Recruiting Forum Football Talk III

[SLICKYINC]

How is stuff leaking now? I thought DW operated in complete stealth mode. Not liking this.

Not really sure it is leaking. Someone posted a tweet the other day that basically said DW will feed bad info so you have no idea what’s really going on.

 

[berryvol]

I very well could be wrong, but this narrative that has sprung up all of a sudden that James Franklin is the #1 target doesn't make sense. The guy is a good coach, but if you're going to pay someone $8 million a year, you're telling me THAT is your go to guy? Not to mention, Boyd, Plowman, and White all stated integrity and trust as the #1 factor in looking for a head coach yet I wouldn't describe James Franklin with either of those words.

It just doesn't line up with what was said by our leadership. And then, you're going to swing and miss on Franklin and skip from him to Elliot or Dykes, but not give Kiffin or Freeze a look even though their baggage isn't any worse than Franklin.

Either we're being fed a huge line of BS, or White lied to the fanbase and I find that very hard to believe. I just don't see it being Franklin.

Freeze baggage is far far worse for our situation. He has a history of very serious NCAA violations. Once again I'll say, I think Franklin is a slime ball, but there was clearly extreme vetting that went on for him to get the PSU job. If they can hire him coming off of the Sandusky situation, there's absolutely no reason for us to have qualms about him coming here. He's also the most proven winner at multiple stops that's been thrown around here.

 

[BubbaWms]

I am prepared to wait for a sequel to "38 Days: How Alabama Pulled of the Great Heist of Nick Saban"

"10 years: How Tennessee Finally Pulled off the Hiring of Matt Campbell"....patience !

 

[Dudleys87]

Go get Herman, **** it.

How he’s not even getting a look is beyond me

 

[volswillrise12]

Jeff Fisher wants the job and said he has a coaching staff ready..

Not saying I want Fish but id like to know who his staff would consist of. Better than Sonny Dykes no matter what

 

[Helton1]

If there is no hire or announcement today... It becomes quite clear. AV thinks DW is a badass AD. AV thinks DW is going to hire the best available. But just because one person thinks that, doesn't make it true. If there is no hire or announcement today, its clear DW couldn't land any of the big names and he is now way down the list. I know some people are okay with elliott because he is better than dykes but even hiring elliott is a clear loss. If tennessee isn't willing to hire kiffin or freeze but instead is forced to go with a coach like dykes or elliott, after reaching out to a guy like franklin..well, they don't REALLY care about winning. If you can't see that then I'm sorry for you. You will continue to support a program that doesn't care about it's fans and in fact straight up lies to them. Of course, they could announce a good hire today and this would be wrong. But if they don't announce or they do and it's someone like elliott or dykes, then I'm right. And deep down you know it. New leadership, same tennessee. Only this time they straight lie to you. Publicly lol. Hope I'm wrong! I can't think of any reason you would say no to freeze or kiffin if your list comes down to elliott and dykes. Actually I can. Pure stupidity. Just not a good AD.

Do you have some kind of mental disorder? I don't believe in personal attacks when I want to make a point, but I have never read anything so illogical in my life. Absolutely nobody has a clue was DW is doing, where he is, who he's talking to, who is even option 6 on his list (option 6 could be Chadwell, or Elliott, or shoot, EVEN FREEZE), and you're like "JuST noT a gOOd aD." Go on somewhere, unbelievable.

AGAIN. YOU KNOW NOTHING. PRICE KNOWS NOTHING. HUBBS KNOWS NOTHING. SWAIN KNOWS NOTHING. NOBODY KNOWS ANY NAMES. THE BOOSTERS DON'T KNOW NAMES, THEY JUST KNOW HOW SERIOUS DW IS BEING ABOUT THIS AND HOW HE IS A WINNER.

This is crazy. "JuST noT a gOOd aD."

I hope Danny White goes back to UCF. Would be for his own good. People like you man, wow.

 

[Kingston Vol]

agreed. and with Elliot, i feel like we're almost penalizing him for being too good.....i get why folks are gun shy about the "elite recruiter" moniker and all, given what we just went thru with Pruitt. is he good b/c of talent, or is the talent better b/c of him?

i think it's unwise to boil that comparison down to the lowest common denominator.....i think Elliot is several rungs above pruitt as a coordinator HC candidate.....siap, my only concern with Elliot is what kind of staff could he put together? that, and just situationally speaking, is this really the best place for him to cut his teeth as a HC?

football wise, i think there's a lot to like about Elliot.....

