Recruiting Forum Football Talk II

[Grey_pilgrim]

If Pruitt wouldn’t have been to stubborn too play HB I wouldn’t be out on him like I am (although there are other red flags than that) I’d have chalked it up to freshman learning the college game. It’s been said he’s hard to get along with and apparent he’s stubborn. If recruits continue to bail it’s beyond repair for him.

Exactly. The QB situation is what did it for me. There’s no excuse for not playing Bailey. Was he ready to be the starter? No, obviously not. But get him game time, it’s a free year of eligibility and Pruitt screwed that up. If there was ever a year to play youth, this was it. Get those young freshmen reps against SEC talent and the experience would’ve payed off next year. I would’ve been 100% more forgiving of Pruitt had he played Bailey more instead of JG and saying that despite throwing more TD for the other team he still give us the best chance to win.

 

[cHiZzLeVOL]

Matthew Ray from VR2 is a fan who started covering recruiting for the love of it. Matts42012 actually works in the athletic department.

Well I did go back and he had put in smileys for our recruits last year.

Anyways.... my point being is one DB leaving isn’t going to hurt us.... now if we lose Lewis...... that would be detrimental and we would need to have to relook all of this. That kid has a path to start immediately. We are hurting at ILB.

We are going to lose more from this class out of necessity we are at 26

 

[cHiZzLeVOL]

Exactly. The QB situation is what did it for me. There’s no excuse for not playing Bailey. Was he ready to be the starter? No, obviously not. But get him game time, it’s a free year of eligibility and Pruitt screwed that up. If there was ever a year to play youth, this was it. Get those young freshmen reps against SEC talent and the experience would’ve payed off next year. I would’ve been 100% more forgiving of Pruitt had he played Bailey more instead of JG and saying that despite throwing more TD for the other team he still give us the best chance to win.

Baileys about to get that game time. If Pruitt goes to JG against Florida than he has already given up.... then maybe you could make the argument to fire him.... especially if we lose out.....

 

[Grey_pilgrim]

We need an actual LB coach..... Neids gotta go (keep him somewhere else for recruiting... special teams coach maybe?) obviously we need a DL coach..... we have to fix the QB position.....

Ansley has to fix his play calling or GTFO.... the defensive play calls have been killing us and his DBs have been sucking.

This is dumb. You can’t just throw someone in at special team coach. It’s one the more important coaching positions. If he can’t coach LBs there’s no way he’s coaching special teams well.

 

[I4Jay]

.... Like him or hate him, you can't tell me Phil doesn't care about winning.

Caring about winning doesn’t equate to being capable of winning.


A 1st time Athletic director hiring a 1st time head coach at a blue blood school should never happen. NEVER.

 

[cHiZzLeVOL]

This is dumb. You can’t just throw someone in at special team coach. It’s one the more important coaching positions. If he can’t coach LBs there’s no way he’s coaching special teams well.

Lol well it can be as stupid as anything but he isn’t going to take a demotion especially with his recruiting... so.....

 

[Grey_pilgrim]

Baileys about to get that game time. If Pruitt goes to JG against Florida than he has already given up.... then maybe you could make the argument to fire him.... especially if we lose out.....

He should’ve been getting meaningful playing time from the start though. That’s my whole point and Pruitt has been to stubborn to do it. That’s not something you want in a head coach.

 

[Kingston Vol]

We need an actual LB coach..... Neids gotta go (keep him somewhere else for recruiting... special teams coach maybe?) obviously we need a DL coach..... we have to fix the QB position.....

Ansley has to fix his play calling or GTFO.... the defensive play calls have been killing us and his DBs have been sucking.

My guess is Ansley will be a candidate for head coaching jobs and NFL coordinator jobs as well. So, if he sees the writing on the wall, he’s going to get out while he can.

But otherwise, yeah, Neids and Felton have been totally disappointing. They are also the lowest paid assistants on staff so you can fire them pretty easily. Neids will find a job out west.

Pruitt wants Bo Davis as his DL coach and has for the last two years. We’ll see if he finally gets him.

Weinke has to be replaced, and I know for a fact he was looking for jobs after Pruitt’s first season. He, Helton and Pruitt were at each other’s throats all year. It appears they must have worked it out, but he’s almost guaranteed to be gone.

Will Friend is trash - but he was Pruitt’s first hire and his best friend. I am supremely skeptical Pruitt would fire him.

 

["It's Time"]

If players are so emotionally fragile that they need 102,455 in attendance to perform, I don’t want them, and neither should @BruinVol nor UT.

The excuses some of you make for a proven failure is unconscionably unbelievable.

If people can’t understand there’s players who play different in front of an Oklahoma 2015 Neyland Stadium vs 20,000 people, I’d ask if you’ve actually played in front a HYPED crowd.

Does it matter for their overall performance after the game has started not necessarily, but that juice helps.

That’s why coaches talk about surviving the first initial wave of emotion.

 

[OGbabyaviVol]

What is financial difference of waiting until after next year? We will still owe buyouts and if we make changes to assistants now we will owe them even more unless they sign a one year deal and who would do that?

