Coachery

[ABINGDON VOL FAN]

You need to stop with the conjecture. It’s getting old. You and some others don’t have a clue what it takes to hire a football coach and neither do I. But it’s not all about money. You refuse to take the facts and state of the program into account. All the guys you listed? They were in good, stable programs. Its highly unlikely that most of them didn’t even entertain an offer. I mean you think DW only offered Franklin? Believe that if you will but most who have reasonable common sense knew NO big time winner was coming.

Only you and the other unrealistic fans thought otherwise.

I’m going to continue to state my opinions on this coaching search. Put me on ignore if you don’t like it.

 

[ABINGDON VOL FAN]

Give me the proof they didn’t aim high. So wait, now the insiders on VN are legit? Lol. Just stop with the BS.

That’s what I would like to know. Other than Franklin who did they try to get ? It’s embarrassingly for White that the only guy he can get is his former coach at UCF. That is laughable. It’s lazy IMO. I believe he should have got someone else and did not have to settle for Heupel but I’m not sure how hard he tried.

 

[RobertPellitt]

That’s what I would like to know. Other than Franklin who did they try to get ? It’s embarrassingly for White that the only guy he can get is his former coach at UCF. That is laughable. It’s lazy IMO. I believe he should have got someone else and did not have to settle for Heupel but I’m not sure how hard he tried.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Fleck>Heupel In most people’s opinions
Campbell-Did we make an offer ?
Herman and Napier - Both more desirable than Heupel-Did we make offers ?

Respectfully, why the heck does it matter now?

Let's say everyone you wanted contacted WAS NOT contacted, we have Coach Heupel.
Let's say that everyone you wanted contacted WAS contacted, we have Coach Heupel.

We have Coach Heupel. We will NEVER know exactly who was contacted, whether this one or that one was interviewed, who was offered and how much, etc, etc. We have Coach Heupel. That's the only thing about the search we can know and, frankly, that's enough.

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

So it looks like no one has been in this thread since last night, but I am going to post this here anyway. This is what I know as of today, people kind of opened up after our new head coach was hired. Our AD really did swing for the fences for the hire, CJH was always considered, however others were contacted to see what would shake out.
Franklin was totally in the mix, however he wanted a huge salary to make the move (I don’t blame him). When I say huge salary, it would have made him the highest paid coach in sports, college and pro. Others I heard were scared by the upcoming NCAA sanctions, which is totally fair. CJH was in it from the start.
Napier was never in the mix, not sure why. Dykes was never in the mix and was not contacted by anyone official from UT. I know this because I called the AD at SMU and asked him. I know him through other folks. He said to his knowledge Dykes was never offered the job. If you don’t know who the AD at SMU is, google him, his name is familiar. Elliot was considered, however he was talked out of taking the job. It’s a hard job moving from coordinator to head ball coach in the best situations, add everything UT was facing, it would have impacted his career in such a negative way if he didn’t succeed. He will get his opportunity in the next 2 years in a much better environment.
Now to Freeze, Chadwell and Kiffin. Freeze rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way, all over the SEC and ACC. His holier than thou attitude while doing the things he did, it did not make many friends. Chadwell basically burned a program to the ground on this way out. These 2 were never going to get a sniff due to the incoming NCAA sanctions. Its kind of hard to say “we know we messed up, but we have learned our lesson” and then hire one of these 2 guys.
Now on to Kiffin, who I thought would be great. I think he is a great offensive coach and also his players love him. He is also a huge smart ass, which I also love, we need another Spurrier type in the SEC, might as well be at UT. However Kiffin burnt so many bridges on his way out of Knoxville, it just wasn’t going to happen.
That being said, I did talk to 2 ADs who are in the ACC, they are friends of mine from being here in Atlanta (not hard to figure out who they are, my dad played ball at The Institute and most of my family went there). Both thought CJH was a great choice considering the circumstances and were actually surprised he took the job. That was all due to Danny White.
With that being said, this has been a great ride and it was great talking to all of you in the coachery thread (also the plane tracking thread was very amusing). All of you are awesome, even if we didn’t agree. Love the passion for UT.
On another note, I finished my treatment for a rare blood cancer today and so far everything looks good. If it is not caught in time or treatment doesn’t work, you have a 2 - 4 year life expectancy. That was found last year on a routine checkup and because of course it was 2020. Following this thread and chatting with all of you took my mind off of that as well as my grind at work with all the Covid patients we have been seeing. Needless to say to has been a depressing and trying time, but you guys and gals made it all better. For that I truly thank you.
Stay safe and peace,
Er Vol

Thank you for the information.
That ending was especially special. Cheers and prayers to a continued recovery!

 

[CobbVol]

Yes it is cheap on a per year basis. It was reported we were going to offer FU money and we might of done that for Franklin but did we do it for Fleck,Campbell, Napier and Herman. If not we either failed or were never serious about paying the money to bring an big name candidate here. Heupel is an underwhelming hire.

Fleck - Glad either us or he passed.
Campbell - Has a Top10 returning next year and would not take our calls.
Napier - Has characteristics of the same model/version as the one we just fired with cause.
Herman - My Longhorn friends advised that the rumors of losing the team are true.

