Would you want Bruce Pearl back? [Pearl discussion — merged]

[hUTch2002]

I can't see any credibile argument to suggest Barnes is a better coach than Pearl. He's also not better than a number of other coaches in CBB. Fortunately he's still better than most of them and has the program stable, even if the ceiling seems lower most years than it might with other elite coaches.

However Pearl had it stable to until it suddenly wasn't. So whenever Barnes tenure ends here you just have to hope it's with talent on the roster and via retirement rather than a typical chaotic Tennessee coaching change. If Barnes gets us to a Final Four, give him a statue. If not, and his history strongly suggests this, hopefully we are in a position to hire a guy with that ceiling.

Barnes makes the NCAA tournament at a higher percentage than Pearl and has 5 AP final poll top 10 finishes to 1 for BP. FFs are 1-1, E8s are 3-2, S16s are 7-5 (of course years coached at 1A are slightly different). That’s all I have. Pretty much every metric goes to Pearl.

 

[whobethis16]

Barnes does have a winning record against UK here. Pearl did not if I recall correctly. He sure did well against UF though and those were some good UF teams! I love both coaches.

And Barnes is now 8-2 against Florida.

 

[LAVol1]

Thought?

There is no coach in any collegiate sport that gets the fan base and his players as motivated as Bruce. For those reasons, I'd take him back in a heartbeat. He should never have been fired.

 

[LAVol1]

I’m not attacking you OP, but the life of a Tennessee fan would be so much easier if the Bruce Pearl years were just wiped from our brain.

I understand where you're coming from, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Pearl brought excitement to Vol basketball like hasn't been seen since the Bernie & Ernie show. He really got the fan base excited and his teams played exciting BB. I love those memories.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

I have never said Barnes is “ bad”. My point has always been we will never get past the Sweet 16 with Barnes. That’s his ceiling. He sucks The confidence out of some of his players and they played scared to make a mistake. That’s how he’s always been. He’s not bad, he’s just not “ elite” like some of you want to make him out to be.

"Coach Barnes sucks the life out of his players but I'm not saying he's bad!" - 1985vols

LMAO

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

To be fair, a lot of folks on here have already awarded him Hall of Fame status.

And those folks would be the posters with a basketball IQ over 50...lol. If you believe otherwise then state your case.

This is a great example of the dynamic at play...a reasonable poster asserts that CRB will be in the Hall of Fame which is obviously something only really good coaches can accomplish. An unreasonable poster takes that and, in effect, says "you're crazy...CRB is not an elite coach and should never be compared to Coach K, blah, blah, blah". This is but one of many touchstone topics which serve to inform us as to who is unreasonable and/or a troll.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

There is no coach in any collegiate sport that gets the fan base and his players as motivated as Bruce. For those reasons, I'd take him back in a heartbeat. He should never have been fired.

Easy to say from a nostalgic perspective if you ignore all of the contextual facts related to what ACTUALLY happened and what Pearl did (and I'm not talking about the act of having the BBQ).

 

[sechamp2012]

I watched the Auburn/ Missouri BB game. I liked BP & did not care for Cunzo but in this game, Cuonzo's staff flat out out-coached BP & staff. Auburn was fortunate to win and it was not coaching their guard KD Johnson just willed the team to victory. Reporter, how did you pull this out? BP said after the game "we just got the h3ll out of KD's way". Not sure how good Missouri's D is but KDJ had a relentless drive to the basket and sometimes looked unstoppable.
I thought BP was a great motivator and will remember him fondly but I did not like the players/drugs/guns under seats etc..Brian Williams out with back problems finds out later drug problems it was never-ending. There was excitement but you kind of had to hold your nose and just rant the same old refrain "everybody's doing it". Don't think BP will be a Hall of Fame coach with too much baggage. He would be the 1st with a show-cause = major rule violation against the coach.

 

[Cpatter4]

I generally agree with you but why didn’t Pearl do more in the dance while here?

Well if you look at his record, in 6 years here at Tennessee Pearl went to the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight once. So he was well within his typical success range of Sweet 16 or better every other year. Granted, Barnes did inherit a rebuilding project but Pearl has achieved more in 6 years than Barnes has in 7. If you expand the view out from Tennessee and look at the entire coaching career of both guys you’ll see that Pearl has always produced better results than Barnes no matter what school they happened to be at. I do think Pearl is the better coach between the two. HOWEVER, that doesn’t make Barnes a bad coach by any means. Barnes is a good, very solid coach and exactly what we needed when he was hired. He brought excitement, success, and stability back to our program.

 

[DeepSpringsVol]

All you people holding on to the hey he cheated. Just think today with NIL Bruce wouldn't have to resort to cheating. He just get the right boosters to handle things and its above board.

