience at any level, hard to rate this any higher. BUT Georgia did the same thing and it’s working for them.

Willie Taggart - Florida State
C 16-20 at WKU. 24-25 at USF. 14-10 at Oregon

Chad Morris - Arkansas
B SMU showed steady but not spectacular improvement under him.

Joe Moorhead - Mississippi State
C- Long time coach, almost entirely at smaller schools.

Josh Heupel - UCF
B- Put up BIG TIME numbers as OC at Mizzou. 1st time HC.

Jonathan Smith - Oregon State
C Solid job as OC, but how much was him and how much was Chris Petersen?

Mario Cristobal - Oregon
D Apparently a really good position coach, but never showed anything as HC at FIU. (27-47)

Matt Luke - Ole Miss
C Took over Ole Miss at the last minute and in disarray and finished 6-6.

Herm Edwards - Arizona State
Z Yes, on an A-F scale this hire is a Z!

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Sounds like we're in negotiations with Chavis for DC. Meh...

oh please no.

 

[Tidal Surge]

Report: John Chavis to be named Arkansas defensive coordinator

 

[KBVol]

JUST grading the HIRES. It’s not relevant to factor in subsequently hired assistants because (1) they came in AFTER the HC hire, and (2) every staff is incomplete at this point.

JUST rating how each school did with selecting their next HC:

Chip Kelly - UCLA
A Proven winner at the college level. Only reason he’s not an A+ is his brush with the NCAA while at Oregon.

Jimbo Fisher - Texas A&M
A Another proven winner with the 2013 BCS Championship in his trophy case. If he did better this past season, he’d of been an A+.

Scott Frost - Nebraska
A A no-brainer for the Huskers. Made UCF scary good in a hurry.

Dan Mullen - Florida
B Solid offensive coach. Offense seems to put too much on the QB position at times.

Jeremy Pruitt - Tennessee
B- Super DC, stud recruiter, but throwing out my “homer” bias, what was he, our 8th choice? Throw in, no HC experience at any level, hard to rate this any higher. BUT Georgia did the same thing and it’s working for them.

Willie Taggart - Florida State
C 16-20 at WKU. 24-25 at USF. 14-10 at Oregon

Chad Morris - Arkansas
B SMU showed steady but not spectacular improvement under him.

Joe Moorhead - Mississippi State
C- Long time coach, almost entirely at smaller schools.

Josh Heupel - UCF
B- Put up BIG TIME numbers as OC at Mizzou. 1st time HC.

Jonathan Smith - Oregon State
C Solid job as OC, but how much was him and how much was Chris Petersen?

Mario Cristobal - Oregon
D Apparently a really good position coach, but never showed anything as HC at FIU. (27-47)

Matt Luke - Ole Miss
C Took over Ole Miss at the last minute and in disarray and finished 6-6.

Herm Edwards - Arizona State
Z Yes, on an A-F scale this hire is a Z!

Don’t believe it’s quite fair to categorize Pruitt as our “8th choice” given the ish show Currie put on while he was “conducting” the search (with Haslam’s blessing of course).

Not saying JP was our ideal first or second choice in a perfect world....but when the adult (Fulmer) took the reigns, JP was certainly HIS first choice.

As far his grade, don’t know, tough call all things considered. I’d probably go more “solid B”. Top DC coordinator and stud recruiter with unreal pedigree as a winner under some of the very best coaches in the country....it’s an awfully good hire imo.

 

[LittleCat]

Don’t believe it’s quite fair to categorize Pruitt as our “8th choice” given the ish show Currie put on while he was “conducting” the search (with Haslam’s blessing of course).

Not saying JP was our ideal first or second choice in a perfect world....but when the adult (Fulmer) took the reigns, JP was certainly HIS first choice.

As far his grade, don’t know, tough call all things considered. I’d probably go more “solid B”. Top DC coordinator and stud recruiter with unreal pedigree as a winner under some of the very best coaches in the country....it’s an awfully good hire imo.

I kinda wonder how much the players and school factors in it. Mark Stoops was at FSU and got plenty of praise for turning them around defensively. He had a pedigree as a player, some good connections, and some recent success. But he goes to UK and the main problem his entire time here has been the defense imo. Without the same level of talent and environment, it's been a struggle. Not saying this a perfect comparison at all for JP. But just proposing something that came to my mind the other day.

The gigantic difference for JP is that he is at UT, where he can probably recruit at an extremely high level. And coming from the Saban tree means a ton. If he's anything like Kirby then watch out.

 

[volfannbama]

How do you grade hires before they coach a game?

 

[TheRain]

Grading the new hires... funny. I wonder what grade the Pats received when they hired a failed coach like Belichick?

 

[Crazy Ivan]

Jeremy Pruitt - Tennessee
B- Super DC, stud recruiter, but throwing out my “homer” bias, what was he, our 8th choice? Throw in, no HC experience at any level, hard to rate this any higher. BUT Georgia did the same thing and it’s working for them.

I think this needs an asterisk because everyone before Pruitt was during Currie's mad scramble to hire a HC after Vol Nation exploded and prevented the Schiano hire. I believe Pruitt was Phil's 1st choice once he became AD.

 

[jpope9]

Report: John Chavis to be named Arkansas defensive coordinator

Good news for the rest of the west.

 

[Boston Vol]

Grading the new hires... funny. I wonder what grade the Pats received when they hired a failed coach like Belichick?

He wasn’t a failed coach. He took over an awful team and won a playoff game in his third season. The Browns were in first place in their division in 1995, that was until the news broke that Moddell was moving the team to Baltimore. As you would imagine, after the announcement, the season went to hell. People in Boston were actually pretty excited when he was hired. Disappointed that the pats had to give up a first round pick, but still were more than happy with the hire.

 

[TheRain]

He wasnt a failed coach. He took over an awful team and won a playoff game in his third season. The Browns were in first place in their division in 1995, that was until the news broke that Moddell was moving the team to Baltimore. As you would imagine, after the announcement, the season went to hell. People in Boston were actually pretty excited when he was hired. Disappointed that the pats had to give up a first round pick, but still were more than happy with the hire.

We know how good he is now but He was 36-44 at Cleveland and fired after the 5-11 95 season. It was never all his fault but many people at the time looked down on his coaching while there.

 

[butchna]

We know how good he is now but He was 36–44 at Cleveland and fired after the 5–11 95 season. It was never all his fault but many people at the time looked down on his coaching while there.

You’re right. He was considered a failure.