Tyler Summit Today ....

[Col_Cathcart]

Wat a great guy. America doesn't kn how to forgive and forget.

FWIW, I had 100% forgotten. I hadn’t thought about this in years.

 

[BowlBrother85]

He had the best of everything growing up, grew up in immense wealth and privilege, went to private school (Webb) and got an assistant coaching job and a head coaching job because of nepotism -- he wasn't remotely qualified for either job and wouldn't have gotten either job (D1 assistant job right out of college and then a couple years later a HC job) had he not been the child of Pat Summitt.

... and based on his abilities alone, should Tyler Summitt have been a walk-on for the Tennessee men's basketball team from 2010-2012? The guy was given break after break that he had not earned on his own merits. It's not always good to have everything handed to you on a silver platter. In Tyler's case, a sense of entitlement seemed to kick in, and that was to his detriment.

 

[munsterlander]

Looking back on all of this, I think "we" shoulder some blame for Tyler's situation. "We" is the Tennessee fans and some women's college basketball fans in general. He was put in a place that was very difficult for a young man his age. I believe completely in self-responsibility, but I think we have to be realistic in the fact that he had it difficult in some ways. He could never have lived up to those lofty expectations, and he was set on a journey at such a young age without his Mom to guide him for much of it.

Expectations or not (and yes, it's a lot to live up to), there is only one person responsible for Tyler's choices. And it's not "we".

 

[GrayWaterCanine]

Expectations or not (and yes, it's a lot to live up to), there is only one person responsible for Tyler's choices. And it's not "we".

Absolutely, he is responsible for those choices; but, the basketball community anointed him into a position and circumstance to make those unwise choices more likely. No 23 year old kid should be in that position, and the position made it too easy to make a poor choice.

 

[GrayWaterCanine]

... and based on his abilities alone, should Tyler Summitt have been a walk-on for the Tennessee men's basketball team from 2010-2012? The guy was given break after break that he had not earned on his own merits. It's not always good to have everything handed to you on a silver platter. In Tyler's case, a sense of entitlement seemed to kick in, and that was to his detriment.

I think a lot of players lacking in physical ability but preparing for a career in coaching are given walk-on opportunities. Of course, he had an easy connection to do that without much problem finding that opportunity.

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

... and based on his abilities alone, should Tyler Summitt have been a walk-on for the Tennessee men's basketball team from 2010-2012? The guy was given break after break that he had not earned on his own merits. It's not always good to have everything handed to you on a silver platter. In Tyler's case, a sense of entitlement seemed to kick in, and that was to his detriment.

That entitlement also got him around 220k for life i think ...

 

[munsterlander]

Absolutely, he is responsible for those choices; but, the basketball community anointed him into a position and circumstance to make those unwise choices more likely. No 23 year old kid should be in that position, and the position made it too easy to make a poor choice.

Don't really want to have an argument, perhaps a philosophical discussion elsewhere in the forums. I'm sympathetic from the standpoint that people make mistakes, sometimes mistakes that hurt people badly. But I just don't buy that any of his circumstances resulting from "we" somehow made it harder not to make the choice he made, or - put the other way - easier for him to make the choice he made. I'm sure there are occasional situations were one's life circumstances can become extenuating - like severe child abuse. But society should stop making excuses for entitled people who make bad choices (like lawyers that choose to throw molotov cocktails). Tyler had his faculties. He made a bad choice. It was "an affair of the heart", which can be blinding to otherwise upstanding, intelligent people. I don't see it having anything to do with expectations or youthful success. He screwed up, period, he has to find the path through the consequences.

 

[stlvolsfan]

I don’t know what his relationship with his father is. But I hope that R.B. has been there with him through this and that he is a great grandfather to Tyler’s child.
All LV fans watched a cute little boy grow up before our eyes beaming at his Mother and all of her players. I want to think that sweet little guy is still in there somewhere.
I hope that Tyler has apologized to his ex wife and ex bball players and I hope that Tyler finds some joy. He absolutely idolized his Mother and none of us can fully know how painful it was for him to watch her condition deteriorate right before his very eyes. Pat would want us to forgive him. I do.

Amen.

 

[BowlBrother85]

I think a lot of players lacking in physical ability but preparing for a career in coaching are given walk-on opportunities. Of course, he had an easy connection to do that without much problem finding that opportunity.

They are almost always the son of a coach, such as Steven Pearl or Tyler Summitt.

