Some light

#1
WesternKyVol

WesternKyVol

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#1
From babyvol on tos:

OK guys I promised I would be back and explain everything as best I could either way (getting Gruden or not) ....so I'll try. I've been following this thing very closely for a long time so if I leave out details or if you have questions just let me know and I'll try to answer. First off let me say that I was not nor have I ever been trolling. I truly thought right up til this morning that we were getting Gruden.

I'll first say that I heard we were pursuing Gruden from a booster way back in the summer but quickly discounted it because I felt we would have an 8-9 win season this year so clearly this is not the first time I've ever been wrong....nor will it be the last.

Now as for timeline of late:
When our coaching search got underway I text a guy that is a friend of mine- he's an NFL coach and knows Jon personally. I asked him if he knew we were pursuing him? He responded yes, he actually has an offer on the table of 8 years 50 million. I asked him if he thought he would take it? He said I know he's considering it but I'm not sure how seriously. About a week later I'm talking to a former player at TN and tell him what I heard. He said I'll call Peyton and see what's up. He called me the next day and said Peyton said he's agreed to the contract. I asked him how much and he said 8 years around 50 million. So I had two very credible sources saying the same thing....this is when I said it was a done deal.....little did I know at that time that he had only agreed to his personal contract. This whole mess has been about control and assistants pay.

Moving on.....I was told early on about the Saban plan and the smokescreen info and not to be worried at every media report. On Thursday before the Friday (I believe) when Hyams gave his announcement about Gruden being out of picture i received a text from a booster friend. It said be ready for announcement tomorrow. I thought this meant they were announcing Gruden that day even though it didn't match the timeline I was given. Then when Hyams gave his report I felt like this booster had lied to me and I was mad.

I tried getting a hold of him and couldn't. So I came here and posted an apology letter. When i finally got a hold of my friend he told me that this was just beginning of smokescreen to get Gruden's name out of limelight so they could work behind the scenes on finalizing different details. He said he was just meaning to warn me of announcement that Hyams was going to make. I still think he duped me because he knew my posts were getting copy and pasted to other boards.

So after talking with him I came back and made a post about me only being wrong on the time and date. Soon after the frenzy was building on message boards of Gruden still being in play....because he was. I was asked by a different friend in the football office that knows I post to come out with a post that I'm off the Gruden train. He said right now we are dealing with alot of huge egos and the quieter things are the better. So I made a sort of tongue in cheek post.

During this time I had been talking to several different people to see what info they had. We talked about this constantly. We all brought what info we had and tried to cross reference to make sure we weren't being duped. I won't go into the details of everything but suffice to say we knew Gruden was very interested and with a few of my NFL contacts I found out that he had truly approached several different coaches about joining our staff, one a real good friend. He wasn't interested due to wanting to stay in NFL but others were.

One of the guys I talk to knew a reporter from Times Free Press and said he had significant reasons to believe we were getting Gruden. We delved further and he had a local coach that was going to be on staff as a high school relations recruiting liaison and an SEC coach that was going to be on the staff if Gruden hired. He said the meetings between Gruden and TN were progressing great. Around the same time a friend of mine in GA who has an uncle that is a huge booster in Alabama. The booster told him that Gruden had asked permission to talk to the strength coach about joining TN staff. Then the reporter told us about a meeting on a Thursday night that had gotten very heated between both sides, mostly about money. Neither side wanting to give in. We had all heard not to be alarmed if we heard offers being reported etc. When the strong rumors started the people I talk to all say stay calm it will pass.

Sure enough when it did I was completely sold on this happening as I thought no way Strong turns down tn for Louisville. Anyway lots of other tidbits were shared to me but I don't want to lose friendships over it. I did talk to someone that is friends with Cindy's brother and he said they were all hoping Jon and Cindy would come home. So, when Butch Jones rumors started this was the least worried I was during this process as I knew he was not the home-run hire we were promised that would unite the fanbase....more like a bunt single. Anyway I'll try to be around long enough to answer questions but then I'm going to take a sabbatical for a time cause I'm sure lots are mad at me and reasonably so.

Trust me no one is madder than me that this didn't happen and not because I wanted to be right....it's because I love the Vols and truly want the best for our fans. I will get behind our coach but honestly my passion for this is at an all time low. Thanks again for those that believed I wasn't trolling as I would never purposefully lead anyone astray. To all I apologize for being wrong. When some time passes I'm sure I'll join back in just cause I love the Vols!
Click to expand...

One more point: Why did Cheek get 18 million dollars to Hart last week? At this point it is clear: to bypass the boosters.

Jones is what he could afford. If Hart had been on the same page with boosters, and Gruden simply wasn't interested, then donations would have been provided to help him hire a suitable alternative.
 
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#3
#3
Thanks, I was just getting to the point where I didn't want to bite somebody in the face and now this.
 
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#6
#6
Feel like this is as close to closure we'll ever get. Thanks for posting. Nice to have somebody back me up. Getting shot taken at me for saying the TFP article wasn't made up for publicity.

Enjoyed hanging out and talking gruden with every one.
 
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#9
#9
I appreciated all the OG's and wht they brought. I never once felt they were trolling and I was on the Gruden train till the end. Was shocked by this hire but we move on.
 
