I knew Pruitt has signed some transfers, but nine of ’em? Five are from the juco ranks, four are graduates. Only one practiced and played with UT in the spring.
I get that a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do and all, but, boy, when you’ve got more than 10% of your roster coming from the transfer ranks, the odds are a lot of them aren’t going to work out, at least not quickly enough. Sure, Pruitt’s a good coach, but still…
Get The Picture 
He had to do something…
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When you can’t get a good 1st class and have a fan base that wants Ws years ago…. Even if they don’t getting playing time, how long does a Grad transfer stay on the roster?
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Well, somebody’s gotta do it…
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Four castoffs from other programs and five jucos are better than whatever the University of Tennessee already had on campus?
Butch Jones, you are gone but you will never be forgotten. Thank you.
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That would be the ‘throw poo against the wall and see what sticks’ technique.
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Auburn won the SEC twice with it…….
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KState has been st or near top ten for years with this method. It can work, but not the norm.
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Snyder is great at evaluating talent.
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JUCOs and Grad Transfers are actually a very good bridge to a better team for UT INMO. The lack of talent, particularly depth, is a problem for UT. Bring ’em in for a year or two while you concentrate on upping the recruiting for frosh after that.
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The danger is that it becomes a cycle. The only person I’ve seen make that kind of thing work is Bill Snyder. If Pruitt doesn’t try to stock up on transfers again next year, then it’s probably fine. Tennessee is going to suck this year either way, and they probably won’t be much better next year.
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I’ll be shocked if he sticks up on transfers again. This was very much a stop gap measure for a roster that has a lot of gaps.
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*stocks
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Giving 9 scholarships to transfers and graduates essentially kicks the can down the road on the talent problem. Nobody expects anything from Pruitt in year 1. But year 3? Those 9 schollies could have been 9 Juniors with experience in his system. Instead they’re just 9 more freshmen or transfers.
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Your premise is incorrect. He didn’t hold back scholarships during the signing period, he signed as many as he could given the late start. After the signing period(s) were over, he still had a lot of empty slots to fill. So he filled them with guys who will only be there 1-2 years specifically to NOT hamstring himself in the future. Those scholarships will come open for his next couple of classes where he’s trying to build the roster. Those 9 spots couldn’t have been juniors in 3 years, he had already gotten as many guys as he could during the signing periods.
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But those are schollies he won’t have in the next class. So my math is off. They’d be sophomores in year 3. Still a better prospect than a grad transfer who won’t be there at all in 3 years, isn’t it?
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It’s Pruitt dude, we know firsthand he ain’t afraid to run someone off Trust me those nine schollies will be available next year.
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Pruitt has never been a head coach. None of you have any idea what he will do.
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I’m pretty sure he’s going to get into it with Phil.
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Got Cowdog, let’s hope so anyway. If we’re lucky it will happen on the sideline during a game.
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🙂
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If these transfers enrolled in January (Juco most likely) they can be back counted toward the 25 limit on this year’s class. I don’t think they are in danger of going above 85. I’m not sure how the grad transfers work (meaning I don’t know which signing class of 25 they count against)
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Agreed and grad transfers usually only take 1 year so nothing ventured nothing gained.
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The kid transferring from ‘Bama has two years. Don’t know about the rest.
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Possibly but it is still staggered and a Bama cast off should be developed in the weigh room.
Further he was at Bama so he has a good idea of what he is getting on that one. Building of Grad Transfers and JUCO is not the ideal way to sustain a program but if done well can be a jump start especially if you know the player you are getting.
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They are not all grad transfer left tackles from New England.
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I would guess it is either JUCOs or grad transfers or….walk-ons, or, forfeit? Like you said,, a man has to do what a man has to do.
But, I’m loving it for right now.
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Well, when your other option is to roll with a roster that won 4 games last year, what’ve you got to lose? He’s gotta double that win total to convince any blue chip players that he’s not just another dead-man-walking UT coach.
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I think he looked at his roster and realized he had almost no depth. Even if some of these guys are just good enough to give him 10-15 snaps a game, even if just on special teams, he’s still better off than he was.
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Jucos and transfers have to start just like freshmen in learning the O and D at Tenn. Experience is great, but the first games may be confusing sometimes when old habits with differing signals creeps in for a play or two. They will pick it up much quicker than the Freshmen, but gee whiz, it can make for a simple O and D that opponents can stub in the second half of a game.
Pruitt will need all the luck he can muster when he hits the hard part of his schedule.
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I mean, the situations is always relative. The attrition of players and broken culture at UT understandably left Pruitt with about a half deck of cards. If he can get decent QB play out of Chryst or Guarantano, I still think UT is a 6 or 7 win team. Capable of beating a team like SC but hopefully a light year behind us.
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My first thought is how cool it is for these transfers to have a great opportunity to compete in the sec. I hope they lose every game but it’s cool that these kids get opportunities.
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This probably won’t make a big difference this year or next. But it’s an indicator that CJP is on top of roster management like Saban and Smart. Which wouldn’t be the most welcome development
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Valid point. I have made some comment in defense of taking the JUCOs and Grad Transfers. I am not saying it will or will not work. If done well it can provide a jump start, if not it could set the program back but the same could be said for recruiting kids out of High School.
CJP could be a successful coach or the failure many here hope he will be. We don’t know yet.
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1.) If these UT guys get playing time or starting spots, we will have 4 games worth of tape by our game including WVA & UF. I think by now we can trust Kirby & Staff will be all over it.
2.) With the new transfer rules, teams with depleted rosters or teams with coaching turnover may see even more of this “plug and play” activity than ever before.
Pruitt’s process of heavily platooning together (Retool) of this year’s team could easily become the norm at many other programs.
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I would be more concerned on getting tape on South Carolina than UT. Further I liked the game SC’s OC called for UGA.
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Worked for Jackie Sherrill. For awhile. Eventually crashed into his 2-10 final season.
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I really really want to see 50 on the vawls this year.
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What’s ironic is that Butch was touted as a great recruiter who had turned the ship on Rocky Top.
In fact, there was a great article last season where a reporter was in Coach’s personal/family box during one of the games and Butch’s wife was saying something to the effect of “he’s done so much for UT, the next coach is gonna look like a genius because of all the hard work Butch put in”
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