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#1
10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

This article had some interesting but not earth shattering observations - like how early signing impacted coaching searches - until it hit this little snag:

"Within college athletics circles, the school's brand was far more damaged over the last two weeks than Currie's. He'll certainly resurface somewhere soon."

There are always multiple ways of looking at events, but that one is off the rails. The greater part of the whole issue will almost certainly be the issue of contract negotiation - when it changes from negotiation to something binding - how you "correctly" address terms including having them in writing before the sides officially commit (before all the requisite signatures are in place).

If Currie went out on his own without legal input on a legally binding document that perhaps didn't include who had to sign to make it binding, it sure looks difficult to understand how it wasn't "malpractice" on Currie's part. Hard to blame "rookie error" on someone supposed to be an expert on running an athletic department.

In the end, though, it's really hard to justify that a lightweight AD's reputation (and error) is more important than an institution. UT was around long before Currie and will be around long after him and his memory.

10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel
 
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#5
#5
IMHO, the Gruden unicorn hurt us far more than the Schiano fiasco. It ranks right up there with the burning mattresses. It made us a national laughingstock and certifiably stupid. I wish Pruitt the best, but nobody will seriously argue that he was a hot commodity in the coaching market. If he turns out to be a bust, I pray to God that the name Gruden is never spoken again in the same sentence as Tennessee.
 
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#6
#6
IMHO, the Gruden unicorn hurt us far more than the Schiano fiasco. It ranks right up there with the burning mattresses. It made us a national laughingstock and certifiably stupid. I wish Pruitt the best, but nobody will seriously argue that he was a hot commodity in the coaching market. If he turns out to be a bust, I pray to God that the name Gruden is never spoken again in the same sentence as Tennessee.

AMEN brother !!!
 
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#7
#7
Currie is responsible for the Gruden fiasco (one way or the other). Either he had a big fish on the line and couldn't reel him in OR (more likely) Gruden fanned the Grumors himself and was never interested, in which case Currie should have confronted it.
 
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#8
#8
10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

This article had some interesting but not earth shattering observations - like how early signing impacted coaching searches - until it hit this little snag:

"Within college athletics circles, the school's brand was far more damaged over the last two weeks than Currie's. He'll certainly resurface somewhere soon."

There are always multiple ways of looking at events, but that one is off the rails. The greater part of the whole issue will almost certainly be the issue of contract negotiation - when it changes from negotiation to something binding - how you "correctly" address terms including having them in writing before the sides officially commit (before all the requisite signatures are in place).

If Currie went out on his own without legal input on a legally binding document that perhaps didn't include who had to sign to make it binding, it sure looks difficult to understand how it wasn't "malpractice" on Currie's part. Hard to blame "rookie error" on someone supposed to be an expert on running an athletic department.

In the end, though, it's really hard to justify that a lightweight AD's reputation (and error) is more important than an institution. UT was around long before Currie and will be around long after him and his memory.

10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

The article says nothing about one reputation being more important than the other.

What it does say, and what may be true, is that an AD was hired to lead the athletic department, the AD fired the coach, the AD found a new coach, good or bad, and the university administration did not back him up, and ultimately fired him.

Now those on here in anonymous internetland will say that the AD was an idiot and the administration rescued the fanbase from the AD. Currie will say he did his job and the administration ambushed him. He can probably sell that to somebody fairly easily. Nearly everybody on here was ready to clean house from the Governor on down less than 2 weeks ago.

Those on the outside might see it differently. They may see that the university administration as so disfunctional that it may be hard to hire the next AD. Let's not be so naive that Fulmer has the chops to manage the entire athletic department and make all teams better, improve facilities, academics, etc.

If Pruitt is successful, it won't matter and all this will likely be forgotten. But if 3 years from now we find ourselves needing a new AD or a new coach, you better believe this could impact both an AD and coaching search. Long after Currie has found another job.
 
#9
#9
Anyone who thinks Vols fans didn't have the right to expect a home run hire this time hasn't been paying attention to the program for the past 10 years. We finally had the money and some semblance of a workable roster. We probably could've lured a big name if we'd fired Butch after the 2016 crash and burn but the continued presence of Hart made that an unsavory prospect. Then we had the bad luck of a glut of very good programs wanting to replace head coaches this cycle. We couldn't afford to give Butch another season the way things were headed.
 
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#10
#10
10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

This article had some interesting but not earth shattering observations - like how early signing impacted coaching searches - until it hit this little snag:

"Within college athletics circles, the school's brand was far more damaged over the last two weeks than Currie's. He'll certainly resurface somewhere soon."

There are always multiple ways of looking at events, but that one is off the rails. The greater part of the whole issue will almost certainly be the issue of contract negotiation - when it changes from negotiation to something binding - how you "correctly" address terms including having them in writing before the sides officially commit (before all the requisite signatures are in place).

