Was firing Bruce Pearl the biggest mistake Tennesee basketball has ever made?

#1
VolFreakJosh

VolFreakJosh

“Don’t you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby!”
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#1
Whether the man lied or not, he put Tennessee basketball on the map. Look where this program is at now without him? I'm not saying he's the best coach in the world and I'm not saying that he's a saint but he knew how to win here at Tennessee. He brought energy and excitement to Tennessee basketball. Now it's almost like our teams just don't know how to win and it's embarrassing to watch our players come out unmotivated. I'm sure I'll get bashed for making this thread but firing Pearl was a huge mistake. I guaranteed you ask a lot of other Tennessee fans, and they'll tell you the exact same thing.
 
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#2
#2
We came out unmotivated?

We were up 14 at the end of the half.
 
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#3
#3
VolFreakJosh said:
Whether the man lied or not, he put Tennessee basketball on the map. Look where this program is at now without him? I'm not saying he's the best coach in the world and I'm not saying that he's a saint but he knew how to win here at Tennessee. He brought energy and excitement to Tennessee basketball. Now it's almost like our teams just don't know how to win and it's embarrassing to watch our players come out unmotivated. I'm sure I'll get bashed for making this thread but firing Pearl was a huge mistake. I guaranteed you ask a lot of other Tennessee fans, and they'll tell you the exact same thing.
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Kind of difficult to run a program while sitting out for 3 years. Now, complaining about the NCAA's hypocritical treatment compared to other coaches? That's a different argument. But we had no choice. It was the next hire that mattered.
 
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#4
#4
VolGee4 said:
Kind of difficult to run a program while sitting out for 3 years. Now, complaining about the NCAA's hypocritical treatment compared to other coaches? That's a different argument. But we had no choice. It was the next hire that mattered.
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This.

Had we kept him we'd be just as in bad of shape due to the clamp the NCAA would have put on us.
 
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#13
#13
Was firing Bruce the worst mistake we've ever made? No, not by a jug full. The worst mistake we've ever made was hiring Mike Hamilton as Athletic Director. Most of the other mistakes flow from that monumental f.u.
 
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#14
#14
He should have never been in as much trouble as he was in to begin with. Coaches are doing way worse than what he did now and are getting away with it or with a small slap on the wrist. I mean Rick Pitino had hookers visit his recruits and he's still on the sideline coaching??

We couldn't have kept Pearl though. That show cause would have set this program back even further than it is now. I love Pearl but the right thing was done unfortunately.

Don't give up on Barnes though. That roster he was left with might be the worse roster at UT all time. I think Wade Houston had better players than Barnes has right now. Barnes has transformed Punter's game so much. Without Barnes developing him and Punter putting in the time to improve, we'd be lucky to have 5 wins right now.

This was and has always been a 3 year rebuild. Might even be a 4 year rebuild with the crap that happened last year with Hart hiring a proven cheater. He should have done whatever it took to hire Michael White, but went with the cheap hire. Thank God he didn't do this the 2nd time around.
 
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#15
#15
VolFreakJosh said:
Whether the man lied or not, he put Tennessee basketball on the map. Look where this program is at now without him? I'm not saying he's the best coach in the world and I'm not saying that he's a saint but he knew how to win here at Tennessee. He brought energy and excitement to Tennessee basketball. Now it's almost like our teams just don't know how to win and it's embarrassing to watch our players come out unmotivated. I'm sure I'll get bashed for making this thread but firing Pearl was a huge mistake. I guaranteed you ask a lot of other Tennessee fans, and they'll tell you the exact same thing.
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Unequivocally and resoundingly YES!!

I said that when they fired him and every year since.

The only mistake that that come close was not rehiring him after Martin left.
 
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#16
#16
The NCAA would have ripped our face open with sanctions if we tried to keep him. And they might have made the football penalties we got from the Kiffin era much worse as well.
 
#17
#17
Joe Johnson retiring and the new administrations guidelines to get rid of the neanderthals in the athletic department. The beginning of the end.
 
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#18
#18
VolFreakJosh said:
Whether the man lied or not, he put Tennessee basketball on the map. Look where this program is at now without him? I'm not saying he's the best coach in the world and I'm not saying that he's a saint but he knew how to win here at Tennessee. He brought energy and excitement to Tennessee basketball. Now it's almost like our teams just don't know how to win and it's embarrassing to watch our players come out unmotivated. I'm sure I'll get bashed for making this thread but firing Pearl was a huge mistake. I guaranteed you ask a lot of other Tennessee fans, and they'll tell you the exact same thing.
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If you knew you were going to get bashed for posting something dumb, then why do it? The NCAA barred Bruce from coaching for THREE years. It was in the papers...on the intrawebs ...hello?
 
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#19
#19
vols 30 said:
Finding a suitable replacement has been the biggest mistake.
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That's the point, we should NOT had to find a suitable replacement. CBP should have never been fired in the first place. The NCAA was on a witch hunt, and the UT administration didn't give them the finger.

CBP should still be coaching basketball at UT, plain and simple!
 
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#22
#22
doctorchoice said:
The NCAA would have ripped our face open with sanctions if we tried to keep him. And they might have made the football penalties we got from the Kiffin era much worse as well.
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So what. We were never a basketball school prior to CBP. Hopefully CRB can make us competitive, but we are several years behind where we would be had we just taken our lumps.
 
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#24
#24
No. That argument is just dumb. We should have hired bigger names as replacements. Barnes is a step in the right direction. He is a way better coach than Pearl anyway. I guess we forget Pearl had some major stinkers here and he has had some at AU.
 
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#25
#25
VolFreakJosh said:
Whether the man lied or not, he put Tennessee basketball on the map. Look where this program is at now without him? I'm not saying he's the best coach in the world and I'm not saying that he's a saint but he knew how to win here at Tennessee. He brought energy and excitement to Tennessee basketball. Now it's almost like our teams just don't know how to win and it's embarrassing to watch our players come out unmotivated. I'm sure I'll get bashed for making this thread but firing Pearl was a huge mistake. I guaranteed you ask a lot of other Tennessee fans, and they'll tell you the exact same thing.
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I understand where your coming from. I wish Bruce was still here also. It makes you mad when you got a guy like Calapari at Kentucky keeps getting all these 5 star kids and you gonna tell me nothing funny is going on there.
 
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