As for OP Yes I would take Pearl back but I only if Barnes steps away soon. You cant fire Barnes with what he has done here.

 

[ArmchairQB]

Pearl won the SEC regular season once in his six years here. Barnes also has done that once, so far. Pearl made the SEC tournament final once here, and lost. Barnes has made the SEC final twice, and lost both (edited: thanks whobethis16). Both have led a Tennessee team to a number one national ranking. Pearl's '08 team made it to #1 after beating Memphis and then lost to Vandy. Barnes '19 team spent like four weeks there before losing at Kentucky. Both have led other teams (Auburn, Texas) to number one rankings. Pearl has led three teams (Milwaukee, Tennessee, Auburn) to the Sweet Sixteen or further, with a Final Four his highest accomplishment to date. Barnes has led three teams (Clemson, Texas, Tennessee) to the Sweet Sixteen or further, with a Final Four his highest accomplishment to date.

I mean, like whoever you want, but you'd have a hard time coming up with a couple coaches with more similar resumes.

 

[whobethis16]

Pearl won the SEC regular season once in his six years here. Barnes also has done that once, so far. Pearl made the SEC tournament final once here, and lost. Barnes has made the SEC final once, and lost. Both have led a Tennessee team to a number one national ranking. Pearl's '08 team made it to #1 after beating Memphis and then lost to Vandy. Barnes '19 team spent like four weeks there before losing at Kentucky. Both have led other teams (Auburn, Texas) to number one rankings. Pearl has led three teams (Milwaukee, Tennessee, Auburn) to the Sweet Sixteen or further, with a Final Four his highest accomplishment to date. Barnes has led three teams (Clemson, Texas, Tennessee) to the Sweet Sixteen or further, with a Final Four his highest accomplishment to date.

I mean, like whoever you want, but you'd have a hard time coming up with a couple coaches with more similar resumes.

Barnes has made the SECT final twice.

 

[cncchris33]

Pearl won the SEC regular season once in his six years here. Barnes also has done that once, so far. Pearl made the SEC tournament final once here, and lost. Barnes has made the SEC final once, and lost. Both have led a Tennessee team to a number one national ranking. Pearl's '08 team made it to #1 after beating Memphis and then lost to Vandy. Barnes '19 team spent like four weeks there before losing at Kentucky. Both have led other teams (Auburn, Texas) to number one rankings. Pearl has led three teams (Milwaukee, Tennessee, Auburn) to the Sweet Sixteen or further, with a Final Four his highest accomplishment to date. Barnes has led three teams (Clemson, Texas, Tennessee) to the Sweet Sixteen or further, with a Final Four his highest accomplishment to date.

I mean, like whoever you want, but you'd have a hard time coming up with a couple coaches with more similar resumes.

The recency bias and personalities are what separates the two if the Pearl supporters are being honest.

And beyond that, if Barnes had come first back in the 2000s, he'd be the beloved one. A lot of what Pearl did here was historic because Tennessee basketball was starved for a winner and he immediately delivered. No one is trying to take that away or diminish it. But many of his continued supporters have a revisionist historical account of his time here, and instead, allow his recent success to cloud their personal memory of his time spent in Knoxville.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

The recency bias and personalities are what separates the two if the Pearl supporters are being honest.

This. A lot of us are wondering why he didn't he get to a FF at Tennessee like he has at Auburn. His postseason performance wasn't all that great here when compared to the expectations of the team. I seriously doubt anyone was expecting that EE run in 2010. And his other best postseason peformance was 2007 when expectations were lower and we took OSU to the limit. The 2008 team was maybe the best ever here yet I don't think he gets enough criticism about how they wilted in the postseason. Pearl seems to get a pass for that team getting b-slapped by Louisville but Barnes gets roasted for losing in OT to Purdue.

I really wish the Pearl people would stop acting like it's all about Ws and Ls because if they did, they would realize they don't have much of a case. Just admit you like Pearl's personality and "flair" over Barnes and that's pretty much the main thing.

 

[whobethis16]

This. A lot of us are wondering why he didn't he get to a FF at Tennessee like he has at Auburn. His postseason performance wasn't all that great here when compared to the expectations of the team. I seriously doubt anyone was expecting that EE run in 2010. And his other best postseason peformance was 2007 when expectations were lower and we took OSU to the limit. The 2008 team was maybe the best ever here yet I don't think he gets enough criticism about how they wilted in the postseason. Pearl seems to get a pass for that team getting b-slapped by Louisville but Barnes gets roasted for losing in OT to Purdue.

I really wish the Pearl people would stop acting like it's all about Ws and Ls because if they did, they would realize they don't have much of a case. Just admit you like Pearl's personality and "flair" over Barnes and that's pretty much the main thing.