If Currie went out on his own without legal input on a legally binding document that perhaps didn't include who had to sign to make it binding, it sure looks difficult to understand how it wasn't "malpractice" on Currie's part. Hard to blame "rookie error" on someone supposed to be an expert on running an athletic department.

In the end, though, it's really hard to justify that a lightweight AD's reputation (and error) is more important than an institution. UT was around long before Currie and will be around long after him and his memory.

10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

Posted Today:

LOSER: TENNESSEE
In the end, Tennessee ended up with an inferior coach, an overmatched athletic director and setting a new standard for a disastrous coaching search. The hires that former athletic director John Currie was on the cusp of making – Greg Schiano and Mike Leach – are exponentially more accomplished and better qualified for the Tennessee job. But Phil Fulmer’s power play ended up with him in control as athletic director and Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as coach. Pruitt is just inexperienced enough that Fulmer will be able to keep sticking his nose in the program, which is what he’s wanted since he was run out of the job nearly a decade ago. (The classic clueless Fulmer moment was treating the press conference to dismiss Currie like he’d just been hired as coach again, as his tone – including introducing his family in attendance – showed a stunning lack of self-awareness.) Opposing SEC athletic directors, by the way, are giddy to have Fulmer in charge, as his administrative acumen presents little threat to the rest of the league. Expect Tennessee’s glory to remain faded.
 
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#11
#11
IMHO, the Gruden unicorn hurt us far more than the Schiano fiasco. It ranks right up there with the burning mattresses. It made us a national laughingstock and certifiably stupid. I wish Pruitt the best, but nobody will seriously argue that he was a hot commodity in the coaching market. If he turns out to be a bust, I pray to God that the name Gruden is never spoken again in the same sentence as Tennessee.

Gruden has played the useful idiot for our competitors during our recent coaching searches. A major distraction while while real work needed doing. If Gruden had any real affinity for UT, he would have ended any coaching discussion and not have made and kept UT a laughingstock.
 
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#12
#12
1 - Gruden was happy to play along with our stupid fantasy of being our head coach. It just goes to show you're never to old or successful to enjoy a good troll job.

2 - Currie looks like the luckiest guy on the planet after all this. He gets 5 million to not have to be part of the most dysfunctional athletic department/fan base in college sports.

3 - I hope to dear Jesus the next time we go looking for a coach that social media doesn't play a role in the hire.
 
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#14
#14
Plenty of reputable media outlets waffled on the likelihood of Gruden to UTK. FWIW, Gruden has been and probably will continue to be a euphemism for hiring the guy that everyone else wants whether than person's name is Jon Gruden or something else.
 
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#15
#15
The article says nothing about one reputation being more important than the other.

What it does say, and what may be true, is that an AD was hired to lead the athletic department, the AD fired the coach, the AD found a new coach, good or bad, and the university administration did not back him up, and ultimately fired him.

Now those on here in anonymous internetland will say that the AD was an idiot and the administration rescued the fanbase from the AD. Currie will say he did his job and the administration ambushed him. He can probably sell that to somebody fairly easily. Nearly everybody on here was ready to clean house from the Governor on down less than 2 weeks ago.

Those on the outside might see it differently. They may see that the university administration as so disfunctional that it may be hard to hire the next AD. Let's not be so naive that Fulmer has the chops to manage the entire athletic department and make all teams better, improve facilities, academics, etc.

If Pruitt is successful, it won't matter and all this will likely be forgotten. But if 3 years from now we find ourselves needing a new AD or a new coach, you better believe this could impact both an AD and coaching search. Long after Currie has found another job.

I guess we'll see, but Currie was an AD made in the same way as Hart and Hamilton, and Fulmer in the same way as Neyland, Woodruff, and Dickey. On historiclal perspective alone, Fulmer has the better chance of getting it right.
 
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#16
#16
Anyone with half a brain knew that Gruden was not giving up his cushy job to come coach college football. We (the fans) made TN a laughing stock by perpetuating the "Grumors". I am glad Currie is gone, Schiano was not hired and Gruden is no where near our program. With that said we missed on a lot of good coaches while Currie was "searching" for "his" coach.
 
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#17
#17
Posted Today:

LOSER: TENNESSEE
In the end, Tennessee ended up with an inferior coach, an overmatched athletic director and setting a new standard for a disastrous coaching search. The hires that former athletic director John Currie was on the cusp of making – Greg Schiano and Mike Leach – are exponentially more accomplished and better qualified for the Tennessee job. But Phil Fulmer’s power play ended up with him in control as athletic director and Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as coach. Pruitt is just inexperienced enough that Fulmer will be able to keep sticking his nose in the program, which is what he’s wanted since he was run out of the job nearly a decade ago. (The classic clueless Fulmer moment was treating the press conference to dismiss Currie like he’d just been hired as coach again, as his tone – including introducing his family in attendance – showed a stunning lack of self-awareness.) Opposing SEC athletic directors, by the way, are giddy to have Fulmer in charge, as his administrative acumen presents little threat to the rest of the league. Expect Tennessee’s glory to remain faded.

