Nobody who is a true fan of the program is happy with the direction of the program. Nobody. NOBODY. Coach worshippers -- and this goes for Holly and Butch right now -- want to get on a high horse and talk about how "true" fans should act. Well, someone who wants to righteously claim that "Holly could lose every game and she isn't going anywhere" as if that's a good thing should think twice before saying that, especially given you are one of the staunchest defenders of Holly on here and one of the more confrontational when speaking to those who criticize her. The program is MUCH bigger than Holly.
You single out Diamond when in reality the buck stops with the COACH. Not the players and not any one player in particular. It stops with the COACH. The coaches are the ones getting paid, not the players. This is college, not professional, basketball.
It's fine if you like Holly. I like Holly too. She is from Knoxville and played at UT and her jersey is in the rafters. But here's the thing: coaches are not paid to be likeable people. They are paid to perform. There are plenty of people who are likeable people but bad at their occupation. I've worked with and for many people like this. The bottom line is ... Holly isn't performing as a coach. Her teams aren't performing. It's her job to hold her players accountable, and it's our job as fans to hold the COACHES, who are employees of a public university, accountable. Point blank, period. The woe-is-me act by fans for Holly has grown tiresome. She knew what the expectations were of the program when she accepted the position. Hell, she was assistant coach for how many decades? Y'all act like we should just accept mediocrity because Pat isn't the coach anymore. Tennessee has all the resources available to be FF team and NC-contender every single year with our facilities and fan support. But we aren't. And yes, I know that the FF drought started under Pat, but it's clear that under Holly the program has slipped much lower than it was under Pat in those final years.
It really is the same situation with some football fans and Butch. Some act like because Butch is a marginal coach and his ceiling is 8-9 wins ... we should just be glad that we get that many wins because we had losing seasons under Dooley. While ignoring the fact that at UT the goal isn't 8 win seasons and trips to some marginal bowl game. Fans shouldn't be forced to lower their expectations because of marginal coaches.
And the sad truth of the matter is that essentially unless Holly wants to step down, she will be coach as long as she wants as long she keeps getting decent results -- even if said results are mediocre by UT standard. Because no matter how proud the program has been in the past, it isn't a money making program like football so who cares if we don't make a FF? Basically I have little doubt that the AD is saying "well you better taper your expectations and get used to it". It's sad, really. Holly is such a likeable person and I would love to see nothing more than to see her go to a FF or win a NC. But ... it is what it is. I don't think there is a single LV fan, on this board or otherwise, that would love nothing more than to see Holly succeed and get this team on track. But at some point people start facing the music and expressing the obvious.