Lame duck coaches

 

[cHiZzLeVOL]

He should’ve been getting meaningful playing time from the start though. That’s my whole point and Pruitt has been to stubborn to do it. That’s not something you want in a head coach.

Maybe Bailey needed that time. You can make whatever points you want but we don’t know what he looked like in practice or how much of the playbook he knew..... maybe he needed that time to look like a competent QB.

I advocated for Bailey starting but now that I’m not pissed off anymore I can look at it from different angles.

 

[VOLSONLY]

We had all better hope like crazy that Pruitt can somehow save this class, make necessary coaching changes with upgrades at recruiting and coaching, save the current roster from transferring, and pull a rabbit out of his butt next year to get this going in the right direction ASAP!! If he doesn’t, we all know what will happen. They will have to go to the Haslams for money for the buyouts...Pruitt, staff, and Fulmer will be gone, and the Haslams will be back in control of who they want as AD, which means who they want as HC. We all know what that means...our chance at ever being elite again will be over. I sure hope papa Phil knows what he’s doing.

 

[cHiZzLeVOL]

My guess is Ansley will be a candidate for head coaching jobs and NFL coordinator jobs as well. So, if he sees the writing on the wall, he’s going to get out while he can.

But otherwise, yeah, Neids and Felton have been totally disappointing. They are also the lowest paid assistants on staff so you can fire them pretty easily. Neids will find a job out west.

Pruitt wants Bo Davis as his DL coach and has for the last two years. We’ll see if he finally gets him.

Weinke has to be replaced, and I know for a fact he was looking for jobs after Pruitt’s first season. He, Helton and Pruitt were at each other’s throats all year. It appears they must have worked it out, but he’s almost guaranteed to be gone.

Will Friend is trash - but he was Pruitt’s first hire and his best friend. I am supremely skeptical Pruitt would fire him.

Push Friend to the NFL possibly? Definitely need to make a change at OL coach. I agree, Weinke has got to go. A dedicated QB coach who can’t develop QBs.....

I am still out on Felton.... but as unproven as he is I sort of agree there as well.

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

Well I did go back and he had put in smileys for our recruits last year.

Anyways.... my point being is one DB leaving isn’t going to hurt us.... now if we lose Lewis...... that would be detrimental and we would need to have to relook all of this. That kid has a path to start immediately. We are hurting at ILB.

We are going to lose more from this class out of necessity we are at 26

Not true. They planned to sign more than 25 all along. And we are losing more and some will not be ones we want gone. You keep keep believing everything is ok but the truth is we are more of a joke now than when we had Butch. We are getting our doors blown off every week and you want to keep this staff. We have fired/lost numerous assistants every year under our head coach. Eventually it becomes a head coach problem and not an assistants problem. This class is going to get worse and we are going to get blown out again this week. But, by all means, let’s keep this coach and continue to be mediocre. We need to remember we are Tennessee and start acting like it. It’s not hard to win here. We have made terrible hires.

Now bring me Freeze, Chadwell, Napier, Healy, or Fleck. Any will win here.

 

[Jackcrevol]

Yamaha jet boat is great for skiing, no more wake than an inboard. Fill the ballast sacks and then wakeboard or Wakesurf.
Works as a fishing boat, but no live well...

just re read. so, this has become a discussion on sacks?

 

[KPT_VFL]

Exactly. The QB situation is what did it for me. There’s no excuse for not playing Bailey. Was he ready to be the starter? No, obviously not. But get him game time, it’s a free year of eligibility and Pruitt screwed that up. If there was ever a year to play youth, this was it. Get those young freshmen reps against SEC talent and the experience would’ve payed off next year. I would’ve been 100% more forgiving of Pruitt had he played Bailey more instead of JG and saying that despite throwing more TD for the other team he still give us the best chance to win.

It is beyond ridiculous how he’s handled everything this year. He didn’t coach with any enthusiasm. He took JG out of the game last year for lesser mistakes. He has totally tied himself to him and it’s his downfall. He had all the recruiting momentum in the world going into the season. He had the ultimate excuse in starting HB once JG started his so obvious downward spiral after UGA and certainly after UK. He could have saved some face and started HB and sell the future but he didn’t. He’s had more blown out losses than any other HC at UT he’s lost to Ga St. There’s valid reasons for fans to be out on him. If he’s back next year I’ll still cheer for the vols. Maybe I’m wrong and he will turn it around but I’m not putting much faith in that. I think recruiting will tank.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

Is this accurate? We're only playing 11 games next season?

2021 Tennessee Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com

We've only played in 2 this year...

 

[cHiZzLeVOL]

Not true. They planned to sign more than 25 all along. And we are losing more and some will not be ones we want gone. You keep keep believing everything is ok but the truth is we are more of a joke now than when we had Butch. We are getting our doors blown off every week and you want to keep this staff. We have fired/lost numerous assistants every year under our head coach. Eventually it becomes a head coach problem and not an assistants problem. This class is going to get worse and we are going to get blown out again this week. But, by all means, let’s keep this coach and continue to be mediocre. We need to remember we are Tennessee and start acting like it. It’s not hard to win here. We have made terrible hires.

