idk what happened to Butch. He recruited pretty well for a couple of years and couldn't do anything with it. I like Pruitt but he's got zero head coaching experience and he's got a meddling AD. I'm not sure what to think about his possibilities at Tennessee. And I loved Pruitt as our DC. McElwain just didn't take recruiting seriously and he fucked himself with the administration at Florida. They won the East two years in a row and then he basically gave up.
(This is the first of a series of reports in which coaches who are promised anonymity for their responses give their assessments of Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt and the state of UT’s football program) A coach with extensive SEC experience has no doubt Jeremy Pruitt will have success at Tennessee – and soon. “To me, Jeremy is the best defensive mind in the SEC,” said the coach, who is still in the SEC. That’s strong praise, especially with Alabama’s Nick Saban – Pruitt’s most recent boss – considered a defensive guru and another Saban protégé, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, known for his defensive prowess as well. Still, Pruitt can more than hold his own compared to the two. “He’s better than Nick and Kirby,” the coach said. The best news for UT fans is that the rebuild in Knoxville shouldn’t take long. “He hired a great staff,” the coach said. “They will flip Tennessee back to where they were quickly, within the first two years.” The coach said Pruitt’s first season will be a bit of a struggle because of personnel deficiencies. He named only two players on UT’s squad who would be considered championship level: offensive lineman Trey Smith and linebacker Daniel Bituli. But that doesn’t mean current players can’t be developed, especially with a top-flight strength and conditioning staff led by former Houston Texans strength coach Craig Fitzgerald. “The guy Jeremy hired for strength and conditioning – he might be the best in the SEC,” the coach said. “He’s super good and the real deal.” The coach even went so far as to compare Fitzgerald to Alabama’s Scott Cochran and LSU’s Tommy Moffitt. Both are considered elite strength and conditioning coaches. “In terms of getting them bigger, better and faster and functional, he’s damn good,” the coach said of Fitzgerald. The coach said UT’s opponents will find some weaknesses in the Vols’ defense this season because of shortcomings in personnel. Still, he predicted UT’s defense would be better almost immediately. “Tennessee will play better defense with whoever they have (now) than they’ve played in the last 10 years,” he said. “The second year, I could see some real (expletive) happening at Tennessee.” The coach acknowledged there were obvious issues under former coach Butch Jones, who was fired during his fifth season at UT. It was obvious on the field and in coaching circles. “Tennessee had lots of issues. Jeremy will run it the right way,” the coach said. “To me the biggest thing is obvious as hell: When you’re in your fifth year, that should be your best year. There are no excuses. “I think Jeremy will do a good job of identifying what needs to be done.” (You can follow Dave Hooker on Twitter @TheDaveHooker)
I know i was not very thrilled with the idea of Willie hiring Weinke when it was being tossed around.
There was a fantastic call on finebaum today. A distraught Tennessee fan was complaining about how Butch Jones’ face is still plastered on the Jumbotron next to Neyland, Reggie White, and Manning. Apparently UT can’t afford to get the equipment necessary to remove it
He was fairly highly regarded for his coaching ability while here, but supposedly has a terrible personality that won't translate well to recruiting.
HIRE OF THE WEEK: CHRIS WEINKE, TENNESSEE (RUNNING BACKS) The one-time head coach at football factory IMG Academy and a former Heisman Trophy winner, Weinke brings a diverse coaching background with him to Knoxville. Weinke obviously has deep ties to the state of Florida from his time as the Seminoles' quarterback and has recent NFL coaching experience as well (Rams QB coach from 2015-2016), something that should resonate with high school prospects. Jesse Simonton, Senior Writer at VolQuest.com:"The timing of Robert Gillespie’s departure was certainly abrupt, but Jeremy Pruitt’s decision to ultimately clean house of all former Butch Jonesassistants wasn’t a real surprise. Upon parting ways with Gillespie, Pruitt immediately zeroed in on Weinke, who he had worked with at Alabama during the 2017 season. In fact, the former Heisman Trophy winner was set to join Tennessee’s staff in December as part of Pruitt's initial hires, but a deal through. Two months later, Weinke is now in Knoxville. "Weinke doesn’t have much experience as a traditional recruiter in college, but his days as IMG’s head coach (2010-2014) should prove very valuable when interacting with both prospects and parents. Weinke’s continued ties to the program should also help the Vols make some added inroads at the prestigious academy." Farrell’s take: “A former Heisman winner, former high school coach and a great talent evaluator, Weinke will be an excellent recruiter at the college level and is considered a huge hire for Tennessee.”
