Breaking: Ricky Gibson to the portal

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I agree that this is part of the world we live in now, but it was made public (by his people according to AP) that he wanted a new deal after already re-upping and doubling his old deal. That's not exactly the way I would've chosen to go about this.


I think most fans are accepting to the idea that these guys are making a pretty substantial amount of money now. Even Duke is now paying their new portal QB a ridiculous amount of money. Beck is getting stupid $ from Miami. All that said, if it's perceived that you are more about yourself than your team it won't be well received... especially with this fanbase. We're all on this website for a reason .. we're fans of Tennessee. We have a connection one way or another. We want to win. Winning is incredibly hard. But if it’s perceived that you’re getting in the way of that, people will turn on you. The fact that we’re this far into this thread is a testament to that .

And Gibson gives a better chance to win and he knows it. He knows he has leverage. UT has leverage too on some players by recruiting over them and showing them the door. It happens. Gibson's move happens.

The "old school" way left the team with all the power by limiting transfers, no revenue sharing, etc. That wasn't sustainable legally.

The new "Wild West" way is EXACTLY what UT sued to get, for better or for worse, so if it bites us occasionally...... UT did this. UT wanted the players to have this power to transfer. UT wanted the NIL regulations as loose as possible.

As you say, we're all UT fans. I can't complain when my team (and state) actually sued the NCAA to create what I'm complaining about.

 

[#1HomeGrownUTVOL]

Not everything in life is about money. I'd rather be a decent guy making decent money, than a douche canoe making tons of money.

I’ve been a nice guy my whole life and it hasn’t got me very far, cunning business decisions has got me further.

 

[utchs81]

I’ve been a nice guy my whole life and it hasn’t got me very far, cunning business decisions has got me further.

But being a nice guy will give folks something to look back on you at your funeral with fond thoughts and memopries.

 

[DaddyChad]

But being a nice guy will give folks something to look back on you at your funeral with fond thoughts and memopries.

Meh, you can be “nice” and not be a sucker.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Not everything in life is about money. I'd rather be a decent guy making decent money, than a douche canoe making tons of money.

When I read this I think of the supposed David Lee Roth quote: Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull alongside it.

Of course not everything in life is about money but in the big scheme of things Gibson's leverage play is just a hardball business move. If UT plays hardball back at him in some way, that's fair.

This is why I think a General Manager may be needed now at the college level. Let them deal with the money aspects and be adversarial with the players and let the coaches coach the players the GM gets.

It really is a business. Business really isn't "y'all play nice on the playground" when millions of dollars are in the mix.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

Coaches and players are a little different. Coaches don’t have a set number years of eligibility to coach. They can go away, rehab, and come back. They also have buyouts if they leave. Rickey has 3 years of eligibility left max. I don’t blame him for chasing as much money as he can during his short window and I wouldn’t blame UT if they told him to get lost after he reneged on the deal

Clear this up, DID HE or DID HE NOT sign a deal for the 25 season?

No problem him negotiating that deal, BIG problem if he does not HONOR it.

Was it with SPYRE or UT? I am in the dark with validated facts, important facts. Like to see the language if SPYRE. Could, not would, they be able to require a buyout, or sue for damages? NOT A CLUE!

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Clear this up, DID HE or DID HE NOT sign a deal for the 25 season?

No problem him negotiating that deal, BIG problem if he does not HONOR it.

Was it with SPYRE or UT? I am in the dark with validated facts, important facts. Like to see the language if SPYRE. Could, not would, they be able to require a buyout, or sue for damages? NOT A CLUE!

That's the mess. NIL deals, until the House revenue sharing case is settled, are made outside of the school and Spyre can't officially tie deals to "you have to play for UT."

Obviously, if a player transfers Spyre isn't going to pay them, so there's got to be an "out" in the contract if a player hits the portal. I don't know for a fact that's how the contracts work, but I feel certain Spyre isn't leaving themselves on the hook for a player who transfers.

