Pruitt, Tennessee, and me.

[UT_King]

There is unequivocally no excuse for what Jeremy Pruitt allowed to happen Saturday.

Blaming experience, talent, injuries, coordinators, assistant coaches, etc. is not looking at the bigger picture. Each have their roles and each failed in their own way Saturday, but this must be taken further than X's and O's or Jimmie's and the Joe's. Pruitt lacked any and all major characteristics I would expect of a head football coach.

No leadership, No motivation, No drive, No sense of urgency, No awareness, No pride, No organization, No adaptability, No passion.... NO GIVE A DAMN.

Pruitt should have been called in immediately after the game with UT Athletic Leadership and given an ultimatum. The product you allowed on the field today is unacceptable on any day for any reason. Therefore, Mr. Pruitt, you will make a bowl game this year or you will no longer be the head coach of Tennessee. Anything less reaffirms you are not the person to lead this program into the future.

For me personally, there is no realistic scenario in which Pruitt will re-establish trust in his coaching abilities. The only way forward would be to make a bowl this year. Ending this season 5-7 or worse, including an unforgiveable loss to GA St., eliminates any confidence in moving forward with Pruitt. I firmly believe UT football has reached these all time lows due to the consistent malfeasance of UT brass and the lack of proper urgency in coaching changes. Each coach is left to allow the program to sink to new lows making the road to recovery one step harder for the successor.

With that said, Saturday didn't bring the normal disappointment and anger that comes with a loss, instead it was truly heart breaking and left me a bit lost with my investment in UT football. There are plenty of recent games I'd like to forget about, but this one hurts because it speaks about more than just one Saturday... it speaks about the state of a program I love.

 

[Mountain Dave]

There is unequivocally no excuse for what Jeremy Pruitt allowed to happen Saturday.

Blaming experience, talent, injuries, coordinators, assistant coaches, etc. is not looking at the bigger picture. Each have their roles and each failed in their own way Saturday, but this must be taken further than X's and O's or Jimmie's and the Joe's. Pruitt lacked any and all major characteristics I would expect of a head football coach.

No leadership, No motivation, No drive, No sense of urgency, No awareness, No pride, No organization, No adaptability, No passion.... NO GIVE A DAMN.

Pruitt should have been called in immediately after the game with UT Athletic Leadership and given an ultimatum. The product you allowed on the field today is unacceptable on any day for any reason. Therefore, Mr. Pruitt, you will make a bowl game this year or you will no longer be the head coach of Tennessee. Anything less reaffirms you are not the person to lead this program into the future.

For me personally, there is no realistic scenario in which Pruitt will re-establish trust in his coaching abilities. The only way forward would be to make a bowl this year. Ending this season 5-7 or worse, including an unforgiveable loss to GA St., eliminates in confidence in moving forward with Pruitt. I firmly believe UT football has reached these all time lows due to the consistent malfeasance of UT brass and the lack of proper urgency in coaching changes. Each coach is left to allow the program to sink to new lows making the road to recovery one step harder for the successor.

With that said, Saturday didn't bring the normal disappointment and anger that comes with a loss, instead it was truly heart breaking and left me a bit lost with my investment in UT football. There are plenty of recent games I'd like to forget about, but this one hurts because it speaks about more than just one Saturday... it speaks about the state of a program I love.

Very well stated. Reminds one of a classic statement by Michael Ray Richardson, " the ship be sinking."

 

[Halph66]

Kind of reminded me of a Holly Warlick coached basketball team.

 

[MAUSERWERKE]

There is unequivocally no excuse for what Jeremy Pruitt allowed to happen Saturday.

Blaming experience, talent, injuries, coordinators, assistant coaches, etc. is not looking at the bigger picture. Each have their roles and each failed in their own way Saturday, but this must be taken further than X's and O's or Jimmie's and the Joe's. Pruitt lacked any and all major characteristics I would expect of a head football coach.

No leadership, No motivation, No drive, No sense of urgency, No awareness, No pride, No organization, No adaptability, No passion.... NO GIVE A DAMN.

Pruitt should have been called in immediately after the game with UT Athletic Leadership and given an ultimatum. The product you allowed on the field today is unacceptable on any day for any reason. Therefore, Mr. Pruitt, you will make a bowl game this year or you will no longer be the head coach of Tennessee. Anything less reaffirms you are not the person to lead this program into the future.

For me personally, there is no realistic scenario in which Pruitt will re-establish trust in his coaching abilities. The only way forward would be to make a bowl this year. Ending this season 5-7 or worse, including an unforgiveable loss to GA St., eliminates in confidence in moving forward with Pruitt. I firmly believe UT football has reached these all time lows due to the consistent malfeasance of UT brass and the lack of proper urgency in coaching changes. Each coach is left to allow the program to sink to new lows making the road to recovery one step harder for the successor.

