My jaw dropped seeing this:
Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt has emerged as a strong candidate for the Tennessee head coaching vacancy, sources have told SI. Word is new athletic director Phillip Fulmer is pushing for a disciplinarian and someone who can bring more a hard-nosed physical style to the program. [Emphasis added.]
Would Fulmer know a disciplinarian if one walked up and bit him in the ass? More importantly, would the fan base care, as long as the coach won?
Get The Picture 
I hope that UT hires Pruitt because I think he will be a giant train wreck as a head coach.
They are getting unhinged proto-muschamp. It wont go well.
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Perhaps. But Pruitt can coach, it seems. Muschamp has gotta be one of the most overrated coaches there is.
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defense…especially a defense with talent. It will be a train wreck, but it will be Tennessee’s train wreck….
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Agreed. Let’s hope so!
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Just as we’ll all be dropping the pounds put on from eating so much popcorn, along will come the war of words between CJP and the delusional, toothless fan base that will be expecting a natty in two years or less.
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“But Kirby won the sec in his second year Pawwwl, Pruitt ain’t cuttin it”
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Could see those two hard heads going at it now, a match made in heaven….would be special.
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I can see it now. Phulmer plays good cop undercutting the bad cop. The locker room will be a mess.
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Pruitt vs. Muschamp…make McDaid, the ref from the SECCG be the permanent referee for that game. They all deserve it.
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Methinks that word doesn’t mean what Phil thinks it means.
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Wonder how Pruitt would do in assembling and managing a staff, working with boosters, university officials, and the constant limelight of the head coach at an SEC or Power 5 school?
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@jermainesdye: One can see train wreck coming down the track, and dealing with the part where Fulmer wants a lot of input. Unless a personality transplant is done—this is disaster, but it is UT’s not anyone elses.
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Pru despises McGarity – he would feel similarly for Fulmer. There is no way Pru takes this job if offered. Bigger and better awaits without having to lick the bootstraps of Phil Fulmer.
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Fulmer interviewing coaching prospects can’t be the typical AD/Search committee interaction with candidates. The dynamics of the relationship between the new head coach, Fulmer and the UT fan base’s expectations mean they will need a lot of luck for things to work out long term. If the coach does not operate exactly to Fulmer’s template it probably will be a train wreck.
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If he does operate according to Fulmer’s template and loses, Fulmer will throw him under the bus.
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Pruitt will make a great head coach, I’d say at an Arkansas or Miss St. where they have a realistic perception of their program or maybe even FSU where the parts are already in place and it all about winning.
I previously said Pruitt would be a great hire for Tennessee but Tennessee in its current state with its inflated self worth and Fulmer as current AD in the Big Orange Game of Thrones, the epic pissing matches will be something to behold.
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Very ironic that the UT band started playing the Game of Thrones song this year at the games.
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Yes but every time they play it all i hear is this version…
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The Black Friday trilogy. A holiday classic.
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From a career perspective, if I was a coordinator with no head coaching experience, I think that having a national championship coach to work for and talk to as I learned to be a head coach would be a nice to have.
If I got along with that head coach, it could be a train wreck, will likely be a train wreck, but it doesnt have to be.
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I have no idea how Pruitt would do as a head coach in most situations. All I know about him is that he’s a really good defensive coordinator who was central in whatever strife was going on behind the scenes in Athens a couple of years ago. However, regardless of how good or bad he might be in a hypothetical job, I don’t think anyone is going to succeed in this current Tennessee environment.
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“I don’t think anyone is going to succeed in this current Tennessee environment.”
^^This^^ Ole Miss has been de-fanged somewhat by the NCAA, but UT has been de-fanged by themselves. Maybe they should just let Phil be HC, hire some good assistants, and get them back to a bowl game, and then try to find their savior.
From our standpoint, Pruitt might be fun to watch, though. My guess is that Pruitt may want to be a head coach some day, but he doesn’t want to commit HC suicide at UT.
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I suspect this is just a way for Phat Phil to just get himself back in charge in KnoxVegas. Whoever ends up as HC better be ready to be Phat Phil’s puppet.
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I dunno; I heard he offered the job to himself, but then turned it down. 🙂
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We’ll see what happens when Pruitt shows up at Fulmer’s house on a Sunday morning after a loss next year and rouses Fulmer from his donut-induced coma.
I read somewhere on a Vol board that he would be getting Tracy Rocker has D line coach. Didn’t they hate each other on Richt’s staff? Do they have any idea?
If Fulmer called McGarrity, AD to AD, and asked about Pruitt, would McGarrity tell him the truth, or stay mum hoping for a trash receptacle conflagration?
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I believe it was Pruitt and Schottenheimer that clashed.
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Funny considering Schottenheimer was recommended to Richt by Pruitt.
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Completely wrong
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Nope.
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Discipline? Phil Fulmer? He of the eponymous Fulmer Cup. Nice irony.
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Phil’s legacy to the off-season criminal achievements of various college football programs is monumental. He will never be forgotten.
http://www.thefulmercup.com/
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Pruitt is a damn good DC, workhorse, terrific recruiter, proven winner, and devotes attention to details. Players love him. If you’re a slacker you’d best stay out of his way. With saban approaching 70, I’m thinking CJP would have to be on bama’s shortlist as a replacement. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if bama gave CJP a big bump in pay to keep him from ut.