As for suing a transferring player for damages, talk about negatively recruiting yourself..... Yikes!

 

[ETSUVol09]

When I read this I think of the supposed David Lee Roth quote: Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull alongside it.

Of course not everything in life is about money but in the big scheme of things Gibson's leverage play is just a hardball business move. If UT plays hardball back at him in some way, that's fair.

This is why I think a General Manager may be needed now at the college level. Let them deal with the money aspects and be adversarial with the players and let the coaches coach the players the GM gets.

It really is a business. Business really isn't "y'all play nice on the playground" when millions of dollars are in the mix.

His move is being labeled as shrewd right now but we can’t say that unless it works out for him.

Now I don’t fault him for trying to make more money. My fault in the guy is what many have with this situation. He just renegotiated his deal in December.

Pulling this move so soon can bring into question whether he is here for the team or himself. Paying this player more means less money to spend on improving your team in other areas. NIL resources are finite. Tom Brady understood this and took less money to be part of a better team.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

His move is being labeled as shrewd right now but we can’t say that unless it works out for him.

Now I don’t fault him for trying to make more money. My fault in the guy is what many have with this situation. He just renegotiated his deal in December.

Pulling this move so soon can bring into question whether he is here for the team or himself. Paying this player more means less money to spend on improving your team in other areas. NIL resources are finite. Tom Brady understood this and took less money to be part of a better team.

His situation changed in 1 and possibly 2 ways:
1. McCoy got injured which increased his value to the team.
2. He may have an offer from another team that's a better deal.

I've no idea what you do for a living but if you'd just gotten a raise and a competitor offered you more money, you might want to discuss it with your employer because the wife needs a new car, dang those kids grow out of clothes before you can wash them, etc. Almost everyone has money needs which, at least for me, are more important than the needs of my employer. My employer will take care of themselves and would replace me (and mine did when I retired) without a hitch.

As for Brady, he's one of the exceptions to the "everyone has money needs" because he knew he had gotten and would get his. He needed only to do another commercial or appearance or sponsor something to make up whatever he passed up in salary.

 

[sjt18]

I don't go to games nor do I interact with athletes so this groupie comparison you made makes no sense.

It does to pretty much everyone else here who has watched your posts over the last few years.

I just don't go out of my way to see the players are replaceable cogs in a machine. I respect them as individual humans and will always root for their well-being over an institution which has no feelings or emotions.

You really don't understand the concept of team athletics, do you? You don't understand the dynamics of interpersonal relationships or how/why putting the interests of others equal to or ahead of your own is a good and admirable thing. The "institution like a family or any other functioning group of people bound together for purpose is made up of people who STOP seeing themselves as individuals and submit themselves to the interests of the group.

I haven't read that much about Gibson. Only that he entered the portal and is apparently pretty selfish about it all.

But go ahead and prioritize the well-being of the company over the employees.

Yes. The welfare of the whole is more important than the welfare of the one. That is ESPECIALLY true when the welfare of the employee WHOLLY depends on the welfare of the "company". EVERY employee who thinks they're bigger and more important than the company as a whole... is a DIRECT threat to the welfare of every other employee.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

That's the mess. NIL deals, until the House revenue sharing case is settled, are made outside of the school and Spyre can't officially tie deals to "you have to play for UT."

Obviously, if a player transfers Spyre isn't going to pay them, so there's got to be an "out" in the contract if a player hits the portal. I don't know for a fact that's how the contracts work, but I feel certain Spyre isn't leaving themselves on the hook for a player who transfers.

As for suing a transferring player for damages, talk about negatively recruiting yourself..... Yikes!

I don’t see where SPYRE is at risk, but if he signed an agreement giving them rights to his NAME IMAGE and LIKENESS rights, my assumption, then how can a competitor’s agent market him?

If he does make more money why would that not be evidence of harm to SPYRE and them not recovering their losses?

What else would those agreements be based on?

