Recruiting Forum Football Talk III

[LA Vol]

If that's the case and it takes us into mid to late Jan. Just guarantee Pruitt next year, but make a statement that puts him on the hot seat.

He's already on the hot seat. It's flaming.

 

[VOLSONLY]

I ask yall... If Freeze is off the table...

Would you rather keep Pruitt one more year if it guarantees Kiffin

Or

Fk kiffin anyways and let's go get someone else.

Give me the guaranteed Kiffin

 

[KPT_VFL]

The season is going to play out while other things play out internally. No matter the outcome of aTm, it was going to be that way.

We are going to shoot ourselves in the foot aren’t we? Not endorse Pruitt so his recruits may bounce and not go hire someone? I mean you’d think if Pruitt doesn’t get some kind of endorsement in the next week or so he’s a lame duck and next year won’t be able to recruit.

 

[RiotVol]

Interesting article Bob Stoops Now: Is The Former Oklahoma Coach Done Coaching?
“
As a matter of fact, Stoops has been linked to the Tennessee Volunteers over the past few weeks. The 2020 season has been so disappointing for Jeremy Pruitt’s squad that fans in Knoxville might just want him gone.

Tennessee hasn’t been a contender in a long time, but Stoops could quickly turn the program around. There wouldn’t be any concern as to how he’d fare in the SEC either since he spent three years with the Florida Gators.

Zach Ragan of A to Z Sports Nashvillebelieves the Volunteers should fire Pruitt if they can absolutely land Stoops. He’s the type of head coach that could turn around a program like Tennessee.”

I’d like to fire Zach Ragan for his bs articles. The Knoxville sports media needs a culling in the worst kind of way. Lazy, access reporting, wild speculation from message boards, and clickbait.

 

[I4Jay]

I hate Kiffin with every ounce of my soul for being the reason we've been sliding into mediocrity for 10 plus years (I think the night he left was the night I quit lurking this site and finally signed up). But, if you block that from memory, he is exactly the head coach I would want IF he had truly grown up and wants this job as badly as it's rumored. Great offensive mind, excellent recruiter, players coach, willing to speak his mind.

He is the one who f#$%ed this up, now make him fix it!!!

Just how much would it say he’s grown if he skipped out on Ole Miss after a year, the same way he did us?
You’d really want that person to lead your program?
I don’t.

 

[mr.checkerboards]

He's already on the hot seat. It's flaming.

I agree he is, but im talking a public statement from Phil. Ex..... Yada yada yada, we think we can beat the big 3 or be competitive in year 4. Then when it doesn't happen there's the ammo for change.

 

[BigOrangeGoose]

It sucks not being able to look forward to signing day... I always look forward to it for weeks while we get all these crootin nuggets and have hope for landing big cruits...

Now... it feels like, AT BEST, we’ll keep what we have

 

[Kingston Vol]

We are going to shoot ourselves in the foot aren’t we? Not endorse Pruitt so his recruits may bounce and not go hire someone? I mean you’d think if Pruitt doesn’t get some kind of endorsement in the next week or so he’s a lame duck and next year won’t be able to recruit.

He is fully endorsed or fired by Sunday.

 

[KPT_VFL]

I can’t help but feel it’s the same ole same ole UT. We will mess this up. The fact we aren’t zeroing on Freeze is telling. He’s the most realistic option of a proven winner we’ve ever had probably.

 

[KPT_VFL]

He is fully endorsed or fired by Sunday.

Let’s hope because we need one of those to be true. If he’s retained we can’t go into next year without an endorsement.

 

[UTProf]

Just how much would it say he’s grown if he skipped out on Ole Miss after a year, the same way he did us?
You’d really want that person to lead your program?
I don’t.

I don't think we get Kiffin but leaving OM = leaving Vanderbilt. The only reason OM had any relevancy at all was because of Freeze. Kiffin may do well there but OM to UT is not a lateral move just as Mullen going from State to UF wasn't lateral.

 

[Blake25p]

Just how much would it say he’s grown if he skipped out on Ole Miss after a year, the same way he did us?
You’d really want that person to lead your program?
I don’t.

Yup it would show he hasn’t learned a damn thing.

 

[ob79]

If one is objective, Fulmer's firing didn't start UT's downward spiral, and it wasn't Kiffin's leaving that torpedoed the program. It was UT making a bad hire afterward. There were better options available.

Nobody has done less with more than Pruitt, though.

