Butch Jones and minority coaches

#151
#151
Vol Main said:
That's the thing, right there. With so many Black athletes and coaches in this country, wouldn't there be many Black coaches who are more qualified, by virtue of their actually having played the position themselves at the highest levels of competition?
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Hmm no, being a good player in no way makes you a good coach and not being a player in no way makes you a bad coach.

Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird all sucked as coaches. Michael Jordan is a awful GM/owner.

Nick Saban player for Kent State.

So no you don't have to play at the higest levels to be a good coach.
 
#152
#152
davethevol said:
But we do need the most qualified man for the job. If you were about to have an emergency surgery, would you want the person operating you to be the best at what they do or to just be performing surgery because their race was the essential hiring factor? Hiring someone less qualified simply because of their skin color is in itself racist and beyond stupid. That being said, there are definitely minority coaches out there that would probably be perfect replacements.
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not an apples to apples comparison, not even close, not for a second..
 
#153
#153
davethevol said:
But we do need the most qualified man for the job. If you were about to have an emergency surgery, would you want the person operating you to be the best at what they do or to just be performing surgery because their race was the essential hiring factor? Hiring someone less qualified simply because of their skin color is in itself racist and beyond stupid. That being said, there are definitely minority coaches out there that would probably be perfect replacements.
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In my mind, the point is neither overt racism nor some need for affirmative action. The potential problem here is that if either (a) Butch is uncomfortable around people of color or (b) people of color are uncomfortable around Butch, for any reason, there is a potential problem. Many people, though not overt racists, are simply more comfortable around those who they see as "similar" to themselves. I make no accusations whatsoever regarding anyone on the UT coaching staff in this regard, but I do know that it is necessary for any big-time college football coach to take steps to ensure that his program is not perceived to be a "good old boy network" in any sense. Graham leaving under the circumstances under which he chose to leave, does not help the UT staff in this regard.
 
#155
#155
RowdyZ said:
Hmm no, being a good player in no way makes you a good coach and not being a player in no way makes you a bad coach.

Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird all sucked as coaches. Michael Jordan is a awful GM/owner.

Nick Saban player for Kent State.

So no you don't have to play at the higest levels to be a good coach.
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You've written a very sensible rebuttal to my post, so I am just going to pretend that I didn't read it.

Just kidding. I did not mean to imply that being a good player automatically makes a good coach. That is obviously not true. I'm saying that the numbers should there in such a large and experienced talent pool. I am not one of those people who jumps on the Black guy bandwagon or the former player bandwagon every time a Black coach's name or former player's name comes up. I do think that former players with the talent for coaching have knowledge that can only come from personal experience.
 
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#156
#156
davethevol said:
And yet you say nothing to discredit what I wrote. The best person should always be the person hired regardless of skin color.
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do you really believe that we could be successful recruiting young black men to Tennessee if the entire staff was compiled of 9 middle aged white guys?
 
#159
#159
85SugarVol said:
do you really believe that we could be successful recruiting young black men to Tennessee if the entire staff was compiled of 9 middle aged white guys?
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I completely understand the idea that young black recruits would relate better to black assistant coaches/recruiters. It seems to only be common sense and I get it. However, Ainge made the point yesterday morning on his show that race absolutely does not matter whatsoever in recruiting. Now I understand outliers and exceptions to the rule when it comes to statistics, but he gave a very good example of former D line coach Dan Brooks at UT, an "old white guy" as EA called him. Here is the list of players Brooks was involved in recruiting in the late 1990s- mid to late 2000s- it's an impressive list of very talented young black men..... Dan Williams, John Henderson, Darwin Walker, Albert Hsynesworth, Justin Harrell, Leonard Little, Shaun Ellis...... Just one example I know, but food for thought.
 
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