With that said, Saturday didn't bring the normal disappointment and anger that comes with a loss, instead it was truly heart breaking and left me a bit lost with my investment in UT football. There are plenty of recent games I'd like to forget about, but this one hurts because it speaks about more than just one Saturday... it speaks about the state of a program I love.

UT is not in a position to buy out a HFC in his second season. So, ultimatums as you describe would be pointless. Barring scandal, Pruitt will be coaching at UT through at least the end of the 2020 season; more likely through 2021. Let us all hope that he has the ability to at least restock the roster and stabilize the program. That would make the job much more attractive to the next candidate, if Pruitt himself cannot get us there.

 

[SKBubba]

He was worth a gamble. It didn't pay off.

 

[UT_King]

UT is not in a position to buy out a HFC in his second season. So, ultimatums as you describe would be pointless. Barring scandal, Pruitt will be coaching at UT through at least the end of the 2020 season; more likely through 2021. Let us all hope that he has the ability to at least restock the roster and stabilize the program. That would make the job much more attractive to the next candidate, if Pruitt himself cannot get us there.

If Pruitt thinks his time is up in 2 years, will he be recruiting to the best of his ability? If you follow recruiting, most of the class potential this year is based on his success THIS year. So, you basically just reverberated my point. The mentality "well we are just stuck with him for another 2-3 years" so let's allow the program to continue to sink like a rock in the meantime. The recruiting will absolutely drop off, not replenish.

You're absolutely right about the financial aspect. Therein lies a big part of the problem, the UT administration are drawing up BAD contracts for overvalued coaching candidates. It's not like Dooley, Jones, or Pruitt were in high demand or can't miss coaches. It's rewards before results. We put ourselves into a position where we must absolutely live with a coach no matter the consequences.

 

[ReelfootVol]

Just a simple comment and yall can read between the lines. Selecting position coaches is an art in itself. Selecting FAMOUS NAMES means nothing..........coaching is much more than a big name..........example: Georgia States coach, remember when his Appy State team beat Michigan. I will bet that the majority of people reading this post does not even remember the name of the Georgia State coach. My point just is that being a famous name does not make a good position coach. Pruitt talks about how great his position coaches are.............did yall see an example ???

 

[Bert Rechichar]

He was worth a gamble. It didn't pay off.

No gambling with that hire. That hire in 2017 needed to be an experienced HC, no matter how successful he had been so far.

 

[savannahfan]

What bothers me more than anything was the "give up" that seemed to be shown on the field. We have seen this before in the past few years. When will this cancer be overcome? How many cancers are still in the program and is the staff still recruiting them?

As for the staff looking like they didn't are,,,, don't you think they are smart enough to have realized what the program was in for with these players? To me, the reason they showed so little emotion, was they knew it could be coming. (maybe not to the extent displayed)
Leaf stated in a nice way (by the way I thought he did a fairly good job for his first try) that Pruitt told them in a pregame meeting earlier in the week that the offense was ahead of the defense. I figure he may have told them more about the team's ability than Leaf said. The thing that seem to surprise the TV crew most was the lack of effort by the team and the "no show" of emotion by the staff.

 

[chattavol420]

Pruitts career at Tennessee ended Saturday night. This loss is being called the most embarrassing in college football history. Certainly worse than Michigan Appalachian state.
But our idiot ad (that was fired a decade ago for being an idiot that hadn’t kept up with the times lol)...will “fight like heck” for him because this is his legacy. We’ll be told to give him time. And that this is a process. And that fans just don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. Here’s what I know...Pruitt showed absolutely zero passion or concern Saturday. The other coach was fired up and in the Daves of his players. He looked like a coach doing what he was meant to do and loving every minute of it. Our coach did not.
As a fan, I feel like we need to boycott. Don’t go to another fame until we release Pruitt of his damn job. We need an ad that can instill some trust in a new coach to come here. Fulmer shouldn’t get a chance at a new hire. We needed a legitimate ad last go round. We needed a proven big time coach that could weather the storm and out a good product out on the field. Mike leach would’ve actually been an amazing hire.

 

[SKBubba]

What bothers me more than anything was the "give up" that seemed to be shown on the field.

Seems to be a Knoxville thing.

 

[Woke]

There is unequivocally no excuse for what Jeremy Pruitt allowed to happen Saturday.

Blaming experience, talent, injuries, coordinators, assistant coaches, etc. is not looking at the bigger picture. Each have their roles and each failed in their own way Saturday, but this must be taken further than X's and O's or Jimmie's and the Joe's. Pruitt lacked any and all major characteristics I would expect of a head football coach.