We were in slow and gradual decline since '05-'07, under Fulmer. Once Richt, Saban, and Meyer showed up, it was pretty apparent that he'd fallen behind, and it was reflected in our record.

IMO, we made a good hire with Kiffin, his staff was the best we've had in nearly 20 years...we just had the worst possible luck when Carroll's infractions forced him to look to the NFL before he was forced out by the NCAA...and then SC couldn't convince their first 3-5 choices to be their next coach.

...but the dye was cast when Hamilton hired the first available coach.

 

[jakez4ut]

so auburn 3 days later hires a search firm.

good plan.

 

[UTSuave’]

View attachment 330781

So by Sunday Pruitt maybe or may not be fired

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

so auburn 3 days later hires a search firm.

good plan.

A testament to how overrated Freeze is by this fan base.

 

[rekinhavoc]

Whining about support? How 'bout beating Arkansas or Kentucky? This fan base expected to be competitive this season . Maybe it was the preseason ranking . Maybe it was most pundits saying UT was ready to take a step forward this season.

One of the most loyal and rabid fan bases had your back CJP. You pissed it away.

Go be a DC at Bama. We're gonna get a real coach and curb stomp your azz.

 

[Voltrapnbama]

Agreed

What part of Alabama are you trapped in?

North Alabama. Same area Pruitt is from. Smh a little south of there. My hometown is where Trinity Bell plays ball. Albertville High school

 

[volinbama256]

If one is objective, Fulmer's firing didn't start UT's downward spiral, and it wasn't Kiffin's leaving that torpedoed the program. It was UT making a bad hire afterward. There were better options available.

Nobody has done less with more than Pruitt, though.

Yep, no argument there--- if you look at the roster, Kiffin did an amazing job with what he had to work with... one low kick away from beating bama... I wouldn't have a problem bringing him back at all because he's smart enough now with his experience to know to surround himself with the right coaches and stay out of their way.

 

[Kingston Vol]

so auburn 3 days later hires a search firm.

good plan.

Just a technicality I’m sure.

Most schools have specific search firms on retainer and are contractually obligated to use their services when they have an opening.

In this case, they probably have their list of finalists and want this search firm to perform the background checks and stuff.

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

Sunday is going to be fun.

 

[BruinVol]

Just how much would it say he’s grown if he skipped out on Ole Miss after a year, the same way he did us?
You’d really want that person to lead your program?
I don’t.

Bingo

 

[pismonque]

If one is objective, Fulmer's firing didn't start UT's downward spiral, and it wasn't Kiffin's leaving that torpedoed the program. It was UT making a bad hire afterward. There were better options available.

Nobody has done less with more than Pruitt, though.

One could argue it was the Kiffin hire itself that did it. It was a bold but ill-advised hire, given what there was to know about Kiffin at the time, and came with a predictably unpredictable tenure. His self-promoted image as the young, brash coach with swagger and confidence played well with the kids and he clearly had a bright football mind, but his immaturity and irresponsibility were not at all hidden either, so program instability should have been an expected by-product.

On the other hand, one could argue it was Fulmer's decline in his last years that started the spiral. Which shifting wind begins a storm?

 

[volinbama256]

really surprised AU didn't seem to have a plan before they fired Gus...

 

[05_never_again]

We were in slow and gradual decline since '07, under Fulmer. Once Richt, Saban, and Meyer showed up, it was pretty apparent that he'd fallen behind, and it was reflected in our record.

IMO, we made a good hire with Kiffin, his staff was the best we've had in nearly 20 years...we just had the worst possible luck when Carroll's infractions forced him to look to the NFL before he was forced out by the NCAA...and then SC couldn't convince their first 3-5 choices to be their next coach.

...but the dye was cast when Hamilton hired the first available coach.

The program actually entered the decline phase after 2001. That was Tennessee's last elite season and was also the year Mark Richt entered the conference. Saban had also entered the conference, in 2000. It was slow and gradual at that point, but the trajectory of the program was not up.

The next phase of the decline began in 2005, with Tennessee's first losing season in however many years and with Urban's entry into the conference.

In 2008, we had another losing season, and the combo of Richt+Urban in the East was absolutely blowing Phil's doors off in a variety of areas by that point, necessitating his firing.

Another phase of the decline began when Kiffin left, and then we entered free fall mode when Dooley was hired. We've been there ever since. There was a false bottom in 2015-16 under Butch, but we've made new lows way underneath those levels now.