Right - I don't pretend to be able to evaluate something like this, but smart football people have always said Clemson wins because of the staff. Alabama, on the other hand, wins because of Saban.

People are afraid of hiring an assistant again because the last guy failed, but what they forget about the equation was how close Pruitt was to succeeding here, and that his ultimate downfall was his attitude and temperament. And we were warned about both of those things before we hired him. Tony Elliott has the exact opposite reputation.

 

[MarcoVol]

Jeff Fisher wants the job and said he has a coaching staff ready..

Not saying I want Fish but id like to know who his staff would consist of. Better than Sonny Dykes no matter what

Link?

 

[tvolsfan]

More like 7

We can tell ourselves that, but Butch Jones inherited trash, won 9 games in year 3 and 4, and even after a 9 win season where he beat Florida and Georgia, we still ****ing hated him for blowing the East. And we were right to hate him.

Unless we lose 10 scholarships a year for 3 years, the fans will expect to see real progress by year 4.

 

[FBtime]

If there is no hire or announcement today... It becomes quite clear. AV thinks DW is a badass AD. AV thinks DW is going to hire the best available. But just because one person thinks that, doesn't make it true. If there is no hire or announcement today, its clear DW couldn't land any of the big names and he is now way down the list. I know some people are okay with elliott because he is better than dykes but even hiring elliott is a clear loss. If tennessee isn't willing to hire kiffin or freeze but instead is forced to go with a coach like dykes or elliott, after reaching out to a guy like franklin..well, they don't REALLY care about winning. If you can't see that then I'm sorry for you. You will continue to support a program that doesn't care about it's fans and in fact straight up lies to them. Of course, they could announce a good hire today and this would be wrong. But if they don't announce or they do and it's someone like elliott or dykes, then I'm right. And deep down you know it. New leadership, same tennessee. Only this time they straight lie to you. Publicly lol. Hope I'm wrong! I can't think of any reason you would say no to freeze or kiffin if your list comes down to elliott and dykes. Actually I can. Pure stupidity. Just not a good AD.

Yes ONLY AV thinks Danny White is an elite AD...

 

[Dudleys87]

And here comes the negativity....

And this is happening without hiring a coach.

buckle up.

 

[KPT_VFL]

It has to be done today right? I mean we are just wasting time at this point.

 

[Dudleys87]

Yes ONLY AV thinks Danny White is an elite AD...

So now some of y’all are turning on the AD? Wow smh.

 

[SoonerVol]

And he still turned us down. Unbelievable

Do we really know if we even offered and if so, were we really turned down. There is a lot of speculation, but does anyone really know. I believe we are only feeding the misinformation.

 

[drvenner]

You cannot legitimately tell me that our fanbase is any more negative than other major programs. That perceived negativity is simply passion for our program and any legit P5 potential coach should know that.

 

[Kingston Vol]

I can confirm Kress' tweet that Chadwell was contacted last night - I just don't know if it was by the search firm or by UT.

If this is true, it seems to indicate we have re-set the search a little bit. Or we weren't totally sold on whoever was in the second tier.

 

[Volsfaninva917]

And he still turned us down. Unbelievable

Bass, we don't know yet let it play out

 

[berryvol]

SIAP

Feldman


We heard over the weekend that White is willing to take some big swings. Does that mean he might try to see if there is any real interest from Penn State head coach James Franklin, who did a miraculous job at Vanderbilt and then invigorated Penn State as it was still coming out of the Jerry Sandusky scandal? It seems like a long shot that Franklin would be tempted by this.
Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck took over a very messy dynamic when he got to the Gophers in the wake of a scandal at the end of the previous season. The program had been reeling from a threatened player boycott of a bowl game in response to a sexual assault investigation from which multiple players had been suspended. Fleck rallied that program and stabilized things to a large degree, leading Minnesota to 11-2 and a top-10 finish in year three. The 40-year-old from Illinois is a Greg Schiano protégé, though. Would what happened with his old mentor and Tennessee turn him off this? Also, would what the Vols might have to pay to get Fleck (he makes almost $5 million a year now) feel like a reach given his 15-19 record in Big Ten play?

One name I’ve heard a lot is the one non-head coach I thought Tennessee might consider even before White was hired: Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, one of the top assistant coaches in college football. He won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach in 2017, and you could see how much the Tigers missed him when he was unable to coach in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State after testing positive for COVID-19. South Carolina wanted to talk to Elliott for its coaching search, but he declined interest in joining the Tigers’ archrival. Would the Vols’ uncertain NCAA issues scare off a coach who probably could get a good Power 5 job a year or so from now? Also, after just watching a first-time head coach fail at Tennessee, would the Vols actually give another first-timer a crack at trying to figure this thing out?