Trey Wallace the guy who was all over our academic scandal retested it and made the joke about it being a trade for butch
After its original plan to hire Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano as its new football coach fell through amid widespread private and public backlash, Tennessee endured a whirlwind few days as its coaching search meandered from one candidate to another. Who exactly did the Vols and now-former athletic director John Curriereally pursue in those four frantic days? The timeline and movement of the search was cleared up a little more by the Thursday night release from Tennessee of Currie's correspondence during the Vols' search, particularly his social media messages with coaching candidates. According to those messages, released by the University in response to public records requests from multiple media outlets, Currie swapped multiple messages with then-Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, the agent for North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren and Washington State coach Mike Leach. Interestingly, Currie and Schiano swapped only three messages the night of Nov. 26, also known as the infamous "Schiano Sunday" when the hire was torpedoed by intense public and private resistance. Currie's first contact was with Mullen. Clint Dowdle, who works for agency CAA Sports, told Currie on the night of Nov. 22 that Mullen wanted to set a time to talk to Currie two days later, the Friday morning after Mississippi State's regular-season finale against Ole Miss on Thanksgiving night. Currie first contacted Mullen early that Friday morning. Just before noon on Saturday, Nov. 25, Mullen messaged Currie: "Good luck today. Talked with Peyton last night. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow." According to the messages, Currie told Dowdle to sent Mullen a memorandum of understanding, and the two appeared to have contact scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 26, but his last message to Mullen on the night of Nov. 25 -- "So tomorrow work?" -- went unanswered. Mullen was hired on Florida's coach that Sunday. Tennessee already had made contact and apparently had set up a meeting with Gundy for Monday in Oklahoma City, according to the message Gundy sent Currie the night of Nov. 25. On the morning of Nov. 27 after the Schiano hire collapsed, Gundy messaged Currie: "I adjusted my schedule for today after I heard the news yesterday. I can shake loose in Dallas tomorrow." Later that night, Currie messaged Jordan Bazant, Doeren's agent, to ask if he could call him. Currie arrived in Dallas that Monday night to interview Gundy the next day, while that morning Bazant was trying to set up a potential meeting between Doeren and Currie at the annual coaches convention in New York City the following Monday. Instead Currie said he and Phillip Fulmerwere planning to meet with Doeren in North Carolina on Friday morning. On the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 28, Currie told Gundy he was "standing by" for him, sent him an MOU for his attorney to look over and expressed how Fulmer was "fired up" after speaking with him about Gundy. Shortly after 9 p.m. that night, though, Currie messaged Bazant that "Gundy is (out)," to which Bazant responded, "Lets get this done." Currie flew to Raleigh that Tuesday night and met with Doeren on Wednesday after arranging conversations with his athletic director. At 3:52 a.m. on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 30, Currie first reached out to Leach: "Coach - Currie here. You available for a call?" Leach responded immediately and told Currie he'd call in five minutes. Later that morning, Bazant messaged Currie that Doeren "is fired up" and added to Currie "really need to hear from you." That was their final message Seven hours later, Leach messaged Currie that Thursday afternoon that he was available for Currie's text message while he was "on the bike path by the water." Currie and Leach shared no messages for a five-hour span until Leach messaged Currie shortly after midnight on Friday, Dec. 1: "It was great to meet and talk to you. You’re a good man and I hope you come out of this ok and we can work together." While Currie was flying back to Knoxville, Leach sent further messages to Currie: "Let me know if I can ever do anything for you. I truly wish I had gathered you up and we had the first of many beers together. I wish you and your family the best." Leach asked Currie to keep him posted in his final message, to which Currie responded with his final message. "My two best friends picked me up at the airport. There are good people here." Currie was suspended by Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport later Friday morning and Fulmer supplanted him and hired Jeremy Pruitt a few days later.
Seven hours later, Leach messaged Currie that Thursday afternoon that he was available for Currie's text message while he was "on the bike path by the water." Am I misreading this or did Leach tell Currie where he'd be as though the Tennessee AD would have any frame of reference regarding "the bike path by the water"?
"JOHN I HOPE YOU DO KNOW I WOULD LIKE TO BE YOUR HEAD FOOTBALL COACH I DO KNOW THE ENVIRONMENT WE LIVE IN AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AT TENNESSEE!" Hoke wrote, using all capital letters.
After the Schiano fiasco, I would have loved to see the reaction to Hoke being offered/accepting the job.
The 30 for 30 on this entire fiasco in 10 years when we find out how all this candidates ended up will be phenomenal
Tennessee has hired a former SEC assistant coach to its football staff. Former Georgia and Florida State tight ends coach John Lilly has joined new coach Jeremy Pruitt's program and will be the executive assistant to the head coach, sources close to the situation told GoVols247 on Saturday. Lilly recently was considered for a position in Alabama's program as well after spending the 2017 season out of football.
Another Hoke all caps text Brady Hoke, serving as Tennessee's acting football coach, wrote: "JOHN VERY SORRY TO HEAR WHAT HAS HAPPENED THIS IS THE BULL CRAP COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAS BECOME. IF I CAN BE OF ANY HELP PLEASE LET ME KNOW
Tennessee owed Jones an $8.26 million buyout when it fired him on Nov. 12. The buyout is due in monthly installments throughout the duration of his contract, which was set to expire on Feb. 28, 2021. His Tennessee contract required him to try to find a new job to mitigate the buyout. Jones' $35,000 annual salary at Alabama will be a drop in the bucket, but it fulfills his contractual duty. Tennessee will pay the rest.