Tennessee hires Rod Clark

#26
#26
TrueVol1970 said:
So who has he recruited that is such a homerun? HS does not count.
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Well, that is a bit limited because he has 3 years of coaching experience (1 at UI-Chicago, and 2 at Austin Peay), but he landed Donte Houston at Austin Peay when he had offers from Houston, TCU, Seton Hall, and Saint Louis. That may seem like small potatoes, but given the profile of AP in comparison to the other teams, it's pretty significant.

It's also not fair to discount his high school relationships, especially in the Midwest and directly tied to Sunrise Christian Academy.

Feel free to remain skeptical if you like, but if you persist on being on the "see it to believe it" train, you will perpetually be behind the 8-ball. Sometimes you just have to have faith that the people in charge are making the right decisions, and as I said before, Barnes has been on point in staff hires. If I'm of the "see it to believe it" viewpoint, it is more likely to be in relation to the idea of one of his assistants NOT panning out based on history at Tennessee.
 
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#27
#27
TrueVol1970 said:
So who has he recruited that is such a homerun? HS does not count.
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Someone said he recruited the best recruit ever in Austin Peay’s history. But even if he doesn’t have a ton of experience, recruiting is about relationships, and he seems to be connected. Schwartz is our X’s and O’s guy, and Rick has hired just a few assistants.
 
#30
#30
TrueVol1970 said:
You might be right but coaching at a small college or at the HS lever does not even compare to coaching in the SEC. Can you also tell me who he as recruited at the college level that is a home run? I was all for hiring George Quarles as an assistant for our offense and people said I was crazy. About the same resume so what's the difference?
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He was an assistant coach at Sunrise Christian, one of the premier high school prep schools that pretty much cycles in NBA prospects every year. On their starting 5 this year alone they had Kennedy Chandler (Tennessee) and Kendall Brown (Baylor). He also has extensive connections in general across the recruiting landscape.

As @cncchris33 said above, it's not fair to judge him on who he has landed because he's been at Austin Peay. How many high profile recruits want to play there? It's a whole different ballgame for what he can accomplish at the high major level.

He's also really young, which is great.
 
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#32
#32
TheMookieMonster said:
He was an assistant coach at Sunrise Christian, one of the premier high school prep schools that pretty much cycles in NBA prospects every year. On their starting 5 this year alone they had Kennedy Chandler (Tennessee) and Kendall Brown (Baylor). He also has extensive connections in general across the recruiting landscape.

As @cncchris33 said above, it's not fair to judge him on who he has landed because he's been at Austin Peay. How many high profile recruits want to play there? It's a whole different ballgame for what he can accomplish at the high major level.

He's also really young, which is great.
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Good answer sir. You answered my question without being a smart a@@. I have never understood why UT fans try to belittle other UT fans. I thought we are on the same team. SMH
 
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#34
#34
TrueVol1970 said:
I'm all for giving a young coach a chance but his resume is not impressive so I don't understand all the excitement with this hire. People on here were freaking out about Josh Heupel being hired and he actually did have a good resume, so what's the difference? Is it just something I'm not seeing? 🤔
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You do understand that Clark is being hired as an assistant coach. Heupel was hired as a head coach. So you are comparing apples and oranges.
 
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#35
#35
TrueVol1970 said:
I'm all for giving a young coach a chance but his resume is not impressive so I don't understand all the excitement with this hire. People on here were freaking out about Josh Heupel being hired and he actually did have a good resume, so what's the difference? Is it just something I'm not seeing? 🤔
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He coached the best Nike AAU team in the country, as well as, best prep school team. He should be a recruiting machine.
 
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#37
#37
TrueVol1970 said:
Good answer sir. You answered my question without being a smart a@@. I have never understood why UT fans try to belittle other UT fans. I thought we are on the same team. SMH
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You came in pretty hot for someone who was humbly seeking information. I honestly don’t blame them too much for assuming you were just being negative. We get a lot of that around here...
 
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#38
#38
Col_Cathcart said:
You came in pretty hot for someone who was humbly seeking information. I honestly don’t blame them too much for assuming you were just being negative. We get a lot of that around here...
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I wasn't trying to be negative. I truly couldn't get all the hype.
 
#39
#39
I really like the hire as long as it wasn’t some sort of package deal for a recruit. He should deserve the job because Barnes likes the way he coaches players.
 
#40
#40
Dougie_D said:
I really like the hire as long as it wasn’t some sort of package deal for a recruit. He should deserve the job because Barnes likes the way he coaches players.
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Barnes doesn’t strike me as someone who believes in package deals. He only offers coaches or recruits on their own merit. Clark may be very young but he’s highly regarded in the coaching community. If we didn’t hire him this year, another high major program definitely would have.
 
#41
#41
VolGee4 said:
Someone said he recruited the best recruit ever in Austin Peay’s history. But even if he doesn’t have a ton of experience, recruiting is about relationships, and he seems to be connected. Schwartz is our X’s and O’s guy, and Rick has hired just a few assistants.
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**Cough** Fly Williams ** Cough**
 
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#42
#42
Except for the part where English was a star in a Power 5 league, was a 44th pick in the NBA draft and played in The League for 3 years, was an assistant coach at a Power 5 school for 2 years before joining UT and worked under Frank Haith at Tulsa, they are the same. That said, I trust Barnes' eye for potential.
 
#45
#45
My mom went to APSU in 75... She got stories for day of the Great Fly Williams lol He was literally first street ball legend I knew of... Long Before the And1 Street Ball series started. Best to come out of APSU change my mind
 
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#47
#47
cncchris33 said:
Resume isn't all that different than Kim English's resume when he was hired by Barnes two years ago, and he was universally adored by our fans. Barnes has been lights out on assistant coach hires at Tennessee (every single assistant, past and present has taken or turned down head coaching opportunities), so I think we just give this one a shot.
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Yeah I don’t get how fans can pretend to know anything about assistants in order to be able to make a judgment. And given Barnes’ track record there’s no reason to think he won’t be a good assistant for us.
 
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#49
#49
AAU basketball is so important now a days and getting a well known and liked coach in the AAU circuit will pay dividends in recruiting. Couple his Midwest/kansas connections with our bmaze pipeline and suddenly we have huge ins with several of the really premiere AAU teams in the country. Not to mention how many other AAU coaches Clark is friendly with that we don’t even know about
 
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#50
#50
VegasBaby! said:
Except for the part where English was a star in a Power 5 league, was a 44th pick in the NBA draft and played in The League for 3 years, was an assistant coach at a Power 5 school for 2 years before joining UT and worked under Frank Haith at Tulsa, they are the same. That said, I trust Barnes' eye for potential.
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What Kim English thinks of Clark:
 
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