Pearl's Already Gone: The Exit Strategy Hypothesis

#276
#276
GoBigOrangeVols said:
I agree, sort of. UT isn't regarded as a destination job, but we have the resources and the facilities to be a destination job.

A potential search would be your section "A" of up and coming coaches, but there is no reason UT couldn't land an established coach also.

Bruce Pearl has made this program much more attractive (despite the looming NCAA sanctions) than it has ever been. Ever.
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Here's the tragic reality that I think many Pearl fans have yet to fully grasp:

This was a destination job for him. With as much support as he's enjoyed since being here, however right or wrong you may believe that to be, he could've been here until retirement, easily 15 years. Three out of five years goingti the tourney, a sweet 16 or better in most of those - he would've had to tank the program in Fulmeresque fashion for several years in a row before his seat was even warm, much less getting ran off.

And now its not going to be. And do you know who he has to blame for this gloriously calamitous ending, now some 10-15 years too soon? Only himself.

Everyone who wishes he could stay, and are angered that he isn't - should direct their feelings toward Bruce himself, instead of trying to rewrite the very definitions of good and bad, truthful and dishonest in his defense. You are where you are because he put you here. But, defend him if you must, but in the immortal worse of John Ward, "It matters little."

I understand supporting him, the disbelief which accompanies this ending, and the desire to somehow make all of this seem unfair - I really do - but it is, and that's the reality of it all, like it or not. The last chapter needs only a few more footnotes, and then the book of this era will close.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.
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#277
#277
Tenacious D said:
Here's the tragic reality that I think many Pearl fans have yet to fully grasp:

This was a destination job for him. With as much support as he's enjoyed since being here, however right or wrong you may believe that to be, he could've been here until retirement, easily 15 years. Three out of five years goingti the tourney, a sweet 16 or better in most of those - he would've had to tank the program in Fulmeresque fashion for several years in a row before his seat was even warm, much less getting ran off.

And now its not going to be. And do you know who he has to blame for this gloriously calamitous ending, now some 10-15 years too soon? Only himself.

Everyone who wishes he could stay, and are angered that he isn't - should direct their feelings toward Bruce himself, instead of trying to rewrite the very definitions of good and bad, truthful and dishonest in his defense. You are where you are because he put you here. But, defend him if you must, but in the immortal worse of John Ward, "It matters little."

I understand supporting him, the disbelief which accompanies this ending, and the desire to somehow make all of this seem unfair - I really do - but it is, and that's the reality of it all, like it or not. The last chapter needs only a few more footnotes, and then the book of this era will close.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
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The bolded part is what people need to understand the most.
 
#278
#278
LWSVOL said:
when Slive suspended him, it was not KNOWN that he would be gone. When the bump became known months after it occurred is when things fell apart for CBP. That was the final nail clsoing the coffin. Became a trust issue IMO.

Slive and Hamilton's inital penalties were to try and make NCAA penalty less. then the bump came to light later on.
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BOOM.

The prosecution rests.
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#282
#282
franchuck said:
Tenacious D: True most people have an opinion and yours is noted. I would think that trying to value yours as with being an hypothesis is somewhat over the top. I for one do not believe there is a word of truth in it. UT is not stupid. I think when they reduced BP salary they were showing NCAA that they were willing to police their institution. We all agree that cheating is not condoned. However, there are degrees of cheating. From what I have read BP cheating does not reach the level of cheating that has been proven by past incidents. Telephone calls to recruits from coaching staffs are the norm. If you don't think so than let us have investigation of all of the programs nation wide and let us see what falls out. Had BP let his interview with the NCAA stand that could have been lying, but he amended his statments before conclusions where reached. I believe that in a court of law that would not be perjury. From My experience in being a studen at UT over 50years ago and following UT for these many years I believe that UT keeps Coach Pearl and moves on . I do believe that the name of VolNation should be change to NEGAVOLS!
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I agree with you 100%. I can tell you know what you are talking about. It seems alot of these crazy comments are coming from kids who have not been around the program long. Pearl made a mistake, but we all make them in our lives. Almost everyone deserves a second chance.
 
#283
#283
I've never seen so many people chomping at the bits to return to basketball mediocrity. Tennessee has never had the ability or the desire (don't know which) to hire a name basketball coach. Jerry Green is as close to a name coach that I can come up with. Same thing in football, sans Johnny Major who was an aberration because of his UT connections. UT is always choosing to roll the dice with up and comers. We lucked out with BP-probably snake eyes next time. Oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted.
 
#284
#284
u795308 said:
I agree with you 100%. I can tell you know what you are talking about. It seems alot of these crazy comments are coming from kids who have not been around the program long. Pearl made a mistake, but we all make them in our lives. Almost everyone deserves a second chance.
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Blame Pearl, alone.

He's done this. No one else.
 
#285
#285
jfrancis04 said:
Pipe Dreams
1. Rick Pitino
2. Jay Wright

Hopefuls
3. Bob Huggins (people think Pearl owns Cal...check this guy's record against him)
4. Mike Anderson

Other possibility
5. Tubby Smith (wouldn't really fire me up but we can certainly do worse)
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Bob Huggins is a hopeful? Don't think the guy will be willing to leave his alma mater.
 
#286
#286
Anybody think that the kids will tear up Michigan & Duke to help him stay longer?

Nothing else has seemed to motivate them.

At least he'd go out in a blaze of glory !

Somewhat fittin', I'd say.

One can only hope.
 