Other than the massive payday, I’m not sure CJP would consider ut. Until I see it officially announced, I’ll continue to believe it’s wishful thinking by the ut fan(tasy)base. In my opinion, ut needs to set their sites lower or continue striking out.
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At best, I think Pruitt at UT would end similar to how it ended between Nebraska and Bo Polini.
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Pruitt will be an outstanding HC somewhere sometime. I hope NOT at UT.
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Pruitt would be the last coach you wanted to see hired at UT.
He can coach!
If hired, and he hires a certain OC and DC, beware, UT will be lethal!
He is well connected in the coaching circles and recruiting base.
So you fluffs have your say!
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Rush Propst would be his OC ya’ think???
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Fluffs!! That I may need to work into my diction. Keep it rollin’, Trane.
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Agreed…dont want him anywhere near Ut
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Yeah, not sure how it works out with him and Phil, but Pruitt knows D and what he wants. He can recruit, which Tenn needs badly. And he could pull at least one of our positional coaches with him.
I’d rather have see Kevin Steele get it.
There’s an article by Wes Rucker though, that doesn’t think going with a DC as a HC at Tenn is the right move at this time. Some decent points.
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Who recruited Smith?
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Lilly was Smith’s primary recruiter.
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Why are two Dawgs bodycam shots posted up on at least two websited.
That can have a huge impact on players and future recruits.
Does that law enforcement release that on all arrests. If it was some UGA sorority sisters would they do that?
BAD!!!
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When I saw the bodycam posting title, I had no wish to view it nor do I think it would be appropriate for anyone to view it. It is low class of the “They Shoot Horses, Don’t they?” variety. Watching other’s suffering has to be a low dip in the barrel of life.
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So he can coach, yeah, so can a lot of coaches. Can he function in that position with all that is required. Also, Fulmer hanging over him micro managing. Unless a personality transplant is done, he will have a tough time.
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This has been my contention since this shit show started. Most didn’t want Schiano because they didn’t believe in him, not because he coached under Paterno. If they wanted to be a beacon of morality they wouldn’t have hired Fulmer as their freaking AD.
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I’m starting to think Fulmer put that out there (I’m gonna be involved) to settle the fanbase. If he meant it at first, he’s doubtless heard from prospective coaching hires that “they ain’t comin” under those circumstances.
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I don’t understand the premise of your post. Is it because Fulmer had a bunch of bad apples on his teams? Or is the premise that Pruitt is not a disciplinarian? If so, why do you think Pruitt would not be a disciplinarian?
Not arguing, I just don’t know the reason for the skepticism.
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It would be akin to Bill Clinton announcing he was searching for a morally good secretary. Phat Phil is the weak link in the ‘disciplinary’ part.
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Please UT hire Pruitt…please. That’s all I’m going to say, and I hope it happens.
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Senator, when are you going to repost an open post (any subject) to intersperse in posts between now and the bigger bowl games?
Two young women were spotted in a large mall nearby and I need my windows washed (among other things). Two of the septa- and octogenarian guys at the bar were placing racing stripes on their walkers this morning while trying to install naked motorcycle shields.
I gotta go get change for a couple of 20s (the cute minxes rarely say they have change) before hauling these walker fun-loving friends over to roam the mall outback as I cruise. I’ll see you later.
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You are not, by any chance, in Alabama are you Cojo?
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Is Phat Phil going to feel the same way the first time he walks into Pruitt’s office uninvited and Jeremy says, “Get the F out!”
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Damn, now that I can’r go I get tickets!
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Lets clear this up, by disciplinarian Fulmer means on field and weight room discipline. Work hard, don’t make stupid penalties. Leave the off field discipline to the coaches that will work hard to ignore it.
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Sounds like Kevin Steele may be the choice
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… and the next three years of UT on offense could look like the UF Muschamp vintage. I’m for it!
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I hope you are right.
“Steele was the head coach at Baylor University from 1999 to 2002. His record was 9–36 (1–31 in the Big 12 conference).”
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Somewhere Tyler Bray just tossed a beer bottle into a trash dumpster.
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There’s a reason is called the “Fulmer Cup”, time to bring it home to Knoxvegas boys.
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The Fulmer Cup and the Champions of Life Trophy.
The Alpha and the Omega of athletic achievement.
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UT already has an IPF….so there’s that.
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Pruitt may or may not be a great head coach, but there’s no doubt he’ll recruit his balls off. If he gets the job, he’ll raise Tennessee’s talent level considerably within a few years. It’s always a risk hiring someone who’s never been a head coach before, but the upside with Pruitt can’t be denied.
But that aside, I just like the guy and would hate to see him in puke orange. I’m still hoping the Vols end up with a washed-up retread, though it doesn’t look like Fulmer is going in that direction.
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Bring Dr. Michael F. Adams back to the Great State of Tennessee as UT’s Special Advisor on Disciplinary Policy.
Just make sure to give him the budget he needs.
#ZeroToleranceIsNowHere.
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Looks like it will be Pruitt at UT. Not thinking Schotty will be his OC.
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Hope everyone wanting this to happen realized we will likely lose sherrer to ut…good coach and great recruiter…big loss
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This could help us in the playoff if we were to face Alabama.
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