No leadership, No motivation, No drive, No sense of urgency, No awareness, No pride, No organization, No adaptability, No passion.... NO GIVE A DAMN.

Pruitt should have been called in immediately after the game with UT Athletic Leadership and given an ultimatum. The product you allowed on the field today is unacceptable on any day for any reason. Therefore, Mr. Pruitt, you will make a bowl game this year or you will no longer be the head coach of Tennessee. Anything less reaffirms you are not the person to lead this program into the future.

For me personally, there is no realistic scenario in which Pruitt will re-establish trust in his coaching abilities. The only way forward would be to make a bowl this year. Ending this season 5-7 or worse, including an unforgiveable loss to GA St., eliminates any confidence in moving forward with Pruitt. I firmly believe UT football has reached these all time lows due to the consistent malfeasance of UT brass and the lack of proper urgency in coaching changes. Each coach is left to allow the program to sink to new lows making the road to recovery one step harder for the successor.

With that said, Saturday didn't bring the normal disappointment and anger that comes with a loss, instead it was truly heart breaking and left me a bit lost with my investment in UT football. There are plenty of recent games I'd like to forget about, but this one hurts because it speaks about more than just one Saturday... it speaks about the state of a program I love.

I’m totally down with you after that Sunbelt State horror show

 

[vols 30]

And there will still be close to 100, 000 at the game Saturday.

 

[jboyinmiss]

If Pruitt thinks his time is up in 2 years, will he be recruiting to the best of his ability? If you follow recruiting, most of the class potential this year is based on his success THIS year. So, you basically just reverberated my point. The mentality "well we are just stuck with him for another 2-3 years" so let's allow the program to continue to sink like a rock in the meantime. The recruiting will absolutely drop off, not replenish.

You're absolutely right about the financial aspect. Therein lies a big part of the problem, the UT administration are drawing up BAD contracts for overvalued coaching candidates. It's not like Dooley, Jones, or Pruitt were in high demand or can't miss coaches. It's rewards before results. We put ourselves into a position where we must absolutely live with a coach no matter the consequences.

I have always felt these coaches should be given a base contract and then rewarded bonuses for performance

 

[bigdaddy]

UT is not in a position to buy out a HFC in his second season. So, ultimatums as you describe would be pointless. Barring scandal, Pruitt will be coaching at UT through at least the end of the 2020 season; more likely through 2021. Let us all hope that he has the ability to at least restock the roster and stabilize the program. That would make the job much more attractive to the next candidate, if Pruitt himself cannot get us there.

The boosters have the money to pay him off. So I say it’s do or die Saturday. We are looking at a 1 win season if he continues on this path.

 

[PineyBluff Vol]

UT is not in a position to buy out a HFC in his second season. So, ultimatums as you describe would be pointless. Barring scandal, Pruitt will be coaching at UT through at least the end of the 2020 season; more likely through 2021. Let us all hope that he has the ability to at least restock the roster and stabilize the program. That would make the job much more attractive to the next candidate, if Pruitt himself cannot get us there.

If it is getting too hot, you guys may need to move on for a while...

 

[USMC-TNVOL]

The bonuses are there for going to bowl games. Shouldn’t need a meeting called.

 

[imw8n4u]

If Pruitt thinks his time is up in 2 years, will he be recruiting to the best of his ability? If you follow recruiting, most of the class potential this year is based on his success THIS year. So, you basically just reverberated my point. The mentality "well we are just stuck with him for another 2-3 years" so let's allow the program to continue to sink like a rock in the meantime. The recruiting will absolutely drop off, not replenish.

You're absolutely right about the financial aspect. Therein lies a big part of the problem, the UT administration are drawing up BAD contracts for overvalued coaching candidates. It's not like Dooley, Jones, or Pruitt were in high demand or can't miss coaches. It's rewards before results. We put ourselves into a position where we must absolutely live with a coach no matter the consequences.

This is exactly on point. If you already know he is a dead man walking, there is no way you can let him continue, you are just making it that much harder to ever recover. Like the old saying goes, if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. If they do keep him, Fulmer either needs to take over recruiting or attach himself to Pruitt to make sure he is working 24/7 to fix this mess. Any sign he's not giving everything he has, he should be fired for cause on the spot.

 

[UT_King]

No gambling with that hire. That hire in 2017 needed to be an experienced HC, no matter how successful he had been so far.

I wasn't necessarily against a big time coordinator, but the notion of locking the program down to an unknown for 3-4 years regardless of results is mind blowing.

