Says that Pruitt was basically done with Helton midway through the FIRST HALF of WVU. Helton personally vouched for Chryst being “THE GUY” and it took app. 3 throws for Pruitt to see that he was a damned far ways removed from anything close to that. Pruitt resented the scholly it cost us to get him, seeing it as being wasted. Helton also recruited / vouched for JT Shrout, and Pruitt doesn’t like or thinks he’s worth a shit, either - so another wasted scholly, there. Basically says he just had no confidence in the guy at all, and from very early on, and it all sort of unraveled from there. Basilio interviewed Ubben yesterday and flat-out said that Pruitt called the offense on Saturday vs Vandy. Not “monitored”, “suggested”, “weighed in” on offensive calls - but was being given an offensive playsheet and actually called plays versus Vandy. Just interesting, maybe noteworthy, if even true.
Well, that alone ought to rule out elevating Friend... I get the whole team was checked out by that time but [uck fay]...
I find it concerning that Pruitt let Helton bring in Chryst without seeing him for himself. Why did he hire helton?
He rushed the hire. And I'm sure he has learned that lesson and it won't happen this time. With that said, if you hire someone, you trust their judgment. Once he realized he couldn't trust his judgment... you cut ties.
Yesterday on the radio Doug Mathews said he thinks that Pruitt hired Helton "Too fast". He said Helton was on his way to Knoxville while they were introducing Pruitt as the new coach.
If judgement is a key criterion, he needs to be careful abut Freeze. No matter how you slice it, his judgement is questionable away from the field.
Hopefully that carefulness will prevent him from doing anything rash in regards to Chip Lindsey. I would think if Freeze were the guy it would have happened already though, as he doesn’t have anything significant going in anyway... If we have to wait a while to make the right hire then by all means, let’s wait....
I obviously would have serious reservations with Freeze, if nothing else he's a hypocrite. And that's exactly why I hated Bruce Pearl even though he helped bring UT basketball back to the stage it should have always been on. With that said, Pruitt makes no qualms about it that his coaches are to eat, sleep and breathe football. Freeze may not have time to be as scummy as what we all believe him to be.
And Helton is a stand up guy. One of the legit good guys in the business. It just didn't work out for his time here... although both parties handling it well allowed him to get his ultimate goal of being a HC.
Chip is a good football mind. And Freeze, although available and easily accessible for interviews, will take some time to hire. Lots of hoops that have to be cleared by whoever hires him... and that's not counting a thorough vetting process.
And I wish him well in that regard. Hopefully the Hill-Stoppers will get out of their perinnial spot in the bottom 10 sooner rather than later...
I forgot about the vetting process. Honestly, the very fact that a vetting process (of the type Freeze would require anyway... I know any coach would be subject to one) is necessary to make him palatable is a huge red flag.
