BleedinOrange84
GBO!!
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2008
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This may come as a surprise to some of you, but after some thought and sleep, I have come to the conclusion that I don't blame Cuonzo Martin (head basketball coach at Tennessee) for the bi-polar program that has been Tennessee Basketball for the past 3 years. Also, I don't blame our former coach Bruce Pearl for his actions, which ended what I will call the "glory years" of UT basketball. Nope. I blame one man. Former Athletic Director, Mike Hamilton. Let's go back in time for a moment and think about the decision making history of Hamilton. The Head football coach Philip Fulmer, had just finished a few seasons that didn't quite meet the standards that the Tennessee football program had grown accustom to over the past 20 years.
Fans were calling for Fulmer's head, and I was one of them. So, Hamilton made the decision to ask Fulmer to retire. Subsequently, Hamilton hired Lane Kiffin, the exact opposite "type" of person and coach. Kiffin had been Offensive Coordinator at USC and won National Championships. He had been a head coach for the Oakland Raiders where he had been fired after only winning a few games in a few seasons. Kiffin and Fulmer couldn't be more different as human beings and as football coaches. The fans (including myself) LOVED the hire because of the energy that it brought back to Rocky Top. Then after 1 year Kiffin left Rocky Top for his "dream job" at USC.
Then Hamilton hired a new football coach by the name of Dere..........I can't even type it, it's so disgusting to type......Derek Dooley. Dooley had never beaten a team in the top 25. Derek Dooley was a southern boy from a prestigious football family. He talked with a southern accent. He said all the right things. He was someone the majority of the fan base wanted to see win. He wore orange pants for goodness sake!!! He was the EXACT OPPOSITE of Lane Kiffin. Just as different as Fulmer and Kiffin were, Kiffin and Dooley were just as different, if not more so.
Now lets switch to basketball. Our previous coach, Buzz Peterson, did not have the most exciting offense, sure he was college roommates with Michael Jordan, his Airness, but his teams were not fun to watch and didn't produce on the court the way Tennessee basketball fans expected them too. For all intents and purposes he was boring. So, the athletic director Mike Hamilton fired Buzz and hired this new up and coming coach from a small school who had just made a cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament, Bruce Pearl.
Bruce was a PR dream! He was said all the right things. He excited the students and alumni. He was emotional on the court and in his interviews. He started wearing the orange blazer to pay tribute to Ray Mears (legendary UT coach). He painted his body with some of the players and stood in the student section for the Lady Vols vs. Duke basketball game. He took UT to the NCAA tournament every year as the head coach, including a trip to the Elite 8, where UT had NEVER been before. Under his coaching UT became the #1 team in the country for the first time in history! He oozed orange, white and Tennessee.
Unfortunately, due to a situation with the NCAA he was forced to resign as coach. Hamilton was faced with another coaching search. He hired Cuonzo Martin. Martin was coach at a small mid-major conference school. He had never led a team to the NCAA Tournament. He was soft spoken and quite. He didn't get emotional on the court. He didn't yell, he didn't paint his chest, he came from a tough background. He was considered by the coaching circles as an incredible man of integrity and character. You could say Martin is the exact OPPOSITE of Bruce Pearl. As opposite as Fulmer was to Kiffin and Kiffin was to Dooley and Buzz was to Bruce, Martin was just as opposite a person and coach to who Bruce was. Shortly after Cuonzo was hired, Hamilton resigned as the AD at UT.
Unfortunately, we were stuck with Dooley and Martin. Following Dooley's 4th year as football coach, the current AD at UT, Dave Hart, had seen enough and fired Dooley and hired Butch Jones. ENOUGH SAID about that..... However, Cuonzo Martin is finishing his 3rd year and Tennessee is WORSE now than we were Martins first year on campus, despite having 100 times more talent on the team than he did 3 years ago. Additionally, Martin's teams have had a history of being bi-polar, up and down, up and down. Win games we shouldn't, lose games we shouldn't. And Martin has yet to take UT to the NCAA tournament.
So, lets look at the pattern of Hamilton's time at Tennessee. He had a track record of hiring coaches (basketball & football) who were polar opposites of their predecessor. He would hire someone who was the exact opposite of the previous coach in every way. It was more about finding a coach who was completely different from the last guy, than it was to find a coach who fit what Tennessee Basketball or Tennessee Football NEEDED. Hamilton's pattern of bi-polar hiring decisions is the sole reason Tennessee is where it is today. Dave Hart has begun to put the pieces back together, he's got the glue and the instructions. He's almost completed the Football portion of the puzzle, but he hasn't started on the Basketball portion yet.
In conclusion, I do not blame the coaches, because other than Bruce Pearl, the other coaches should have NEVER been given a head coaching position at The University of Tennessee. It's not the coaches fault that they weren't successful or good at their jobs. Its like having a Parent put a 6 year old in an Organic Chemistry class and then blaming the 6 year old for not knowing how to do Organic Chemistry. THEY ARE 6 YEARS OLD!! They shouldn't be doing Organic Chemistry in the first place. They should be finger painting, learning to tie their shoes, learning their ABC's and learning to write their name. It's not their fault. It's the Parent who put the 6 year old in that situation. It's Hamilton's fault for putting Kiffin, Dooley, Buzz, and Cuonzo in the position they were in. Don't blame the kids, blame the Parent!!!