 

[BigOrangeAl 1979]

UT will win Saturday and everybody will be back on board and thinking we can beat Florida

 

[BigOrangeAl 1979]

But seriously Pruitt has no margin for error the rest of the season nothing he does short of winning the SEC will take away the disaster and total embarrassment from Saturday.

 

[MAUSERWERKE]

If Pruitt thinks his time is up in 2 years, will he be recruiting to the best of his ability? If you follow recruiting, most of the class potential this year is based on his success THIS year. So, you basically just reverberated my point. The mentality "well we are just stuck with him for another 2-3 years" so let's allow the program to continue to sink like a rock in the meantime. The recruiting will absolutely drop off, not replenish.

You're absolutely right about the financial aspect. Therein lies a big part of the problem, the UT administration are drawing up BAD contracts for overvalued coaching candidates. It's not like Dooley, Jones, or Pruitt were in high demand or can't miss coaches. It's rewards before results. We put ourselves into a position where we must absolutely live with a coach no matter the consequences.

I just don't see that the program has much of a choice right now. UT has been changing coaches like dirty underwear for a decade. Firing Pruitt now or even next year means another coaching search, with no proven commodity waiting in the wings to take over. No proven coaches are lining up to take this job. Also, firing the coaching staff completely ruptures recruiting relationships, which takes a long time to correct. Rinsing and repeating that process every 3 or 4 years (much less 2) seems counterproductive to me. Finally, it would cost a fortune, that the AD doesn't have the money right now.

As to the "BAD" contracts, although I haven't read it, I suspect Pruitt's contract is pretty much the middle of the industry standard fairway (to use a golf analogy) for first year coaches in the SEC without prior head coaching experience. Any coach TN would want is going to have an agent and a lawyer, and they are going to insist on getting (at least) contract terms that are prevailing in the SEC/P5 college football industry. No coaching candidate is going to accept a substandard contract. The market dictates what the standard is.

Nothing is free. There are no magic bullets. All we fans can do is support the team as best we can (or not, as I understand fans giving up at this point), and hope that Pruitt can at least recruit well and leave a restocked roster for the next guy. It will be much easier to attract a proven coach if the roster is replenished and the program is stabilized. JMHO.

 

[MAUSERWERKE]

I have always felt these coaches should be given a base contract and then rewarded bonuses for performance

College AD's are certainly free to try to change the standard contract structures that are in use, but a contract requires both sides to agree. Right now, the market for college coach contracts dictates the structures that are currently in use. Any decent coaching candidate (or one perceived as decent) is going to insist on a standard type of contract. UT cannot easily change that dynamic unilaterally, and expect to attract any good coach. In my opinion.....

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Said it before but it bears repeating. We may have very well witnessed Pruitts Lloyd Carr game.

 

[UT_King]

I just don't see that the program has much of a choice right now. UT has been changing coaches like dirty underwear for a decade. Firing Pruitt now or even next year means another coaching search, with no proven commodity waiting in the wings to take over. No proven coaches are lining up to take this job. Also, firing the coaching staff completely ruptures recruiting relationships, which takes a long time to correct. Rinsing and repeating that process every 3 or 4 years (much less 2) seems counterproductive to me. Finally, it would cost a fortune, that the AD doesn't have the money right now.

As to the "BAD" contracts, although I haven't read it, I suspect Pruitt's contract is pretty much the middle of the industry standard fairway (to use a golf analogy) for first year coaches in the SEC without prior head coaching experience. Any coach TN would want is going to have an agent and a lawyer, and they are going to insist on getting (at least) contract terms that are prevailing in the SEC/P5 college football industry. No coaching candidate is going to accept a substandard contract. The market dictates what the standard is.

Nothing is free. There are no magic bullets. All we fans can do is support the team as best we can (or not, as I understand fans giving up at this point), and hope that Pruitt can at least recruit well and leave a restocked roster for the next guy. It will be much easier to attract a proven coach if the roster is replenished and the program is stabilized. JMHO.

You're right, rinsing and repeating every 3 or 4 years is counterproductive, it should be when the time is right which could even be sooner. Dooley should have been fired after year 2 not 3. Jones should have been fired after year 3 not 4. Both of their rosters degraded substantially in that final slow death of a year. As did the condition of our program.

By your logic, keeping a coach longer, no matter how terrible the coach and the number of wins, the more talented and stable the roster will be? As I said, if you follow recruiting these days, that's not how it works. These recruits will start bailing ship immediately combined with the transfers of kids not wanting to play for a loser.

Money is absolutely a major hurdle, but I'm more worried about finding the right coach than the roster. Believe it or not, there are good coaches who will win with what they have and only get better as the roster improves. We just have to find him.