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

Fleck - Glad either us or he passed.
Campbell - Has a Top10 returning next year and would not take our calls.
Napier - Has characteristics of the same model/version as the one we just fired with cause.
Herman - My Longhorn friends advised that the rumors of losing the team are true.

Can you elaborate more on the Herman issue? I’m okay with the hire we got, but I am perplexed as to why we didn’t call Herman. However, with more details I could maybe get over it easier.

 

[eaglevol]

Texas players were negatively recruiting against Tom Herman

 

[CobbVol]

Can you elaborate more on the Herman issue? I’m okay with the hire we got, but I am perplexed as to why we didn’t call Herman. However, with more details I could maybe get over it easier.

He was immediately my first thought of replacing Pruitt with me thinking it would be a Rick Barnes 2.0 and Texas did not really know what they had. I initially thought we could hire him in a week with no buyout.

In taking with them, they just said similar stuff we are now hearing with Pruitt in that it was Herman's way or the highway. The only difference with Herman and Pruitt was Herman seemingly lost the team while Pruitt had not. If he would have stayed they thought a number of players would hit the portal and they were already beginning to lose 2022 recruits.

 

[Perspective]

Can you elaborate more on the Herman issue? I’m okay with the hire we got, but I am perplexed as to why we didn’t call Herman. However, with more details I could maybe get over it easier.

Herman may legitimately be on the spectrum.

Regardless of the cause, he doesn’t yet have the people skills to be an effective leader. He’s unfit for a program that needs to be built back up. He’s average as an OC and not even that as a HC at Tennessee.

 

[Perspective]

Campbell not interested - I know he turned down Texas but did we try? Same question for Fickel and Napier.

We tried as much as you can with someone that won’t give you the time. As many others have said, Campbell would even really let us try to lure him.

We needed White in 2017. I still doubt he comes 3 years ago, but maybe $8 million/year then exploits any doubt he could get it done at Iowa St. Now he has another top-10 team next year on only top-50 recruiting. He’s gotta feel good about the future with the better recruiting. Why leave that?

 

[ABINGDON VOL FAN]

We tried as much as you can with someone that won’t give you the time. As many others have said, Campbell would even really let us try to lure him.

We needed White in 2017. I still doubt he comes 3 years ago, but maybe $8 million/year then exploits any doubt he could get it done at Iowa St. Now he has another top-10 team next year on only top-50 recruiting. He’s gotta feel good about the future with the better recruiting. Why leave that?

Double the yearly salary and up to 7 year contract.

 

[Bubbs]

It just seems like White wants coaches he can trust. Every coach he talked to seemed to have a leak except for his boy. That seems to be the common denominator. He’s losing his **** over the coaching search leak.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Double the yearly salary and up to 7 year contract.

49 million dollars over 7 years. $49,000,000.
That's double his salary. Are you sure you want to gamble that much money on a coach?

As an aside, are you still holding GameStop?

 

[Bighorn67]

So it looks like no one has been in this thread since last night, but I am going to post this here anyway. This is what I know as of today, people kind of opened up after our new head coach was hired. Our AD really did swing for the fences for the hire, CJH was always considered, however others were contacted to see what would shake out.
Franklin was totally in the mix, however he wanted a huge salary to make the move (I don’t blame him). When I say huge salary, it would have made him the highest paid coach in sports, college and pro. Others I heard were scared by the upcoming NCAA sanctions, which is totally fair. CJH was in it from the start.
Napier was never in the mix, not sure why. Dykes was never in the mix and was not contacted by anyone official from UT. I know this because I called the AD at SMU and asked him. I know him through other folks. He said to his knowledge Dykes was never offered the job. If you don’t know who the AD at SMU is, google him, his name is familiar. Elliot was considered, however he was talked out of taking the job. It’s a hard job moving from coordinator to head ball coach in the best situations, add everything UT was facing, it would have impacted his career in such a negative way if he didn’t succeed. He will get his opportunity in the next 2 years in a much better environment.
Now to Freeze, Chadwell and Kiffin. Freeze rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way, all over the SEC and ACC. His holier than thou attitude while doing the things he did, it did not make many friends. Chadwell basically burned a program to the ground on this way out. These 2 were never going to get a sniff due to the incoming NCAA sanctions. Its kind of hard to say “we know we messed up, but we have learned our lesson” and then hire one of these 2 guys.
Now on to Kiffin, who I thought would be great. I think he is a great offensive coach and also his players love him. He is also a huge smart ass, which I also love, we need another Spurrier type in the SEC, might as well be at UT. However Kiffin burnt so many bridges on his way out of Knoxville, it just wasn’t going to happen.
That being said, I did talk to 2 ADs who are in the ACC, they are friends of mine from being here in Atlanta (not hard to figure out who they are, my dad played ball at The Institute and most of my family went there). Both thought CJH was a great choice considering the circumstances and were actually surprised he took the job. That was all due to Danny White.
With that being said, this has been a great ride and it was great talking to all of you in the coachery thread (also the plane tracking thread was very amusing). All of you are awesome, even if we didn’t agree. Love the passion for UT.
On another note, I finished my treatment for a rare blood cancer today and so far everything looks good. If it is not caught in time or treatment doesn’t work, you have a 2 - 4 year life expectancy. That was found last year on a routine checkup and because of course it was 2020. Following this thread and chatting with all of you took my mind off of that as well as my grind at work with all the Covid patients we have been seeing. Needless to say to has been a depressing and trying time, but you guys and gals made it all better. For that I truly thank you.
Stay safe and peace,
Er Vol

