Pruitt has been head coach for one year, where he went 5-7 and inherited a dumpster fire. Kirby came into a pretty loaded roster and (mostly) chooses who he wants in one of the most talent rich states in the country. He also has a national championship appearance and a near-playoff season to sell. Once again, apples to oranges at this point. Them having the best recruiting staff doesn't mean they will pull top 3 or even 5 classes on a yearly basis. It just makes them dangerous IF they start winning soon. Big if.
The loaded roster narrative can be debated, but that's for another day. Kirby went 7-5 his first year with some really bad losses. He signed the #3 class after that. Pruitt has sooooo much to sell right now. His class is just alright with the top 5 recruiters on earth.
Are you guys so insecure that me saying baseline, as a recruiter selling what we would assume to be an equal product, x>y is wrong? I'm not saying they are about to pull in the top class, I'm simply saying they have a staff that at a place like Alabama or Clemson I could see them bringing in absolutely insane classes. They obviously aren't selling Bama or Clemson. The only place Pruitt and Kirby have had the same roles and sold the same product were under Saban here. That's where my opinion comes from.
You're just throwing out everything that isn't favorable to Pruitt. None of the results we've experienced or what's happening at Tennessee matters. My post was hyperbole but it's still convenient on your part.
The entire argument was started based on their recruiting staff being better at the top than maybe any other in the country. I'm not throwing results out, results are the reason Kirby, Saban, hell even Jimbo probably will continue to bring in better classes. I don't understand your comprehension of this whole debate.
To break it down, if we replaced Banks with Niedermeyer, Scott with Ansley, and Wiggins with Tee, I'm extremely confident we would bring in a better class in '20 than we will. Coaching is a part of it, so I'd only want Ansley and Tee over our two out of those, Banks is solid himself.
I disagreed specifically with the part about you saying that Pruitt was a better recruiter than Kirby. I disagreed speaking from our experience. Now you're bring the staff part in which was never part of my argument.
Staff breakdown from PC today: 6 offensive coaches: Chaney is OC - can coach all positions Weinke QB David Johnson -- RB Tee Martin -- WR, pass game coordinator, assistant hc Will Friend -- OL Neidermeyer -- TE Ansley -- DC and DB Sherrer -- ILB and special teams coordinator Rump -- OLB, co-DC Rocker -- DL
Idk about recruiter. Pruitt probly better at unearthing 3* studs that were underscouted/underrecruited. But Kirby better at the big fish.
I'm not saying it will happen. But it's manageable and possible this year. We are still shit especially OL. BYU in Knoxville is our "premier" OOC game We catch Miss St at home as the West opponent
Fair enough. Going with either isn't a wrong choice, just a matter of opinion. Mine admittedly is from their time here in equal position with no advantage over the other, as I said.
If i remember right they got some rather big names under butch...recruiting really has never been their issues
I’ve Always wondered why Bama fans liked Pruitt more than Kirby Think the fact that Pruitt was only there for 2 years makes Bama fans think he was better for some reason
He was around the program a little more than two years, and as DC those couple years we improved with the (relatively) same roster in basically every facet. There's also what he accomplished at FSU defensively.
They also know he is going to be their next Head Coach so now is the time to start drinking that coolaid
There’s also the fact that he’s an Alabama boy who went there in college. I’m sure that plays into it some.
Again, that's my opinion and the popular one of our fanbase, not just on this site. It's not that we like Tennessee more than UGA. Basically ever since Saban brought him in there was always talk that behind the scenes he felt Pruitt had more HC potential than any of his former assistants (Kirby and Jimbo included), but he hasn't proven that yet. Hell, you can't even say he will be better than Muschamp. But he absolutely is an elite DC and recruiter.
Pruitt wouldn't be offered the job if Saban retired tomorrow, or two years from now, unless he somehow managed to win the East back to back. I can promise you that.
I don't give a shit who their alma mater is. I want the best coach. I wouldn't trade Saban's last 5-8 years for Dabo's next because Dabo is an "Alabama boy". But I will want us to throw everything possible at him when Saban leaves.
I meant as a comparison between him and Kirby not in whatever way you took it. Both fielded excellent defenses and won NCs yet Bama fans seem to overwhelmingly like Pruitt better. Not just on this site either. You can’t tell me that him being a Bama alum doesn’t have anything to do with that.
Maybe in general, but for me personally, no. If our next head coaches were comparitively even but one had even a tiny advantages I'd take the one that graduated from UT/Auburn, etc. over the Bama grad. You also have to remember that most of us had a Bama guy as head coach before Saban, not that the situations would be comparable. I'm just saying I don't care if Saban went to Kent. State or Alabama.
We had a discussion in our thread a few weeks ago. It was in a hypothetical where Saban retired on NSD, would you take Pruitt or Kiffin. I was one of the very few, unironically pro-Kiffin guys. I'm not saying Pruitt is the next Saban, it would be cool for us if he did well and we had a solid young hire years down the road, but we'll go after somebody established and probably send the president, AD and board to Dabo's moms house first just to make sure it's a no.
Whatever, man. I'd take Kirby as our next HC at this point every time. You guys for some reason got bent out of shape over me saying Pruitt is a better DC and slightly better recruiter. That is only a small part of running a program.
Nope. Dave Aranda is clearly going to be a great head coach. He's an elite DC and can recruit. No questions asked.
I liked Pruitt’s defensive playcalling at Alabama better than Smart’s. Pruitt was a lot more aggressive which was more fun.
Our 3rd downs those two years before he left definitely spoiled us after the 3rd and longs in previous years.
If that were still the case he would have fired himself after that playoff performance. Kirby had the reigns years ago, then Pruitt, then tweedle dee and tweedle dum this year.
Not like he needs the money after he cleaned out the UT athletic department with that slam dunk lawsuit.