 

[Delmar]

Let’s say we meet him at a # that he wants and he comes back. I think there’s only one way this goes where he is favorably looked upon going forward. It’s really simple. He has to ball the F##K out. That’s it. If he doesn’t, it will be ugly. Not saying that I agree with it, but people will be harsh. If he gets hit on another back shoulder by Ryan Williams it’s not gonna be good. Is that fair ? No. But this is the situation he and his group have created for himself . So if he ups his deal by playing these games he better come to play.

The mercenaries are now professionals. As such, they can get booed just like any professional. It comes with the territory. You know the old adage: If you can’t stand the heat……

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I don’t see where SPYRE is at risk, but if he signed an agreement giving them rights to his NAME IMAGE and LIKENESS rights, my assumption, then how can a competitor’s agent market him?

If he does make more money why would that not be evidence of harm to SPYRE and them not recovering their losses?

What else would those agreements be based on?

I'm not sure exactly how these work.

If Spyre is bound by contract to provide him with NIL opportunities (which I assume the contract states) of $XX dollars, then they WOULD be on the hook to fulfill that contract even if he transferred.

Spyre isn't going to want to pay NIL to a non UT player so they're sure to have an out in the contract for transfers, dismissals, etc.

If he transfers but still makes his appearances, signs now useless UT photos, or whatever Spyre is obligated to provide for him in exchange for his NIL money, he has no worries and isn't in breach of contract.

They can't MAKE him still attend UT and his contract with Spyre by NCAA rules cannot be connected to attending any school.

Spyre has some kind of out for transfers, at least I hope they do, or they're going to get burned.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

The mercenaries are now professionals. As such, they can get booed just like any professional. It comes with the territory. You know the old adage: If you can’t stand the heat……

Everyone with a job is a mercenary. If you screw up, you'll hear it from someone.

I feel certain Josh Heupel can melt the paint off the locker room walls when needed or light up an individual in his office.

Crowd boos are nothing compared to a good coach.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

The mercenaries are now professionals. As such, they can get booed just like any professional. It comes with the territory. You know the old adage: If you can’t stand the heat……

My point was that I don’t want that to happen to Gibson, but the way that this has gone down makes me think that the first time he makes a mistake or gets beat on a deep ball people will be even more upset than they normally would be. One of the things that really bothers me about our fanbase is that we have booed our own at times. It’s a bad look . I don’t think it’s helpful in really any way shape or form, especially with recruits in house . This little charade has just made it that much easier for people to put the fan in fanatic.

 

[CAVPUT]

My point was that I don’t want that to happen to Gibson, but the way that this has gone down makes me think that the first time he makes a mistake or gets beat on a deep ball people will be even more upset than they normally would be. One of the things that really bothers me about our fanbase is that we have booed our own at times. It’s a bad look . I don’t think it’s helpful in really any way shape or form, especially with recruits in house . This little charade has just made it that much easier for people to put the fan in fanatic.

If the guy wants 5 star pay, fans have every right to expect 5 star performance/results. Can't have it both ways. These are professional athletes not student athletes now. Time to put on those big boy pants.

 

[ETSUVol09]

His situation changed in 1 and possibly 2 ways:
1. McCoy got injured which increased his value to the team.
2. He may have an offer from another team that's a better deal.

I've no idea what you do for a living but if you'd just gotten a raise and a competitor offered you more money, you might want to discuss it with your employer because the wife needs a new car, dang those kids grow out of clothes before you can wash them, etc. Almost everyone has money needs which, at least for me, are more important than the needs of my employer. My employer will take care of themselves and would replace me (and mine did when I retired) without a hitch.

As for Brady, he's one of the exceptions to the "everyone has money needs" because he knew he had gotten and would get his. He needed only to do another commercial or appearance or sponsor something to make up whatever he passed up in salary.

For point 1 McCoy’s injury has not increased RG’s talent level. It has only increased his perceived leverage. Asking for more money without providing more talent or value to your team is an odd move.