Hey ER Voll, I too found out I have a rare cancer back in April and have been undergoing treatment ever since. Finished chemo December 29th with good results. It was not a good 2020 for me either. Keep fighting the fight brother. Go Vols and Coach Heupel!

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

Fleck>Heupel In most people’s opinions
Campbell-Did we make an offer ?
Herman and Napier - Both more desirable than Heupel-Did we make offers ?

I do not know for sure who we offered, other than Franklin.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

That’s what I would like to know. Other than Franklin who did they try to get ? It’s embarrassingly for White that the only guy he can get is his former coach at UCF. That is laughable. It’s lazy IMO. I believe he should have got someone else and did not have to settle for Heupel but I’m not sure how hard he tried.

50 level 1 violations, a hemorrhaging roster and a tough schedule tend to scare off coaches wanting their star to stay bright. Tony Elliott turned us down. That was after we offered Franklin $8million a year but he wanted a 9 year, $90 million fully guaranteed contract per Basilio. If we hired him, people would’ve been pissed we didn’t get our money’s worth.

 

[munsterlander]

Hey ER Voll, I too found out I have a rare cancer back in April and have been undergoing treatment ever since. Finished chemo December 29th with good results. It was not a good 2020 for me either. Keep fighting the fight brother. Go Vols and Coach Heupel!

Prayers for you, Bighorn.

 

[mikemist]

Can you elaborate more on the Herman issue? I’m okay with the hire we got, but I am perplexed as to why we didn’t call Herman. However, with more details I could maybe get over it easier.

He kisses players, effin weirdo

Tom Herman kisses all his players before UH games

 

[ABINGDON VOL FAN]

49 million dollars over 7 years. $49,000,000.
That's double his salary. Are you sure you want to gamble that much money on a coach?

As an aside, are you still holding GameStop?

43 million was on the table.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

43 million was on the table.

Assuming Franklin. And I personally think that's too much risk.

I'd rather stabilize THEN hire big. I don't see the benefit to UT to pay a "star" coach to coach an NCAA sanctioned team for a small fortune. Perhaps we differ there but I find the money wasted when this is NOT a "good coach can turn this around in a season" situation.

I don't know what kind of penalty 50 Level I violations leads to and I don't know what else is out there that we haven't seen. We could be looking at 2 or 3 years of bowl ineligibility, multiple scholarship losses for a couple of years, and all kinds of recruiting visit, contact, etc losses.

It's going to be bleak. I can't recall EVER seeing a school term an AD, HC, 2 assistants, and the entire recruiting office staff. I saw that Drew Hughes got held up from getting a job at Texas because they're worried he's involved. This is apparently a very deep, ugly hole.

Why pay a "star" to slog through mud? AND if you were a star coach, no amount of money is worth doing that to your career and legacy.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Just for reference, the Hughes story.

Update at Texas

 

[Perspective]

Double the yearly salary and up to 7 year contract.

He basically wouldn’t even take our calls. You think he doesn’t know we’re offering a bank? It seems the issue is you cannot accept the level of disinterest in Tennessee by these successful P5 HCs, not what we didn’t try.

On a similar note. I’ve heard rumors of another P5 embarrassing themselves in their pursuit of Campbell. Basically harassment because they were too dumb or arrogant to accept a “no thank you”. I’m glad we didn’t go that route.

 

[ABINGDON VOL FAN]

He basically wouldn’t even take our calls. You think he doesn’t know we’re offering a bank? It seems the issue is you cannot accept the level of disinterest in Tennessee by these successful P5 HCs, not what we didn’t try.

On a similar note. I’ve heard rumors of another P5 embarrassing themselves in their pursuit of Campbell. Basically harassment because they were too dumb or arrogant to accept a “no thank you”. I’m glad we didn’t go that route.

Texas ?

 

[Perspective]

Texas ?

I don’t know about Texas. I assume they kicked the tires?

I have heard from more than one person in Florida that FSU went with the “don’t take no for an answer” approach that has often been asked for.

But it was still no. What’s the AD suppose to do? Promote at the presser and through the media that they were brought to their knees by a few candidates and still got shutdown? Sometimes they’re just not into you.

I have no doubt Danny made several top candidates know our best offer, and didn’t go cheap or prideful. Not surprisingly it wasn’t enough for Campbell, given he’s been known to have not pursued better jobs than this. He’s got a top team, so unless UT was one of his dream jobs, he can wait. That’s why I wanted Steele as an interim. I personally think White would have gotten him on campus in 2017, but we’ll never know.