Now that it's all over with the NCAA, some perspective on Pruitt and his tenure here

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

It's finally behind us, and at the end of the day we ultimately traded Pruitt for some recruiting/scholarship penalties and the hiring of Heupel, so we ended up winning in the overall big picture.

But as for Pruitt, I see a lot of people bashing him and celebrating that he's not likely to get a job for at least 6 years. But if I may give some perspective...

I don't hate the guy. Pruitt simply tried to play the game that the whole world knew Kirby was playing, which of course, he learned from Saban. He also did this under Fulmer's direction, which is not a shot at Fulmer because he also just tried to play the game. Fulmer had Tennessee's best interest at heart and wanted to do what it took to win, he saw mimicking Kirby and Georgia as the path to that.

Pruitt and Fulmer both knew that there was no way to compete with Georgia for the East without throwing stacks of cash at high school kids when it was illegal, because that's exactly what Kirby was doing. Now of course, Pruitt's fault in the matter was that he didn't win. If you want the NCAA to look the other way, you have to be a winning cash-cow for them.

If you blatantly play the game Kirby played pre-NIL, but don't win, you became an easy target for the NCAA to flex their muscle.

So we're here now, the dust is settled, and things are getting way better at a rapid rate on Rocky Top. Kirby has his two Natty's but also has publications like the AJC pointing out the excessive shadiness going on behind the scenes there.

I don't hate Pruitt for what he tried to do. The real villains in this story are our shady rivals. We already took one of them down, now it's going to be extra extra sweet when we remind Georgia that even with their cheating, they belong under Tennessee in the great pecking order of the SEC.

 

[rocketskates]

Dude, I dunno. Given what we know about Pruitt, he’s likely the worst coach that we’ve had in my lifetime of 37 years. I mean, if you’re gonna cheat at least win and give us something.

 

[utchs81]

I do not know Pruitt personally, but his persona of a dumb redneck seems to have been validated at least in part by this ruling.

 

[onevol74]

I do not know Pruitt personally, but his persona of a dumb redneck seems to have been validated at least in part by this ruling.

That may have been the reason Fulmer hired him. Then Fulmer had complete control of the program.

 

[LittleVol]

Good points OP.

But Pruitt has a skull full of cornbread .
I Can't feel sorry for him.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

I don’t hate him either but I do think he’s the worst coach in the program’s history. He and his staff blatantly cheated and still only won 16 games over 3 years, AND one of those years was arguably the worst season in the history of the program.

 

[rocketskates]

That may have been the reason Fulmer hired him. Then Fulmer had complete control of the program.

He should’ve taken a flyer and hired Alex French instead.

 

[dobre_shunka]

Certainly can hate him for cheating and still fielding a horrible football team.

Also denied he had any knowledge of all the shenanigans in his NCAA testimony inspite of his wife and babysitter committing some of those violations. So it's not like he maned up and took responsibility when caught. He tried to worm his way out and blame everyone else

 

[EconVol92]

He should’ve taken a flyer and hired Alex French instead.

I think Alex French is a code name for Phil Fulmer.

 

[Voltopia]

I don't hate the guy.

That is okay, I got you. I will hate him for both of us.

 

[BowlBrother85]

I do not know Pruitt personally, but his persona of a dumb redneck seems to have been validated at least in part by this ruling.

Yes.

We know that a lot of coaches cheat ... but they use bag men. Plausible deniability when something goes wrong is essential.

These are third party contractors who have no ties to the school or to the program, and are well-experienced in how to launder money. That is transferring money by concealing the source of the funds, and without leaving a paper trail behind. Pruitt is the only head coach I have ever known to not only hand deliver cash himself, but also involve his wife. It is a shocking degree of stupidity.

 

[They]

Pruitt was a quarterback away from it working out!

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Yes.

We know that a lot of coaches cheat ... but they use bag men. Plausible deniability when something goes wrong is essential.

These are third party contractors who have no ties to the school or to the program, and are well-experienced in how to launder money. That is transferring money by concealing the source of the funds, and without leaving a paper trail behind. Pruitt is the only head coach I have ever known to not only hand deliver cash himself, but also involve his wife. It is a shocking degree of stupidity.