You brought up wanting money to buy a car. Say you have a car and it’s dependable. Now that car has a major repair it needs. You pay the repair and fix the car. However, if that car keeps breaking down and you have to keep paying money to fix it you get rid of the car.

For your second point it if he has another offer then his timing is really odd. To try to leverage that offer now when your team needs you. That is being a bad teammate. He had his deal doubled. The team just played in the playoffs. The team could possibly make another run but does need a few more parts.

Now for your last point about negotiating a raise that I was happy with and then was offered more money at a competitor. First more money is not always the deciding factor. Career development, fit within the team, your immediate supervisor, and opportunity for growth all factor into accepting that offer.

You can jump ship because you think the grass is greener and find out that it’s only greener because it’s on top of a septic tank.

Now say the offer was better and more money. I wouldn’t expect anyone but my family to be happy that I bolted on my team. I would hope the bridge wasn’t burnt but not be surprised when it was. Especially when I just had my deal renegotiated at my request. Now if I did this to every employer I would quickly get a reputation and run out of options for long term employment.

The object of any college team is to win a championship. Tom Brady is considered one of the best all time. Yet football is a team sport. He understood that and didn’t ask for max deals. This allowed the team to be built around him. He is an outlier but it shows his process worked.

 

[barney]

I think they should call this guy's bluff and let the chips fall where they may. Screw this dirt bag stuff. If he transfers, so be it. The policy of the staff should be that your deal is final for 1 calendar year. No re-negotiations.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

For point 1 McCoy’s injury has not increased RG’s talent level. It has only increased his perceived leverage. Asking for more money without providing more talent or value to your team is an odd move.

You brought up wanting money to buy a car. Say you have a car and it’s dependable. Now that car has a major repair it needs. You pay the repair and fix the car. However, if that car keeps breaking down and you have to keep paying money to fix it you get rid of the car.

For your second point it if he has another offer then his timing is really odd. To try to leverage that offer now when your team needs you. That is being a bad teammate. He had his deal doubled. The team just played in the playoffs. The team could possibly make another run but does need a few more parts.

Now for your last point about negotiating a raise that I was happy with and then was offered more money at a competitor. First more money is not always the deciding factor. Career development, fit within the team, your immediate supervisor, and opportunity for growth all factor into accepting that offer.

You can jump ship because you think the grass is greener and find out that it’s only greener because it’s on top of a septic tank.

Now say the offer was better and more money. I wouldn’t expect anyone but my family to be happy that I bolted on my team. I would hope the bridge wasn’t burnt but not be surprised when it was. Especially when I just had my deal renegotiated at my request. Now if I did this to every employer I would quickly get a reputation and run out of options for long term employment.

The object of any college team is to win a championship. Tom Brady is considered one of the best all time. Yet football is a team sport. He understood that and didn’t ask for max deals. This allowed the team to be built around him. He is an outlier but it shows his process worked.

I've already said it's a douche move by Gibson but it's a very well played douche move. I don't believe he came up with this himself, though it's possible, but I believe an agent or family, someone less attached to the team, possibly presented this option and he approved. No one knows exactly.

Leverage in business is one of those things lots of people dislike. Strongarm tactics are never pretty but often effective. We're seeing this on the world stage currently. Bridges sometimes get burned, no doubt.

I'm not saying we have to like Gibson's strategy but we do have to realize this is where we are and it's not likely to be the last time someone hits the portal or announces they will or, like Nico, has something leak that interest was shown elsewhere.

It just is where we are and I'm not emotionally wrapped up in it but more curious where response is for UT other than pay up to this kind of thing. As I see it, understanding and solving the bigger issue is more important than hating on Gibson for making a shrewd move.

Maybe it's just more popular to rant? I don't know. UT isn't going to collapse because Rickey Gibson does anything. I'd be curious what the locker room thinks, but I'd also be a bit afraid some of the guys are thinking...... can I do that too?

Overall, college athletics is tremendously broken and trying to not quite be pro but not quite be amateur is exhausting as a fan, but likely even more awful for coaches and players.