GBO
Fans were calling for Fulmer's head, and I was one of them. So, Hamilton made the decision to ask Fulmer to retire. Subsequently, Hamilton hired Lane Kiffin, the exact opposite "type" of person and coach. Kiffin had been Offensive Coordinator at USC and won National Championships. He had been a head coach for the Oakland Raiders where he had been fired after only winning a few games in a few seasons. Kiffin and Fulmer couldn't be more different as human beings and as football coaches. The fans (including myself) LOVED the hire because of the energy that it brought back to Rocky Top. Then after 1 year Kiffin left Rocky Top for his "dream job" at USC.
Then Hamilton hired a new football coach by the name of Dere..........I can't even type it, it's so disgusting to type......Derek Dooley. Dooley had never beaten a team in the top 25. Derek Dooley was a southern boy from a prestigious football family. He talked with a southern accent. He said all the right things. He was someone the majority of the fan base wanted to see win. He wore orange pants for goodness sake!!! He was the EXACT OPPOSITE of Lane Kiffin. Just as different as Fulmer and Kiffin were, Kiffin and Dooley were just as different, if not more so.
Now lets switch to basketball. Our previous coach, Buzz Peterson, did not have the most exciting offense, sure he was college roommates with Michael Jordan, his Airness, but his teams were not fun to watch and didn't produce on the court the way Tennessee basketball fans expected them too. For all intents and purposes he was boring. So, the athletic director Mike Hamilton fired Buzz and hired this new up and coming coach from a small school who had just made a cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament, Bruce Pearl.
Bruce was a PR dream! He was said all the right things. He excited the students and alumni. He was emotional on the court and in his interviews. He started wearing the orange blazer to pay tribute to Ray Mears (legendary UT coach). He painted his body with some of the players and stood in the student section for the Lady Vols vs. Duke basketball game. He took UT to the NCAA tournament every year as the head coach, including a trip to the Elite 8, where UT had NEVER been before. Under his coaching UT became the #1 team in the country for the first time in history! He oozed orange, white and Tennessee.
Unfortunately, due to a situation with the NCAA he was forced to resign as coach. Hamilton was faced with another coaching search. He hired Cuonzo Martin. Martin was coach at a small mid-major conference school. He had never led a team to the NCAA Tournament. He was soft spoken and quite. He didn't get emotional on the court. He didn't yell, he didn't paint his chest, he came from a tough background. He was considered by the coaching circles as an incredible man of integrity and character. You could say Martin is the exact OPPOSITE of Bruce Pearl. As opposite as Fulmer was to Kiffin and Kiffin was to Dooley and Buzz was to Bruce, Martin was just as opposite a person and coach to who Bruce was. Shortly after Cuonzo was hired, Hamilton resigned as the AD at UT.
Unfortunately, we were stuck with Dooley and Martin. Following Dooley's 4th year as football coach, the current AD at UT, Dave Hart, had seen enough and fired Dooley and hired Butch Jones. ENOUGH SAID about that..... However, Cuonzo Martin is finishing his 3rd year and Tennessee is WORSE now than we were Martins first year on campus, despite having 100 times more talent on the team than he did 3 years ago. Additionally, Martin's teams have had a history of being bi-polar, up and down, up and down. Win games we shouldn't, lose games we shouldn't. And Martin has yet to take UT to the NCAA tournament.
So, lets look at the pattern of Hamilton's time at Tennessee. He had a track record of hiring coaches (basketball & football) who were polar opposites of their predecessor. He would hire someone who was the exact opposite of the previous coach in every way. It was more about finding a coach who was completely different from the last guy, than it was to find a coach who fit what Tennessee Basketball or Tennessee Football NEEDED. Hamilton's pattern of bi-polar hiring decisions is the sole reason Tennessee is where it is today. Dave Hart has begun to put the pieces back together, he's got the glue and the instructions. He's almost completed the Football portion of the puzzle, but he hasn't started on the Basketball portion yet.
In conclusion, I do not blame the coaches, because other than Bruce Pearl, the other coaches should have NEVER been given a head coaching position at The University of Tennessee. It's not the coaches fault that they weren't successful or good at their jobs. Its like having a Parent put a 6 year old in an Organic Chemistry class and then blaming the 6 year old for not knowing how to do Organic Chemistry. THEY ARE 6 YEARS OLD!! They shouldn't be doing Organic Chemistry in the first place. They should be finger painting, learning to tie their shoes, learning their ABC's and learning to write their name. It's not their fault. It's the Parent who put the 6 year old in that situation. It's Hamilton's fault for putting Kiffin, Dooley, Buzz, and Cuonzo in the position they were in. Don't blame the kids, blame the Parent!!!
GBO