Or the Michigan game losing by 30. Or the loss to Oklahoma State. The list goes on.

 

[cncchris33]

This. A lot of us are wondering why he didn't he get to a FF at Tennessee like he has at Auburn. His postseason performance wasn't all that great here when compared to the expectations of the team. I seriously doubt anyone was expecting that EE run in 2010. And his other best postseason peformance was 2007 when expectations were lower and we took OSU to the limit. The 2008 team was maybe the best ever here yet I don't think he gets enough criticism about how they wilted in the postseason. Pearl seems to get a pass for that team getting b-slapped by Louisville but Barnes gets roasted for losing in OT to Purdue.

I really wish the Pearl people would stop acting like it's all about Ws and Ls because if they did, they would realize they don't have much of a case. Just admit you like Pearl's personality and "flair" over Barnes and that's pretty much the main thing.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

This. A lot of us are wondering why he didn't he get to a FF at Tennessee like he has at Auburn. His postseason performance wasn't all that great here when compared to the expectations of the team. I seriously doubt anyone was expecting that EE run in 2010. And his other best postseason peformance was 2007 when expectations were lower and we took OSU to the limit. The 2008 team was maybe the best ever here yet I don't think he gets enough criticism about how they wilted in the postseason. Pearl seems to get a pass for that team getting b-slapped by Louisville but Barnes gets roasted for losing in OT to Purdue.

I really wish the Pearl people would stop acting like it's all about Ws and Ls because if they did, they would realize they don't have much of a case. Just admit you like Pearl's personality and "flair" over Barnes and that's pretty much the main thing.

Very well said.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

All you people holding on to the hey he cheated. Just think today with NIL Bruce wouldn't have to resort to cheating. He just get the right boosters to handle things and its above board.

As for OP Yes I would take Pearl back but I only if Barnes steps away soon. You cant fire Barnes with what he has done here.

It’s the chronic lying that’s the bigger concern. Subordinates don’t get to lie to their boss and keep their job in most cases.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Also want to add I'm not even saying preferring a Pearl over a Barnes personality wise is even wrong; if you prefer that type of coach then you do. I'll be honest I thought Jeremy Pruitt had the charisma of a backyard stump but if he had been successful I would have gotten over it. Same with Cuonzo Martin, I thought his stoic manner was a bit boring but again, if he won who cares?

 

[ArmchairQB]

Or the Michigan game losing by 30. Or the loss to Oklahoma State. The list goes on.

Or losing by 29 to Kentucky in the SEC semis the year we made the Elite Eight?

 

[Big time vol]

Pearl won the SEC regular season once in his six years here. Barnes also has done that once, so far. Pearl made the SEC tournament final once here, and lost. Barnes has made the SEC final twice, and lost both (edited: thanks whobethis16). Both have led a Tennessee team to a number one national ranking. Pearl's '08 team made it to #1 after beating Memphis and then lost to Vandy. Barnes '19 team spent like four weeks there before losing at Kentucky. Both have led other teams (Auburn, Texas) to number one rankings. Pearl has led three teams (Milwaukee, Tennessee, Auburn) to the Sweet Sixteen or further, with a Final Four his highest accomplishment to date. Barnes has led three teams (Clemson, Texas, Tennessee) to the Sweet Sixteen or further, with a Final Four his highest accomplishment to date.

I mean, like whoever you want, but you'd have a hard time coming up with a couple coaches with more similar resumes.

You left out the most important statistic. Pearl has a .722% winning statistic and Barnes has a .654% winning statistic. Big difference.

 

[SGMVols]

You left out the most important statistic. Pearl has a .722% winning statistic and Barnes has a .654% winning statistic. Big difference.

That’s more a function of what both inherited than anything else. Buzz left Pearl a much better roster than Martin/Tyndall left Barnes.

 

[ArmchairQB]

You left out the most important statistic. Pearl has a .722% winning statistic and Barnes has a .654% winning statistic. Big difference.

That's true, and I left it out on purpose because I saw that Pearl had a 231–46 (.834) record at D2 Southern Indiana, and I was too lazy to do the math to remove those and see what a direct comparison would look like of D1 records.

 

[whobethis16]

You left out the most important statistic. Pearl has a .722% winning statistic and Barnes has a .654% winning statistic. Big difference.

Accidental duplicate.

 

[whobethis16]

You left out the most important statistic. Pearl has a .722% winning statistic and Barnes has a .654% winning statistic. Big difference.

You also missed that Pearl won 83% at the DII level while Barnes' is all DI. Pearl at DI is just .668. If Pearl has a couple more 18-14 type years, his % drops dramatically.