It blows my mind that a "respected national journalist" could write the above statement (the preceding quoted portion is written with a huge eye roll). If I didn't know better, I'd say it was written by a lunatic fan of one of Tennessee's rivals. Seriously, you'd have a hard time finding a post by some moron Bama fan about our coaching search any stupider. There are so many ridiculous phrases in there, I don't even know where to begin.

It's sad that Dan Wolken of all people looks completely impartial towards UT's chances with CJP contrasted with Thamel.
 
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#18
#18
1 - Gruden was happy to play along with our stupid fantasy of being our head coach. It just goes to show you're never to old or successful to enjoy a good troll job.

2 - Currie looks like the luckiest guy on the planet after all this. He gets 5 million to not have to be part of the most dysfunctional athletic department/fan base in college sports.

3 - I hope to dear Jesus the next time we go looking for a coach that social media doesn't play a role in the hire.

#1 - May or may not be true. I have read that he was never given a serious chance at the job. How would that be his fault?

#2 - That has some merit...but I think he and Haslam were a major part of that dysfunction...So, I take it back. He was at ground zero of the dysfunction...but yes, no need to cry for millionaires.

#3 - Stopping the Schiano mess, and backing Haslam down was worth every ounce of effort. Whatever hasn't been working the past 10 years needed to stop. I believe that the fans played a large part in the reset. It was SO worth whatever negative vibes we may have temporarily sent out.

You may or may not remember that the Alabama situation was consider a laughing stock, even after Saban was hired. Looking back, it was all worth it for them. I also think the temporary setbacks will prove to have been worthwhile in three or four years....We will see.
 
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#20
#20
Look, new coaching hires are pretty much a 50/50 proposition. Heck no one can say with absolute certainty that even Chip Kelly is sure fire hire at UCLA.
Not too many thought Bielema would bomb at Arky. Wolken is paid to write his opinion. It's all on paper and that is all. If we'd hired Venables he'd would likely be applauding the hire. Here's an article saying what a great hire McElwain was for Florida:

Gators pick the right man in Jim McElwain
 
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#21
#21
FWIW, Currie said "I got this" so he should be the one to pony up some money to Schiano if any is to be paid. jmo
 
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#22
#22
It blows my mind that a "respected national journalist" could write the above statement (the preceding quoted portion is written with a huge eye roll). If I didn't know better, I'd say it was written by a lunatic fan of one of Tennessee's rivals. Seriously, you'd have a hard time finding a post by some moron Bama fan about our coaching search any stupider. There are so many ridiculous phrases in there, I don't even know where to begin.

It's sad that Dan Wolken of all people looks completely impartial towards UT's chances with CJP contrasted with Thamel.

Pete Thamel, if you check, is not a noted journalist or sports writer with any national paper or magazine, he is just a Yahoo blogger of no real importance.
 
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#23
#23
"Sports analysis at USA Today "

I believe this statement is what we call one of them thUR OXY.....MORONS!!
Little to NO Sports Analysis at USA Today.
Not sure what OXY means, but I do know a MoooreRon when I see it.


V9Qrldv.jpg
 
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#24
#24
The guys can write whatever he wants but I would like to understand how he can make a statement about other ADs being "giddy" with Fulmer in place. They may know Fulmer but no one knows what kind of AD he will be in the end. The AD, in its simplest form, raises $s, sets athletic department policy, sets performance expectations for the department and interfaces w/Admin to ensure they are informed and in agreement with any situations that would require their input/approval.

I realize there is a lot more to it but fundamentally this covers 80% of the job (IMO). In other words if he raises a ton of $; increases profits (through winning) and avoids scandals there is a good chance he is around for a long time.

What basis does the author have to suggest he can't do that at a high level?

Time will tell but until then more fake news IMO
 
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#25
#25
Tennessee is getting blow back from a lot of media because the fans in their view pitched a hissy fit and got a coach unjustly associated with the whole Penn State Sandusky scandal and an AD fired. We're rocking the boat too much. Fans I guess are just supposed to shut-up and support whatever they are given by the powers that be which includes the National Media. How anyone could assert that Schiano or Leach for that matter are "exponentially" better than CJP is just hysteria. Plus that whole thing about Fulmer begs the question of he's clever enough to have orchestrated the whole Currie firing and everything else that went on to get made AD then why is he too dumb to be a competent AD himself? In MHO the only coach that is demonstrably better than CJP that would have taken the job is Kiffin and because of what happened in 2009 that was just not going to happen. So here we are and here's hoping CJP makes them all eat crow until it runs out their ears!
 
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