And Pruitt met his wife when he was a secondary coach at FL St. AND she worked in the schools NCAA compliance dept. She knew exactly what they were doing was wrong and did it with him anyway. She must have thought she could out-smart the NCAA.

 

[kiddiedoc]

He was a Bammer plant and I'll hate him all I want to. He's dead to me.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

He was a Bammer plant and I'll hate him all I want to. He's dead to me.

Lol he was not a bammer plant. That's fun to joke about but come on.

Like Bama would have been so worried about our 4-8 Vols to devise a scheme like that.

 

[volfeeva]

It's finally behind us, and at the end of the day we ultimately traded Pruitt for some recruiting/scholarship penalties and the hiring of Heupel, so we ended up winning in the overall big picture.

But as for Pruitt, I see a lot of people bashing him and celebrating that he's not likely to get a job for at least 6 years. But if I may give some perspective...

I don't hate the guy. Pruitt simply tried to play the game that the whole world knew Kirby was playing, which of course, he learned from Saban. He also did this under Fulmer's direction, which is not a shot at Fulmer because he also just tried to play the game. Fulmer had Tennessee's best interest at heart and wanted to do what it took to win, he saw mimicking Kirby and Georgia as the path to that.

Pruitt and Fulmer both knew that there was no way to compete with Georgia for the East without throwing stacks of cash at high school kids when it was illegal, because that's exactly what Kirby was doing. Now of course, Pruitt's fault in the matter was that he didn't win. If you want the NCAA to look the other way, you have to be a winning cash-cow for them.

If you blatantly play the game Kirby played pre-NIL, but don't win, you became an easy target for the NCAA to flex their muscle.

So we're here now, the dust is settled, and things are getting way better at a rapid rate on Rocky Top. Kirby has his two Natty's but also has publications like the AJC pointing out the excessive shadiness going on behind the scenes there.

I don't hate Pruitt for what he tried to do. The real villains in this story are our shady rivals. We already took one of them down, now it's going to be extra extra sweet when we remind Georgia that even with their cheating, they belong under Tennessee in the great pecking order of the SEC.

You've made many statements that Kirby was doing the same thing. So why did they only go after Pruitt ? I'm not saying Georgia is a clean program, but I think if you're going to make accusations about a program/coach you should back it up some how. The notion that a winning program gets away with infractions just because they are a winning program seems to lack logic on any level. I would think the opposite is true, that a winning program is under the microscope more than other programs. You seem to want to diminish the infractions Pruitt did by the old " everyone's doing it"

 

[Delmar]

Hate to say it but Fulmer looks awful in this situation. Bottom line there are only two scenarios. Either he knew what Pruitt was doing and was complicit or he had his head in the sand and failed to monitor the worst and the cheatingest coach in UT’s modern history. Take your pick. Neither choice makes him look good.

 

[BowlBrother85]

He should’ve taken a flyer and hired Alex French instead.

French is a criminally underrated coach.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

You've made many statements that Kirby was doing the same thing. So why did they only go after Pruitt ? I'm not saying Georgia is a clean program, but I think if you're going to make accusations about a program/coach you should back it up some how. The notion that a winning program gets away with infractions just because they are a winning program seems to lack logic on any level. I would think the opposite is true, that a winning program is under the microscope more than other programs. You seem to want to diminish the infractions Pruitt did by the old " everyone's doing it"

Well I addressed that, but I will again: Because we didn't win. When you win, you generate money. As long as you keep generating money, the NCAA isn't going to mess with you. Break the rules and lose, and you're low hanging fruit.

As for "proving" Kirby did it, come on now... that's not exactly uncommon knowledge. Kirby's first year he was 8-5, and he should have lost to Nichols State, he lost to Mason's Vandy, he lost to Butch, and he got humiliated by Freeze's Ole Miss.

