Of course they've already hired Helton but what I saw earlier didn't name an OC.

I can't believe Fulmer would do it after Schiano

That being said... he can coach offense, he can recruit, and he can motivate. Assign a compliance person to follow him and hire his ass

Isn't it amazing how quickly we can wrap our minds around an idea once we're convinced there's no other option?  :big grin:

Once it became clear that our choices were Pruitt, Steele or Tucker, Pruitt seemed like a no-brainer.

I'm not drinking the kool aid, but I can definitely talk myself into liking the hire enough to see positives. It would've taken me a few days to get there a few weeks ago. I will give him a chance based off gratitude alone.

As it stands I think things worked out OK. No matter what the media thinks, it was time for Tennessee fans to stand up and hold the Athletic Department accountable. Vol Nation spends too much money, time, effort, and emotion to watch Haslem and his idiocy while he plays puppetmaster. Whether you like Fulmer or don't, I believe he hired the available candidate that he thinks gives us the best chance to win so we'll see what happens.

If you don't think they are making another run at Gruden, I'm not sure what you're paying attention to. The Les Miles stuff is meant to keep the media focused on something else. (Les is a real candidate but he doesn't have a job; why would you hire that guy before talking to Petersen, Patterson, Shaw, Gruden, and at least giving Bob Stoops a call? Phil took the recruiting test for a reason... he is going to be recruiting for a few weeks.)

Gruden won't take it but it will be a serious run with the AD involved in the discussion, vs. one section of boosters trying to make it happen while another booster and his puppet AD whistle past the graveyard.

Now that I've typed all this... welcome coach Miles!!

Lol

Idiot

Welcome Coach Pruitt! Three weeks ago we would've rioted at the thought, today I'm grateful you want to be here.

I think 73volgrad is a pretty realistic poster who takes a negative view of most things so I'm not really arguing with him... just taking the positive slant of it. There are definitely concerns but the biggest problem the fans need to understand is that having championship expectations doesn't mean that we can't realize where we are and there need to be some interim steps.

Unless Miles agrees to leave the OC alone in organized and calling stupid plays, UT will be stuck at 8 wins a year. Miles rarely beat Bama because he ran the ball too much. You beat Bama by passing and a mobile QB (see Johnny Football and Clemson).

What makes anyone believe for one minute Miles will retire in 5 years or less?

Why are you worried about beating Bama? We are a long way from beating Bama. Bama has the best coach to ever do it. To beat them on a consistent basis, we'd have to get one of the Petersen / Patterson / Gruden / Shaw type of personalities and hope the SEC money and exposure pushes them up. Considering the events of the last week, perhaps the short term focus should be getting back above Vandy, Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina as quickly as possible. Les can recruit and has a good reputation with high school coaches. Relationships in Louisiana and Texas.

I agree about Les's offensive concerns, but I think Phil will work all that out and at his age, he can agree to a 5 year contract knowing Tee is HCIW, and if he doesn't want to retire they can let him go. Compared to the events of the last month, that's stability.  Everybody wanted to look at Butch as a table setter coach for the guy who would come in and push us over the top but that's not what he was once recruits and players figured him out. We now need that table setter.

I could go for this, for sure!!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I'm in, too, with the possibly unrealistic hope that Phil makes sure that Les leaves Tee alone. Les has a reputation for micromanaging offensive coordinators and his offense is stale and unimaginative.

I think Miles may be the only way to get Tee without making him the HC, short of pulling Gruden. Miles is 65 and you could give him 5 years to stabilize and recruit. Tee could use a few years seasoning in the league as OC / Assistant HC / HCIW before taking the job. Sort of what Fulmer did with Johnny.

I never saw Dooley, Currie or Butch say publicly that they couldn't win big.  Never.  And I don't think they would.  And how would any of us know what they said privately?  I don't think this part matches reality too well.  In particular, although you could call him delusional, Butch Jones never would have said he could not win it all at Tennessee.  

Now, Butch did publicaly tout his record to much derision, and perhaps this is what you refer to.

I agree that Kiffin had more confidence and swagger than any of the above.  No question about that, although his sole 7-6 year did little to impress me.

One other thing....I'm not sure I would call this a "massive rebuilding effort".  I still say we are better off than 2012.  A very large rebuilding effort yes, but at least these players have more talent and a history of winning.  we had none of that in 2012.  I think a new coach could step in and at least have a winning season next year.

I clearly said that they pointed to the perception of the fan base as unrealistic. That could be with actions or words. I clearly did not say that they said that they could not win big. Not even Hamilton did that. You argue over some of the goofiest stuff.

Kiffin is a very good football coach who wasn't ready to be a head coach at the SEC level in 2009, and absolutely is ready now.

I will admit that "massive" is a touch too much.

If you don't think they are making another run at Gruden, I'm not sure what you're paying attention to. The Les Miles stuff is meant to keep the media focused on something else. (Les is a real candidate but he doesn't have a job; why would you hire that guy before talking to Petersen, Patterson, Shaw, Gruden, and at least giving Bob Stoops a call? Phil took the recruiting test for a reason... he is going to be recruiting for a few weeks.)