Now bring me Freeze, Chadwell, Napier, Healy, or Fleck. Any will win here.

Lol did I say everything was “okay” ? I did not. However, recruits aren’t going to jump ship like everyone is saying. They don’t have the room to do that this year. (No visits etc have kind of sealed that)

 

[Volator]

Find it amusing folks focusing on HB while ignoring the dysfunctional defense (supposedly CJP strength). How many blown coverages, poor alignments and lackluster tacking do you need to see. I have come to @InVOLuntary’s view, CJP is used to having more talent than the opponent and doesn’t know how to coach up or plan around lesser talent. IMO.

 

[Kingston Vol]

Push Friend to the NFL possibly? Definitely need to make a change at OL coach. I agree, Weinke has got to go. A dedicated QB coach who can’t develop QBs.....

I am still out on Felton.... but as unproven as he is I sort of agree there as well.

I guess what I’m skeptical of is that changing a few position coaches fixes the primary issue, which seems to be Pruitt’s fixation on slowing down the offense, and overall, his executive judgement and management decisions have not been good.

If you tell me we make these changes, and then Pruitt only has to win 6 games to survive in 2021, then I think that’s a manageable goal. But if the idea is to make these changes then compete for the East, then we’re going to be in the same spot we are now in 12 months.

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

Maybe Bailey needed that time. You can make whatever points you want but we don’t know what he looked like in practice or how much of the playbook he knew..... maybe he needed that time to look like a competent QB.

I advocated for Bailey starting but now that I’m not pissed off anymore I can look at it from different angles.

Bailey didn’t need time. He had better coaching in high school than from his QB coach here. He was ready day one. Our coach decided not to give him reps until our season went down the drain. And did it take five straight 20+ losses and more TDs to other teams from our other QBs to finally decide that Pruitt may be wrong? Our head coach is the problem.

 

[KPT_VFL]

Bailey didn’t need time. He had better coaching in high school than from his QB coach here. He was ready day one. Our coach decided not to give him reps until our season went down the drain. And did it take five straight 20+ losses and more TDs to other teams from our other QBs to finally decide that Pruitt may be wrong? Our head coach is the problem.

Worse QBs have started at other schools. We are the only ones afraid to death to start a freshman QB.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Wtf said that ?

I said a majority of sec players feed off the crowd and get an extra boost from the home crowds

if you need some proof just go study the vegas odd and outcomes over the years.

it’s even true in the nfl (but I guess you don’t want those players either). As of last week the road teams had their best winning % in ages in the nfl. Want to know why????


I’ll help it’s the lack of crowds

If crowds mattered that much then we would be undefeated
Crowd helped against Oklahoma, GA St. BYU, etc etc for years.

 

[jdavis675]

My guess is Ansley will be a candidate for head coaching jobs and NFL coordinator jobs as well. So, if he sees the writing on the wall, he’s going to get out while he can.

But otherwise, yeah, Neids and Felton have been totally disappointing. They are also the lowest paid assistants on staff so you can fire them pretty easily. Neids will find a job out west.

Pruitt wants Bo Davis as his DL coach and has for the last two years. We’ll see if he finally gets him.

Weinke has to be replaced, and I know for a fact he was looking for jobs after Pruitt’s first season. He, Helton and Pruitt were at each other’s throats all year. It appears they must have worked it out, but he’s almost guaranteed to be gone.

Will Friend is trash - but he was Pruitt’s first hire and his best friend. I am supremely skeptical Pruitt would fire him.

I think Graham and Tee are the only safe ones for sure on the staff if Pruitt stays or not.

Assuming Pruitt stays, I think the SCjr cast off scenario is more than probable. Briles gets a HC job and Chaney goes to Arkansas. Bobo slides in as OC and Friend stays.

Muschamp comes as DC adding Bo Davis at DL and Tosh at OLB.

 

[vol81]

It could happen. That’s why posters keep talking about him. Our administration just likes losing. For a fan who’s so unbothered by all things UT football anymore you sure are whining and griping a lot about the topic.

Listen up. You are the one who is constantly griping and whining about our current coach, staff, program and AD. Over and over. I am not happy at all with how this season has gone.
I will never accept mediocrity in anything in life. So don't project your feelings to me. You don't know me, at all.
I am a long time donor, (although not in AVs league but know those who are, and beyond), vol fan of 50 years, UT grad, who understands the reality of our situation this year. You and your little band of keyboard warriors do not. You think that if you get on here and like places and continually say the same things over and over that someone will notice and do what you think ought to be done. As though you and yours actually know how to run a power 5 football program. You need to feel better about yourself Kport. Find something to do that actually is productive. You obviously have the time on your hands given how much time you spend here saying the same things over and over I choose to focus on the things in life that I actually have some control over and make sure they are anything but mediocre. Perhaps you should do the same and see how you feel about yourself.
I have seen the peaks and valleys of our beloved football program since Doug Dickey was our coach. We have been in the valley for way too long. But the hill to climb is shorter if this HC and his AD succeeds vs starting over again. So lets try to keep the recruits that want to be part of the revival of a great and storied program. There will be plenty of time to bellyache later.