VTTW Board Index

Talk amongst yourselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7UK895GGHA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7UK895GGHA)

What I agree with is Fulmer's statement back a few years ago that he didn't just get stupid overnight. 

He is correct. 

It took him years, and the subsequent years have made him even more stupid. 

The bottom line is that Fulmer is going to back Poot to the hilt, because when Poot goes, Fulmer goes.  It really is that simple. 

AD Fulmer was hired on Dec2, less than 2 weeks before the very first early signing period started where the vast majority of recruits sign their name to the LOI. He hired HC Pruitt on Dec 7 giving him less than a week to maintain, salvage, and grow the class. For perspective, the following coaching searches were completed with the majority both started and finished before AD Fulmer hired HC Pruitt. From this list, a larger of can't miss coaches with a greater % of misses than hits.

Arizona State (Todd Graham out, Herm Edwards in)
Arkansas (Bret Bielema out, Chad Morris in. And the Hogs carried out an entire athletic director search in this span, with an interim AD handling most of the Morris hiring process, despite having their own wild booster culture.)
Florida State (Fisher out, Willie Taggart in)
Mississippi State (Dan Mullen out, Joe Moorhead in)
Nebraska (Mike Riley out, Scott Frost in)
Rice (David Baliff out, Mike Bloomgren in)
Texas A&M (Kevin Sumlin out, Fisher in)
UCF (Scott Frost out, Josh Heupel in)
UCLA (Jim Mora out, Chip Kelly in)

So do you think Pruitt is or is not the guy? His teams are not getting more impressive as he goes along. So you think what you posted is an viable excuse for the product on the field right now. He just got beat by a first year coach that had 18 walk-ons in key positions and inherited a bigger dumpster fire at Arky than Pruitt did at UT. How do put a gloss on that?

And by the way, Big Jim is still involved, but Jimmy has backed off and is focusing on running the Browns now.  And whether or not one likes it, we need Big Jim to be involved.  Without Haslam money the UTAD will fall even further in to financial abyss than it currently is. 

Unfortunately you are very correct. However, money is the only thing Big Jim has going for him as far as the Vols are concerned. He is a devicive presence at UT.

Disagree with you.  Jim isn't as tyrannical as some try and make him out to be. 

But I say that with much admitted bias.  Big Jim was my little league baseball coach for a couple of years and was really good to me at a time when I needed somebody to be, just after my parents had split up.  I spent a lot of time hanging out with Bill (son my age, former Tennessee governor) at their home and they treated me really well.  I'll never say anything bad about Big Jim or Bill, although I was disappointed in some of Bill's policy stances at the Governor. 

I appreciate your comments. I can see where they would be special in your life. I just don't think any one donor should have too much influence over the athletic dept. Wasn't he a driving force in the Schiano debacle? 

No.  That was Jimmy, not Big Jim. 

I just don't get the hate for Big Jim.  He and Pilot, when he owned it, provided thousands of jobs to East Tennessee and beyond, he has been very generous with his money to the UTAD, UT general fund, he has funded many non profits in East Tennessee, and the number of youth sports and other organizations he has funded can't even begin to be counted.  He's a damned good man. 

And all of the bad shizzle that happened at Pilot Flying J came long after he had sold Pilot/Flying J to Marathon Oil. 

Thanks for enlightening me. I had my perspective all wrong about them. It's just typical biased misinformation that is passed along about a lot of billionaires. I know there is one out there somewhere that got it all honestly without cheating the other guy. That could be a rumor too though..lol.

For me, the jury is still out regarding HC Pruitt. I think the Administration feels the same way and I don’t see them making a change after this unique season and current financial situation. We are on our 4th coach over the past 12 years.

I do see the roster being more talented than when HC Pruitt arrived in 2017. The deficit for his program is the QB position. #2 has started the majority of games for HC Pruitt during his tenure because unfortunately he probably did give us the best chance to win. Shrout and Maurer were never the answers in my opinion over the last 2 seasons.

That brings us to Bailey who is probably the highest rated QB we have signed in the past 10-15 years. Unfortunately, he has been impacted by no spring practice and two covid related quarantines during the fall. I think we will see what #15 can or can’t do over the next few games. The QB from Texas will be on campus next season and hopefully a transfer QB as well to make the competition for this position very interesting going into 2021. An effective, talented QB is like a high-tide for a football team that raises all “position boats”. You are seeing that at Arkansas.

So whose fault is it that our QB situation is what it is?  There have been a ton of grad transfer QBs out there that Pruitt just ignored, several of whom showed real interest in coming here, including Gardner Minshew.  If our head coach doesn't recognize that he would have been a much better option than JG, then maybe we can pinpoint the problem. 

And allegedly, if you go by recruiting rankings, our talent level is up, but that's not translating to on the field play.  Perhaps we need some coaches who can develop talent?  Don't seem to have those now. 

And what assistant coaches worth having are going to come to UT now with Pruitt on such a hot seat?  That's why you have to go ahead and make a move and let a new coach build a staff.  The only coach I would like to see retained for sure is Jay Graham, and possibly Tee Martin. 

The time to make a change is when you realize a mistake has been made.  Pruitt was a mistake, and it doesn't matter how many coaches we've had in the last 12 years.  It's not going to get better under him. 

This is a rare instance that I agree with HTK, but "Big Jim", assuming that means the former starting OL on the 1951 National Championship team that founded Pilot (who else could it be, lol, but just in case) was the chair of the UT Athletic Board (may be a bit off on the title, but something like that) during our glory years, and IMO had a lot to do with our success. As I understand it, he played a big role in hiring both Doug Dickey as AD and Fulmer to replace Majors.  It was only when he backed off for health reasons and his sons, particularly the one that owns the Browns, got involved that it all went to shizzle.

That's just my understanding of it, but it has always sounded to me like a classic case of the boys not living up to the man, happens all the time.  Just compare Steve Forbes to Malcolm, for example.   :dielaughing:

Great perspective Cobb.  Coaching changes are hard, something not factored in by the mob screaming for Fulmer's head in 2008. And thus we get to now.   :nod:

So what are all of your excuses for keeping him? Every other school has had Covid issues. Other schools have freshmen QB's performing at a high level. Covid had nothing to do with losing to Ga State. How can you gloss that over? A first year Arky coach with 18 walk-ons in key positions. How do you give him a Mulligan? KY curb stomped us and lost to Bama 63-3. Does that not embarrass you? I ask, if he beats aTm or UF that makes all this stuff okay and we want to keep him around? Nope!

Hard to see a single one of those that's doing well, although Fisher may finally be doing well at Tamu.  Scott Frost has modestly improved Nebraska.  Muir and Morris are already fired, lol.