Gruden won't take it but it will be a serious run with the AD involved in the discussion, vs. one section of boosters trying to make it happen while another booster and his puppet AD whistle past the graveyard.

Now that I've typed all this... welcome coach Miles!!

Did Tee's offense do well?

My west coast buddy texted me that there were "come home Tee" signs in the stands.  I am not 100% sure of Tee as HC, but I'd take him as OC in a  heartbeat.  No question.  

Yes their offense looked good as far as play calling and design. They had a lot of penalties. Had two big drives for touchdowns when Stanford was threatening to take over.

Their offense is Lane's offense... similar to what Lane / Chaney ran at UT, Lane ran at SC and Bama, and what Chaney is running at UGa. Pistol, Single back, two TEs, lots of play action with short to medium throws to the front side of the play and long throws to the backside.

These things bother me too.

I have been told that Peyton was more trying to unify everyone because he perceived that they were going to hire Schiano no matter what, and that Phil was simply involved in Doeren's interview because someone (Bev or Dipietro) asked him to get involved. Not sure if that's spin or truth.

I don't this Fulmer is going to go Cut's way with the hire or even Les Miles. I think he wants to make a long-term stamp on this program with this hire and not some 2-3 year patch.

I think this COULD be true but only if he thinks Tee is ready or if he decides that he can stomach Kiffin.

Otherwise, what established coach (or young up and comer for that matter) is Phil going to get that will come in and stabilize things quickly? Maybe there is an NFL guy like Harbaugh that I'm not considering, but we've already taken our run at Brohm, Gundy, and Leach.

I really got raked over the coals the last time Cut was discussed. I thought he was a good hire/keep. It was the fans who cut Cuts ties. He doesn't need the money enough to subject himself to that type of possible rejection again. Fickle fans want UT ties while at the same time riding a successful UT tie out on a rail. It's like us with Kiffin... Why open ourselves up to be punked again? Why would Cut open himself up to be punked again?
 

Because he trusts Fulmer

He won't take it, but it won't be because he has been "punked"... Fulmer's presence nixes that. They are best friends. He won't take it because he is older and has no reason to leave Duke. Why take on the massive rebuilding job that is Tennessee, when he probably isn't young enough to see it all the way through?

Also I mentioned Kiffin in the OP only because whether we like him or not, Lane came here because he thought he could win a national championship. Everybody else associated with that program since Phil's departure (Hamilton, Dooley, Butch, Currie) didn't really think they could win big because they always privately (and sometimes publicly) pointed to the internal perception of Tennessee and the expectation of the fan base as unrealistic.

Mike Hamilton started the public slide when he fired Fulmer (yes I supported it) and then proceeded to tell the media that the Tennessee job didn't have the luster that fans thought it did. Whether that's true or not, you will NEVER hear Phillip Fulmer say that. He knows that the expectations at Tennessee is whatever the fans decide they should be.

was to shut down the possibility of him ever coaching immediately and swiftly, with finality.

The second best thing he did was let it be known that Tennessee fans deserve to expect to compete at the highest level of college football and to win championships. Lane had that mentality, but nobody else in that department or coaching office believed that since Phil was ushered out the door. That's a problem, and that's why we are where we are today.

The problem I see is that Miles would handcuff Tee and Tee would look awful.

Also unsure we could pay Steele enough.

So...who cares who the caretaker is?   Could be Cut just as easily, or someone like Willingham (doubt he'd come though), etc.

We have the money, even with all this shizzle. Take it out of the renovation budget.

For some reason Vol fans hate it but if you can't get the Gruden / Shaw / Petersen / Patterson level of coach, I'm not sure why we couldn't deal with Les Miles / Tee / Steele as a package with Tee ready to take over when Les leaves. I know we want to win championships but that starts by getting back to level with Kentucky, South Carolina, Vandy, Mizzou. Those guys could do that. Tee will recruit like a bastard.

That is one of the most gratifying pictures I've seen. Fulmer may not be the greatest AD, but his presence was the only way to overthrow Haslem.

See ya, Jimmy. 

I wanted him out in 2008 but I'm glad he's home now. Thank God for Phillip Fulmer..  If nothing else he believes in Tennessee and won't accept the poor mouthing.

His statement had me ready to run through a wall.

Admin found out about it when Currie sent it to legal for review

http://gridironnow.com/phil-fulmer-introduced-vols-ad-reports-sabotaging-search-inaccurate/

TY

Is  there a link? I want to share

We are on the same page here.  Not saying in any way, shape, or form that Currie is not culpable, just that he was, as I said in another thread, the lowest idiot in the idiot chain.  Probable a misuse of the word scapegoat, he deserved what he got, but others are just as deserving, if not more so.

 

I have already broken what I said in the original post here, but I probably will drift away after the search is over. Even though I'm emboldened with the coup, UT has a few years of really bad football ahead no matter who gets hired.

Damn, the sheriff is back and bringing heat

If Currie did use a non UT based plane to go out to interview the Pirate that was probably the final nail in the coffin

That and he went dark and didn't tell Bev and Joe where he was and who he was talking to until they sent the MOU to the legal team... or so I've been told.