Another coach we’ve heard the Vols have some interest in is Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell. The former Ohio State lineman has really elevated the Bearcats, going 31-6 the past three years, including a No. 8 finish this season. White knows all about the job Fickell has done in the AAC. He drew some interest from NFL teams, with the Eagles taking an especially close look. Fickell has been very choosy about his next move, and we wouldn’t expect he will be tempted by this situation.


Two months ago, the guy I thought would be the obvious choice was Liberty’s Hugh Freeze, who dreamed of the Vols head coaching job before he’d ever coached a college game. But he might be a tough sell optically given that he was fired from Ole Miss in the wake of an NCAA investigation. Would SEC commissioner Greg Sankey even allow Tennessee to touch Freeze? I didn’t think so, but I have heard some conflicting things about that in the past week.
If Tennessee hired Freeze, I’m convinced he would win there. He’s wasted little time elevating Liberty, 10-1 this season, into a Top 25 program with a roster largely built on FCS recruits. He is a terrific offensive coach and play-caller who did beat Nick Saban and Alabama in back-to-back seasons. That seems almost impossible in the SEC these days.

Another Sun Belt coach whose stock has really risen this year is Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell, a Tennessee native. He’s taken the Chanticleers from 3-9 in his debut season to 5-7 last year to 11-1. Chadwell is beloved by folks who have been around him, who see him as a family-oriented, second-generation coach. He’s won everywhere he’s been and has strong ties throughout the region.

The Vols have struggled on offense for a while, and Chadwell would have that part covered. He has a unique system, basing a lot of plays out of 20 and 21 personnel groupings, as opposed to most teams relying on 11 and 10 personnel, and pairing them with all sorts of option and RPO concepts. Chadwell has never worked at a Power 5 program in any capacity, but he’s proven to be an excellent gameday coach and would seem like a good fit for the Vols.

Don't know how old this is but it really makes Freeze seem like somewhat of a possibility

 

[jakez4ut]

No question.

Would I love Tennessee to pay me 30 million dollars to fail for 5 years? Absolutely
But if I'm already going to make 15 million in that time, is it worth leaving a job where I'm happy for a job where a bunch of desperate fans are going to give you about two years before they start expecting you to beat Florida, Georgia, and Alabama? Maybe not.

The funny thing is, despite public perception, I don't think Vols fans are particularly unrealistic in terms of expectations. But the perception is that we are.

unfortunately, that's all that's needed. i don' think we're unrealistic on expectations either, in general....

 

[pierce60]

Right - I don't pretend to be able to evaluate something like this, but smart football people have always said Clemson wins because of the staff. Alabama, on the other hand, wins because of Saban.

People are afraid of hiring an assistant again because the last guy failed, but what they forget about the equation was how close Pruitt was to succeeding here, and that his ultimate downfall was his attitude and temperament. And we were warned about both of those things before we hired him. Tony Elliott has the exact opposite reputation.

Agreed. I said yesterday that the only similarities between Elliott and Pruitt are they would come to this job as coordinators (and I guess their last names end with 2 T's).

 

[volswillrise12]

He had one good year at Oregon too, with a great QB in Herbert that just had one of the best rookie years in NFL history. Other than that he has been average there too. He backed into the PAC12 title game thus season because Washington elected not to play.
Lots of dislike for two SunBelt coaches in Napier and Chadwell on this board and they were much more successful in the same conference

Yeah, I guess we are at the point where we can crap on ANY coach. Makes sense.

 

[Jackcrevol]

Jeff Fisher wants the job and said he has a coaching staff ready..

Not saying I want Fish but id like to know who his staff would consist of. Better than Sonny Dykes no matter what

optics wise for sure

 

[Volsdeep4]

In Danny I trust. Dude is known to make home run hires! Even if it’s not a big name I bet given time and support the next HC will kill it here and get us back.

 

[hep]

I can confirm Kress' tweet that Chadwell was contacted last night - I just don't know if it was by the search firm or by UT.

If this is true, it seems to indicate we have re-set the search a little bit. Or we weren't totally sold on whoever was in the second tier.

Chadwell is a very solid floor. Better than our last three hires.

 

[VFL28]

It has to be done today right? I mean we are just wasting time at this point.

I’d hope so, NSD is coming up; and we need a coach.