Coaching Search Update (SIAP)

#1
bnhunt

bnhunt

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#1
From TOS...

With a holiday weekend upon us, there has been some thought that Tennessee's search for a new basketball
coach might not hit high gear until next week.

However that doesn't appear to be the case. Sources today have told Volquest that Tennessee was on the
move. The trip made by Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Dave Hart and others was estimated at 3-5 hours. We have not been able to confirm a location with absolute certainty or who the Vols' contingent might have seen other than it's been indicated to us from multiple sources that the travel may have been to a location north of Knoxville.

Obviously, there are several names who have been mentioned as possible candidates who work north of
Tennessee. Richard Pitino is at Minnesota. Archie Miller is at Dayton, Chris Mack is at Xavier and Mick Cronin is at Cincinnati.

Cronin seems the least likely of the group as it was indicated to Volquest that Cronin wasn't going to be the coach at Tennessee with an indication that Tennessee wasn't interested in him more than anything. Remember, Cronin is paid well
at Cincinnati and is also a life long fan of the Bearcats and is a Cincinnati native. But with a new athletics director, there has been some thought that he would listen to the Vols. However, it doesn't appear any conversations are likely to happen.

Again, we believe Tennessee was on the move today, but we haven't confirmed the location or the candidate at this point. We are continuing to dig for more information.

And just on a side note after doing a couple of radio shows on Thursday, former head coach Cuonzo Martin telephoned several donors in the last 24 hours to thank them for their support of his program in kind of his final closure on his Tennessee tenure.
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#4
#4
VQ guys: "The plane is headed North"!!!

Drunk dude on runway loading luggage: "Ya know a plane can make a turn in flight".

VQ Guys: "Uhhh, let's go with North"! "Print the story"!
 
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#5
#5
I'd say Miller or Mack, hope it's Mack. The way things go with UT searches it could be someone not even mentioned yet.
 
#8
#8
MAJOR_ORANGE said:
I'd say Miller or Mack, hope it's Mack. The way things go with UT searches it could be someone not even mentioned yet.
Click to expand...

I'm going to say its highly doubtful that we get some obscure name that no one has discussed yet. Hart clearly knows what his fallback options are. Tyndall and Hart want this job an are willing to be paid lower than 1.5 mil for it. Harts going to try and hook a bigger fish first. We may not get it, but we know who definitely is in line for it.
 
#11
#11
I hope they met with Archie Miller and he is interested because I think he is our best plausible option. Marshall and Smart would be great but I don't think either will come to UT, especially with the rumored max salary of $2M. Mack would be great but he is coaching at his alma mater. So, it could be hard to get him away from there for almost any program unless the money was shockingly high and/or the offer was for UNC/Duke/UK/KU, etc. I think Cronin is a Cincinnati guy and would be hard to pry away. Also, Cincinatti is a similar quality of job to UT's basketball HC and my guess is that he is well compensated. I'm not excited about Pitino's kid because he's young and our experiences with young, child prodigies (Kiffin and Dooley) have been disastrous. Howland's problems at the end with UCLA are a huge smudge on his resume. That said, he won at Northern Arizona, Pitt, and at UCLA. All in all, Miller has experience recruiting and coaching at the highest levels in his assistant gigs and now has demonstrated he can win big in the tournament (albeit with a favorable draw). He's the best plausible candidate. I think Howland is our most plausible second candidate because he's a demonstrated winner (including three Final Fours in a row with UCLA) and recruiter (he landed big time players at Pity and at UCLA), but he should only be hired of Hart thinks he can prevent player issues he had at UCLA. With either guy, I think UT will have upgraded and will be poised for big things.
 
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#12
#12
I could be wrong about Cal, but I don't think they hired a search firm either. I don't remember any media saying that Cuonzo was even a candidate. They approached him after the FL game in the SEC tourney. WAY before TN was picked to go to the big dance. WAY before the Marquette rumbles. Why in the world did Cal NOT hire anybody before that?

So it's quite possible that there are some candidates that Hart is talking to that we have barely mentioned and we are on THEIR timetable.
 
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#18
#18
The chatter among Cal fans a few days ago regarding their coaching search:

"We have not been able to confirm a location with absolute certainty or who the Cal contingent might have seen other than it's been indicated to us from multiple sources that the travel may have been to a location in Arizona."
 
#21
#21
My friends grandmother who once had a dream she went to school with jay gruden's third cousin said the plane is headed to the ESPN studios to pick up Gruden....TIFWIW


I think I'll still be making these jokes when I'm 70 btw
 
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#22
#22
The AD at Minnesota is the same guy that hired Smart at VCU. And the same guy that fought to keep him at VCU when others came a calling. He will fight to keep Pitino there. So expect a fight. He knows how to play hardball.
 
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