Unrestrained free agency isn't very pretty. Once again, UT is neck deep in suing to make these changes happen AND NIL and the portal has helped UT more than it hurts UT. Like any changes, nothing goes your way every time.

 

[Sudden Impact]

The portal has opened yet, 16 Apr 26 for 9 days I believe. A lot can happen of which we will not know about in the short haul.

 

[ETSUVol09]

I've already said it's a douche move by Gibson but it's a very well played douche move. I don't believe he came up with this himself, though it's possible, but I believe an agent or family, someone less attached to the team, possibly presented this option and he approved. No one knows exactly.

Leverage in business is one of those things lots of people dislike. Strongarm tactics are never pretty but often effective. We're seeing this on the world stage currently. Bridges sometimes get burned, no doubt.

I'm not saying we have to like Gibson's strategy but we do have to realize this is where we are and it's not likely to be the last time someone hits the portal or announces they will or, like Nico, has something leak that interest was shown elsewhere.

It just is where we are and I'm not emotionally wrapped up in it but more curious where response is for UT other than pay up to this kind of thing. As I see it, understanding and solving the bigger issue is more important than hating on Gibson for making a shrewd move.

Maybe it's just more popular to rant? I don't know. UT isn't going to collapse because Rickey Gibson does anything. I'd be curious what the locker room thinks, but I'd also be a bit afraid some of the guys are thinking...... can I do that too?

Overall, college athletics is tremendously broken and trying to not quite be pro but not quite be amateur is exhausting as a fan, but likely even more awful for coaches and players.

Unrestrained free agency isn't very pretty. Once again, UT is neck deep in suing to make these changes happen AND NIL and the portal has helped UT more than it hurts UT. Like any changes, nothing goes your way every

Being shrewd is different from being ruthless. Being shrewd implies a sharp business acumen and strategic thinking. Ruthlessness often involves aggressive tactics that can be considered unethical. A shrewd person can achieve success through smart decision making without resorting to harmful methods.

So is RG’s actions more shrewd or ruthless? I say more ruthless but you seem to think otherwise. I will agree to disagree with you.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

I think they should call this guy's bluff and let the chips fall where they may. Screw this dirt bag stuff. If he transfers, so be it. The policy of the staff should be that your deal is final for 1 calendar year. No re-negotiations.

Completely agree. Or just cut him loose entirely. Send a message.

 

[CAVPUT]

The portal has opened yet, 16 Apr 26 for 9 days I believe. A lot can happen of which we will not know about in the short haul.

Problem is that if he returns to UT fans will assume he got paid more. Even if he took less or stood by his original agreement with UT, unless the details are released, fans will assume he got even more to return to UT. The result is the same. He'll be criticized and scrutinized to the nth degree. Every mistake will be magnified. Heupel and UT will be perceived as having caved which will likely bring others trying to get a bigger slice of the proverbial pie. Everyone loses....Heupel, Gibson, the fans, etc. Sometimes it's just best to cut ties and get a fresh start, and I'm talking both parties here.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Problem is that if he returns to UT fans will assume he got paid more. Even if he took less or stood by his original agreement with UT, unless the details are released, fans will assume he got even more to return to UT. The result is the same. He'll be criticized and scrutinized to the nth degree. Every mistake will be magnified. Heupel and UT will be perceived as having caved which will likely bring others trying to get a bigger slice of the proverbial pie. Everyone loses....Heupel, Gibson, the fans, etc. Sometimes it's just best to cut ties and get a fresh start, and I'm talking both parties here.

I could almost fully agree with this as an idea to avoid this in the future.

My concern is how the locker room would view cutting him loose for this and how recruits would view it. Heupel and Co are in a far better place to know how the team's feelings shake out.

IF the team and recruits see this as kind of a d*ck move and disrespectful to the team then cutting him loose and taking our chances with other CBs is a good way to address this.

If they view letting him go as the staff being disrespectful to him and the players, losing the locker room is a possibility.