But the very next year, suddenly nearly 20 four and five star players were dying to play for him over anyone else? The recruiting classes right after his first year looked like this:

1. Bama (just won the Natty 2 years before)
2. Ohio State (won the Natty 3 years before)
3. Georgia (8-5 with some really bad losses, hadn't won a Natty since 1980)
4. FSU (Won the Natty 4 years before)

Now which one of those teams is not like the others, but was somehow recruiting at the same level?

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Hate to say it but Fulmer looks awful in this situation. Bottom line there are only two scenarios. Either he knew what Pruitt was doing and was complicit or he had his head in the sand and failed to monitor the worst and the cheatingest coach in UT’s modern history. Take your pick. Neither choice makes him look good.

Unfortunately we will probably never know which one but agree, it was one of those 2. And the school let him off the hook to 'retire' and paid him big $ to leave.

 

[Dooley_Era]

Remember when people were worried that Bama was going to steal Pruitt away from us once Saban retires? Good times.

 

[Emperor VOLpatine]

Reading the list of violations I actually felt like he was a pretty good guy. Most of it was paying kids parents medical bills and rent and stuff. He wasn't handing out dozens of free 45k cars to recruits like Saban

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Well I addressed that, but I will again: Because we didn't win. When you win, you generate money. As long as you keep generating money, the NCAA isn't going to mess with you. Break the rules and lose, and you're low hanging fruit.

As for "proving" Kirby did it, come on now... that's not exactly uncommon knowledge. Kirby's first year he was 8-5, and he should have lost to Nichols State, lost to Mason's Vandy, lost to Butch, and got humiliated by Freeze's Ole Miss.

But the very next year, suddenly nearly 20 four and five star players were dying to play for him over anyone else? The recruiting classes right after his first year looked like this:

1. Bama (just won the Natty 2 years before)
2. Ohio State (won the Natty 3 years before)
3. Georgia (8-5 with some really bad losses, hadn't won a Natty since 1980)
4. FSU (Won the Natty 4 years before)

Now which one of those teams is not like the others, but was somehow recruiting at the same level?

Hello, NCAA? I think Jawja has some wins they need to vacate.

Oh nevermind. They won the last 2 Chips and yall will never look into their program because the scandalous nature of vacating Titles would hurt the NCAA just as much as the dawgs....

 

[Volfan1000]

It's finally behind us, and at the end of the day we ultimately traded Pruitt for some recruiting/scholarship penalties and the hiring of Heupel, so we ended up winning in the overall big picture.

But as for Pruitt, I see a lot of people bashing him and celebrating that he's not likely to get a job for at least 6 years. But if I may give some perspective...

I don't hate the guy. Pruitt simply tried to play the game that the whole world knew Kirby was playing, which of course, he learned from Saban. He also did this under Fulmer's direction, which is not a shot at Fulmer because he also just tried to play the game. Fulmer had Tennessee's best interest at heart and wanted to do what it took to win, he saw mimicking Kirby and Georgia as the path to that.

Pruitt and Fulmer both knew that there was no way to compete with Georgia for the East without throwing stacks of cash at high school kids when it was illegal, because that's exactly what Kirby was doing. Now of course, Pruitt's fault in the matter was that he didn't win. If you want the NCAA to look the other way, you have to be a winning cash-cow for them.

If you blatantly play the game Kirby played pre-NIL, but don't win, you became an easy target for the NCAA to flex their muscle.

So we're here now, the dust is settled, and things are getting way better at a rapid rate on Rocky Top. Kirby has his two Natty's but also has publications like the AJC pointing out the excessive shadiness going on behind the scenes there.

I don't hate Pruitt for what he tried to do. The real villains in this story are our shady rivals. We already took one of them down, now it's going to be extra extra sweet when we remind Georgia that even with their cheating, they belong under Tennessee in the great pecking order of the SEC.

Pruitt's regime gave us a few NFL Players like Jalin Hyatt and Darnell Wright and Byron Young and Velus Jones and probables such as Baron and Thomas and Keyton.

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

Cheating aside, the guy was a massive a-hole and a terrible coach. Boggles the mind what Fulmer saw in him to make him think " yep...this is my guy".

Other than that, I guess he was OK in his tenure here.