Pearl discussion (split)

[MinisterofDef#92]

The culture Pearl brought never left just because we had a few bad coaching years.
Our fans stil had high expectations and a drive for success that was ingrained by Pearl.
Being mediocre in Basketball was and is no longer acceptable from Tennessee men's basketball. Things changed here at UT because of him.
Barnes is held to a higher standard because of Pearl’s success.

Ask Jerry Green if our fans expected to win...lol.

 

[MB_Vol]

Ask Jerry Green if our fans expected to win...lol.

Hello everyone. I've stalked this forum for years. Finally joined to throw some thoughts on the white board. I'll give a shout out to Reggie
Johnson. The Ernie and Bernie years are a bit fuzzy in my childhood memories, but I clearly remember listening to John Ward talk about my
favorite player in the late 1970s. I am not a UT insider by any stretch. My father went to school there, so I have been a fan from day one.

UT has had some great coaches over the years. Surely Mears, DeVoe, Green, Pearl, Martin, and Barnes all deserve some recognition, and that list just
covers my lifetime which started in 1969. The five names I left out basically had .500 winning percentages or worse. Doesn't make them bad people,
but you pretty much need to win some games and get to the NCAA tournament to elevate the program.

I was a huge fan of CBP when he coached UT. I am an even bigger fan of CRB...there isn't much not to like about the man. But reading the Pearl vs.
Barnes discussion led me to take a look at all the coaching records back to Mears. I think both Pearl and Barnes deserve a ton of credit for elevating
the program, just as Mears and DeVoe (especially his first 5 years) deserve tons of credit. But looking at the data on Wikipedia, something caught my
attention...how much success Jerry Green had, compared to the long lack of success that preceded him.

I have no insider info on CJG. I did meet him once on a Big Orange Caravan. But just to throw some sats out there... In the 14 seasons before he took
the helm, UT made the NCAA tournament 1 time (and 13 of those years the field had been expanded to 64 teams). In those years under CDD, CWH, and
CKO they averaged 14.6 wins per season, and had a combined .481 winning percentage. It's notable that DeVoe did have a winning record for his 6
years of those 14, but Houston and O'Neill were mired in the low .400s.

Then Green comes along and wins 22.3 games per year at a .712 percentage, and makes the dance 4 years in a row. Admittedly, he did not have a ton
of tournament success, only reaching the sweet sixteen once. Then UT goes right back to mediocrity with Jordan's roommate. Buzz's record was right
at .500, with no dancing in 4 seasons.

I remembered that CJG was quite successful, but I'm not sure I gave him the proper credit for leading UT out of the men's basketball wilderness. Just
my thoughts.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Jerry Green was like Pearl without the showmenship and personality, while having a much better situation and not as good of a coach. I believe Green would have lasted a few more years at least if he had any kind of personality at all and was more likeable. He just wasn't likeable at all. And his K-mart comments just made it worse. Him and Pruitt seemed to have a similar personality that just rubs you the wrong way.

 

[Anti-shunshinepumper]

Ask Jerry Green if our fans expected to win...lol.

Jerry Green was like Pearl without the showmenship and personality, while having a much better situation and not as good of a coach. I believe Green would have lasted a few more years at least if he had any kind of personality at all and was more likeable. He just wasn't likeable at all. And his K-mart comments just made it worse. Him and Pruitt seemed to have a similar personality that just rubs you the wrong way.

Bingo. It wasn't the fact Green underperformed in the Sweet 16/ blew that lead to a #8 seed North Carolina and then got bounced first round the following year that necessitated it was his time for him to go.

Jerry Green being forced to resign was ultimately because of his attitude.
With Dickey and to the fans.
You can't tell Dickey that if he doesn't like the way you run the program then to fire you and then be surprised when you get pushed out the door (I know there were many other things and trust me I know Dickey was just as unlikeable).
Same with the fans. You can't tell them if they were unhappy then they should go to K-Mart instead of watching the Vols play and be surprised they aren't going to appreciate that.
Bruce had players thanking fans in the stands after a game, a stark contrast.

Jerry could have had him a nice little path to the final four in 2000 with the #1, 2, and 3 seeds losing that year.
Had he got there, I believe he would have been around that following year. Winning on that level seems to make up for poor relationships.

I digress.
Having said all that, even with those above average (for Tennessee) years that Jerry had (albeit just 3 tournament wins in that time) he didn't do much of anything to really expand our fanbase like Pearl did.
Pearl did a MUCH better job in terms of PR and getting national exposure. He built a nice relationship with the fans and a culture where fans believed Tennessee could and should be great year in and year out. At the very least winning games in March.

Like I said earlier in the thread, it's the reason today you have fans expecting to get to and beyond the sweet 16 every year. His Elite-8 run really made the possibility of us ever winning a Natty feel real. A fire was created in the hearts of a growing fanbase after that heartbreaking 1 point Elite 8 loss to MSU, and that fire IMO has never went out.
Sure it died down some after Pearl's undesirable departure, but the embers were undoubtedly still there.
That expanded fanbase was here to stay!

As soon as Barnes started having success those embers ignited once more. They ignited because fans stoked them and once again believed in the real possibility we could get to (and even win) a Natty. It's why you even had some real fanatic ones wanting to fire Barnes for not getting us further in March/more tournament wins. Some of the real whacky ones wanting to even bring Pearl back!

Bruce raised the bar in terms of expectations here with his (at the time) record of 8 NCAA tournament wins, and in turn set a standard to which coaches going forward at Tennessee would be measured.
Rick Barnes has undoubtedly lived up to that standard and actually raised it even more . Last year finally passing Pearl with 9 tournament wins, with Barnes and Pearl now having a combined 17 tournament wins making up more than half of all of Tennessee's total NCAAT wins!

It's why I truly believe sometime soon we definitely get to that final four, and dare I say (maybe even this year, who knows) a Natty.