#288
#288
shyster said:
I've never seen so many people chomping at the bits to return to basketball mediocrity. Tennessee Doug Dickey has never had the ability or the desire (don't know which) to hire a name basketball coach. Jerry Green is as close to a name coach that I can come up with. Same thing in football, sans Johnny Major who was an aberration because of his UT connections. UT is always choosing to roll the dice with up and comers. We lucked out with BP-probably snake eyes next time. Oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted.
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Edited for accuracy. Dickey's not here anymore.
 
#289
#289
shyster said:
I've never seen so many people chomping at the bits to return to basketball mediocrity. Tennessee has never had the ability or the desire (don't know which) to hire a name basketball coach. Jerry Green is as close to a name coach that I can come up with. Same thing in football, sans Johnny Major who was an aberration because of his UT connections. UT is always choosing to roll the dice with up and comers. We lucked out with BP-probably snake eyes next time. Oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted.
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This is kind of how I feel. As long as Pearl was coaching we weren't ever going to win any national championships, but he got us to a point where we are appearing in the tournament every year, and for UT's traditional place in the college basketball world, that's saying a lot. This year, people are upset because we "only" won 19 games, but 7-8 years ago, that would have been viewed as an epic accomplishment. My how things have changed in such a short time.

Sometimes the evil you know is better than the evil you don't know. I know for a fact I don't want to see UT return to the days where we struggle to even break .500 and never really compete for a tourney slot. Like you said, while it seems like things are about to come crashing down before our eyes, having a competitive hoops team has been fun while it lasted, even though feels like it's ending far too soon.
 
#290
#290
This is not just a Dickey thing. It goes back before him and it has continued past him. Check out the hires of MH! I don't know your history (read age), but Tennessee has been very consistent in this area. So, edit all you like. History is a great predictor of the future.
 
#291
#291
shyster said:
This is not just a Dickey thing. It goes back before him and it has continued past him. Check out the hires of MH! I don't know your history (read age), but Tennessee has been very consistent in this area. So, edit all you like. History is a great predictor of the future.
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Tennessee had a fine basketball program in the 60s, 70s, and up into the 80s. It wasn't reflected in much NCAA tournament success, because for most of that time you actually had to win your conference to play in the tournament, and of course we played in the same conference as Kentucky. But look at the records -- this was a school with a good basketball program. Then Doug Dickey became AD in 1985 and spent most of the next two decades hiring bad coaches and ignoring basketball as much as possible.

It's not an accident that we built a giant basketball arena in the 80s. It's not shocking that Pearl was able to whip interest in Tennessee basketball into a frenzy almost immediately. This is a school and a fanbase that has historically supported basketball well. The Dickey years were the aberration.
 
#293
#293
IndianaVol said:
Me too...I would suck at picking a new coach...but then again, I don't have an MBA and chair a multi-million dollar "company"...not that either of those qualify one for picking the best coach, but that is who is ultimately making the decision for us...
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No MBA, just a B.A. in History.
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#294
#294
shyster said:
This is not just a Dickey thing. It goes back before him and it has continued past him. Check out the hires of MH! I don't know your history (read age), but Tennessee has been very consistent in this area. So, edit all you like. History is a great predictor of the future.
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We are talking bball, and Doug Dickey is the reason UT couldn't hire a good bball coach. Also, looking all the way back to the 50's, only one football coach looks like a bad hire. Guess it depends on your definition of bad hire? Do you consider Kiffin a bad hire? If so, why? He could recruit, was going to win games, was entertaining, fired up a fanbase. Sound familiar? The reason most consider Kiffin a bad hire is because of what he would do to program with NCAA issues, not just because he left. So, seems odd people want to keep Pearl yet consider Kiffin a bad hire.
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#296
#296
Vercingetorix said:
Tennessee had a fine basketball program in the 60s, 70s, and up into the 80s. It wasn't reflected in much NCAA tournament success, because for most of that time you actually had to win your conference to play in the tournament, and of course we played in the same conference as Kentucky. But look at the records -- this was a school with a good basketball program. Then Doug Dickey became AD in 1985 and spent most of the next two decades hiring bad coaches and ignoring basketball as much as possible.

It's not an accident that we built a giant basketball arena in the 80s. It's not shocking that Pearl was able to whip interest in Tennessee basketball into a frenzy almost immediately. This is a school and a fanbase that has historically supported basketball well. The Dickey years were the aberration.
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I always love how the "nobody cared about basketball before Pearl" crowd shuts the hell up when you ask them where UT has ranked nationally in attendance over the last forty years.
 
#297
#297
Name a "name " coach hired in BB or FB other than Johnny Majors. Don Devoe, a named coach? Fulmer? Battle? Houston? Peterson? Kiffen? Dooley? Hey, I loved Ray Mears. I even supported his 15-10 game scores before Ernie and Bernie and what that era ushered in. Don Devoe was an excellent coach but not a big name hire. His stints at VT and Wyoming by no means made him a "sure hire". Nor did Ray Mears history at Wittenburg foretell of a great career. All I'm saying, don't expect UT to hit it out of the park when it's time to hire a new coach. History just isn't there.
 
#298
#298
If Haslam controls it all as so many of posters say; and he stays with Pearl as some say; he will be discounting the beliefs of about half of the Volnation that support the program. I am curious how he is going to win the PR battle when they get sent home this week? Will it come from the stirring display of offense sets; really coaching 'em up on how to shoot the rock; maybe the genius of his substitution patterns; surely it will be his total command during the last few minutes of tight games; or maybe his wonderful recruiting methods?

Good luck with that.
 
#300
#300
The arena was built under the program as it existed under Devoe. He was fired for "not getting us to the next level." Several years of short runs in the Tournament were enough to usher him out. Peopled cared about basketball,loved it enough to kill it for 20 years. You have a lot more confidence in MH than to expect him to do better than Dickey.
 
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