#14
#14
Makes sense. I never believed the notion that Gruden was not interested. There was way to much smoke/fire from reliable posters.
 
#15
#15
PKT_VOL said:
Makes sense. I never believed the notion that Gruden was not interested. There was way to much smoke/fire from reliable posters.
Click to expand...

I guess maybe I haven't been a VN forum guy forever, but what prior proof can anyone offer that makes "BabyVol" cerdible beyond what LWS supposedly said about him being "Solid". Just curious who the "reliable" posters are you are referring to and what past things have made them reliable?

I do not travel on TOS at all, and find the other "TOS" to be cultish and weird so I stick to here. The only anonymous poster I will put credibility in going forward is Skeeter as far as actual info goes.
 
#16
#16
I'm not going to take the time to do so-- but how many references are there to " a friend" or other anonymous sources? He'll I could make stuff up too and most of you would believe it.

Gruden was always a pipe dream. I do think there were discussions but I don't believe all these unnamed sources. You guys were schooled throughout the process and you are still being schooled.
 
#17
#17
There are gaps in this story regardless how close you think we got to landing Gruden. Keep in mind too Hart was using a pilot plane when he did much of the interviewing. I don't see that happening if Hart is in full independent rogue mode.
 
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#18
#18
Whether or not he was ever considering the job makes no difference. The fact is he would never have agreed to Cheek's terms which makes the entire argument pointless.
 
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#19
#19
Thanks for your info...i am truly saddened by this hire, but I am trying to pick up the pieces and start cheering. I wanted Gruden so bad and I hate the way this search made us look. I am going to give Jones a chance even though it will be tough.
 
#20
#20
Here is the problem with babyvol. He is getting all of his "information" second or third hand or worse. Stories have a way of getting twisted and growing as they pass from person to person.

If Gruden was ever in play and really wanted the job, he would have been reasonable and negotiated a deal that both sides could agree to. In short, if he truly wanted the job, he would be the coach. It is that simple.

In contrast to babyvol, LWS and skeeter never thought it would happen. So, who has the best "sources"? I think the answer is clear.
 
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#21
#21
EZE said:
Here is the problem with babyvol. He is getting all of his "information" second or third hand or worse. Stories have a way of getting twisted and growing as they pass from person to person.

If Gruden was ever in play and really wanted the job, he would have been reasonable and negotiated a deal that both sides could agree to. In short, if he truly wanted the job, he would be the coach. It is that simple.

In contrast to babyvol, LWS and skeeter never thought it would happen. So, who has the best "sources"? I think the answer is clear.
Click to expand...

This.

I don't doubt what babyvol posted is how it happened, but it's clear to me he never really had true sources, just what he thought were somewhat solid second hand sources.

And I will continue to say I don't have a problem with guys like babyvol passing along what they knew, but I think they didn't help themselves by adding their own little spin where they would call it a "done deal" when they really had no idea.
 
#24
#24
PKT_VOL said:
Makes sense. I never believed the notion that Gruden was not interested. There was way to much smoke/fire from reliable posters.
Click to expand...

I think there may have been some flirting interest and a bit of back channel conversation but the guy has done this before. He isn't serious about coaching in the NCAA. I'm not defending Hart for the entirety of the search but if you go back and look at JG's history of unreasonable demands I certainly don't blame Hart for walking away.

People are acting like the CIA was involved in hiring a football coach.
 
#25
#25
I have been chewing on this for over a week now, when it became apparent that Gruden was not coming. As rational as a person as I tend to believe that I am, I got sucked into the Gruden fantasy like so many others. Even with huge red flags, like when questioning a supposed "OG" gets you "flamed", I still wanted to believe, so I did.

I think it is clear now that no matter what you read on Volnation that there are not "real" sources to be had. Yes, guys like Skeeter and Deerpark seem to be very close to certain aspects of the team, but if you notice they only seem to post information that is within their wheelhouse and not wild speculation like the "OG's".

Personally, I think it is more damaging than beneficial when these supposed "insiders" create the sort of drooling fervor that the Gruden, Shannon, and Lovie fiascoes created. Why? So many people went "all in" on hiring a unicorn, so much so that any other hire would fall short. When that fantasy world comes crashing down, those very vocal minority who vested every ounce of their being into a dream, tend to want to destroy anything that doesn't live up to their standards that were no more than a fantasy.

I want to be clear that I do not think that the majority of the people were "trolling." I think that they let their exuberance get the best of them. Everyone wants to be on the inside track when big news comes down and so it is easy to disregard pieces of stories that simply defy reality. As I have stated before, this third hand speculation gets posted on VN, echoes throughout all the forums, gets repeated on call-in shows, and returns as "too much smoke for there not to be a fire." We create our own story, and it is time we wake up and start to realize that.

The bottom line here is this: If so many in the fan base can chose to buy into totally unsubstantiated rumor and fantasy, I hope that they can buy into standing behind our new coach who actually has a proven track record in coaching college ball. That is a resume' that neither Kiff nor Dooley had when they took the wheel of our beloved program.

It is time that we all return to being simply Vols, no "insiders", "OGs", "negagrudes", "Sunshine pumpers" or "negavols". As the "grudenites" were fond of saying "when you get on board we will welcome you". Come on in, the water is fine, and there should be more hope now than there has been in 5 years.

/rant
 
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