I think everyone needs to chill and be patient. A few thoughts:
1. Quote by goinuponatuesday at 10:09 am on 11/26/17 (Schianamo day):
Off record I told a handful of people that Sunday leaks, Monday goodbyes, Tuesday hi's...... those few people are on volnation. Speak up if your on this morning....
Hence, the original plan, if you believe Gruden was on board, was leaks last Sunday, he says goodbye on MNF, then presser on Tuesday. Obviously Currie blew this plan all to hell.
2. Nobody knows anything right now:
This Thornton info about Gruden has not been confirmed by anyone with e-cred that we know of ... someone just strolled in dropped that bomb and basically got ran off. That info is nowhere else and I have not seen nor heard anything close to that.
I am suggesting that there hasn't been a "no" said yet. I haven't heard anything come from the Gruden camp in terms of any "leaks". My source(s) are comprised of an AD contact, boosters, and past VFLs close to the program and those in charge.
I am not saying it is Gruden or it isn't. Its been oddly quiet this morning from everyone. I did have one former RB text me and say he thought Les with Steele and Tee. I asked if Gruden said no, and he said no. I asked why he thought Les and said him and Fulmer have always been close.
My assumption, I think Gruden hasn't answered yet (as I don't know the time frame of his deadline) or, he has accepted and they have kept it totally quiet.
That is my knowledge up to this point and my assumptions. Just trying to pass along what I have heard and am told. I am wanting to know just like you guys. I have nothing to gain in this..... other than bragging that UT football is back to my childhood friends.
There has been radio silence, or admissions that they don't know anything, from anyone who would know anything and who has any level of trust on here. Does everyone forget that the one guy who is universally accepted to be the most connected guy on here, Atlanta Vol, hasn't been heard from since the Schianamo began? He also told us a long time ago that he would never break the news on here that Gruden was our next coach. He did insinuate, however, that he would tell us if it fell through. Silence is not a bad thing.
3. If Gruden had planned to say a public farewell on MNF last week, then that had to have been already planned for with at least someone at ESPN (producers, etc.). If he is in fact giving UT a final answer today, then he could very well go back to the original plan for tonight's broadcast. In the alternative, he could publicly address the Grumors and squash them tonight if he has changed his mind.
4. The key question is, if he accepts our "new" offer, how the original plan is handled regarding leaks. Because this whole idea was so cloak and daggar, and laughed off by so many in the media, the leaks were obviously planned in order to prime the world for the idea that it really could be possible. Hence the 10:00 am CBS story last Sunday. Had the Schianamo not occurred, I'm sure we would have had something juicier come out later that day pointing toward it actually being real.
If Gruden says yes, and he still wants this to happen, we should hear something in the media soon. Or he could have changed his mind about the leak process and just drop a bomb out of nowhere on MNF.
Either way, we're nearing the end of this journey. Everyone breathe a little and resist being blown about by little gusts of wind from any direction. We were part of a ReVOLution last week, and regardless of what happens from here on out, our beloved University and football program is back in good hands.
We will know something for certain SOON...