 

[GrayWaterCanine]

Don't really want to have an argument, perhaps a philosophical discussion elsewhere in the forums. I'm sympathetic from the standpoint that people make mistakes, sometimes mistakes that hurt people badly. But I just don't buy that any of his circumstances resulting from "we" somehow made it harder not to make the choice he made, or - put the other way - easier for him to make the choice he made. I'm sure there are occasional situations were one's life circumstances can become extenuating - like severe child abuse. But society should stop making excuses for entitled people who make bad choices (like lawyers that choose to throw molotov cocktails). Tyler had his faculties. He made a bad choice. It was "an affair of the heart", which can be blinding to otherwise upstanding, intelligent people. I don't see it having anything to do with expectations or youthful success. He screwed up, period, he has to find the path through the consequences.

Do you think 32 year old Tyler makes the same choice as 23 year old Tyler in the same circumstance? I don't, and I think that's the point in regards to being elevated above what he was equipped to handle at that time.

 

[GrayWaterCanine]

They are almost always the son of a coach, such as Steven Pearl or Tyler Summitt.

Those are the ones that are easily recalled, but I think you have teammates, cousins, donor connections, and others. I think a majority of obscure walk-ons have an eye toward coaching.

 

[Vfl2407]

That's over the top. The only people he owed an apology, were AnDe Ragsdale and Micki DeMoss... and it's totally understandable if they don't forgive him. I mention Micki because she really stuck her neck out for him and he made her look like a fool. Louisiana Tech initially offered her their head coaching job in 2014, and she turned it down, but said that she would be willing to serve as an assistant to Tyler Summitt if they would give him the opportunity (which he hadn't yet earned on his own). As a Louisiana Tech alum, and long time friend of Pat Summitt's, she really went to bat for him with the administration and insisted that he was ready for such a responsibility at such a young age. Tyler took that big break and crapped all over it... and made one of his mother's best friends out to be an idiot in front of her alma mater. Having said that... I'm sure Micki has forgiven him.

Micki, Holly, and Dean helped raise Tyler and so many LV players treated him as their little brother.
I bet most have forgiven him and still love him as they so loved our Pat.

 

[tennrich1]

On another note: who proofread that article? Pat was inducted into the Naismith HOF in 2000, not 2010, and there are numerous typos.

Well it is USA Today after all. Facts are just not important!

 

[EZE]

I got blasted for this a few years ago but....

I felt Tyler Summitt acknowledged he made a terrible mistake, lost his job and his then wife, embarrassed the legacy of his family and likely ruined any shot he had of coaching. The term I used was "grace" which probably wasn't the best choice of words but my view was he had suffered the appropriate consequences and there was no reason for internet fans to continue to pile on the shame and guilt. I was unsure exactly what else people thought should happen beyond what did and grace isn't forgetting but rather not using the mistakes as a weapon against him indefinitely.

There is no doubt he feels guilt some days. With his mother's pension as well as other assets she accumulated he will not have to worry tremendously about finances if he takes care of them. It's sad that the young boy who was by his mother's side for the championships grew up to be a flawed human but it happened.

There were several families destroyed over this and I don't see much to be gained from the interview beyond having some curiosity satisfied. Honestly he just needs to live his life in peace with his wife and son and it is probably best he stay out of the spotlight.

If you think TS is the only “flawed human” on this planet, I’ve got news for you.... I see one in the mirror every day, and so do you, and every other human on this planet. “Grace” actually was the best word you could choose, because without it none of us has a chance.

The difference between TS and us is that he had a huge transgression (and I’m not minimizing it) for the whole world to see. And then the internet “moral” warriors jumped all over it and pronounced judgment. They might want to worry about the logs in their own eyes before condemning another for a speck of sawdust in their eye (paraphrasing).

 

[EZE]

I think he deserves some grace re the affair because he's a human being, and also dealing with the basically terminal diagnosis of his mother at the time, and TBH that's between him and his ex-spouse. But this thing about making a martyr out of children of famous people? Nah. I've never bought that and I don't with him. He had the best of everything growing up, grew up in immense wealth and privilege, went to private school (Webb) and got an assistant coaching job and a head coaching job because of nepotism -- he wasn't remotely qualified for either job and wouldn't have gotten either job (D1 assistant job right out of college and then a couple years later a HC job) had he not been the child of Pat Summitt. Pat basically admitted all this in her last book. There is pressure to live up to expectations but most people have expectations placed upon them as young adults and 99% of them don't have the privilege he had. Tyler is a white straight man who was born into wealth. This country is literally tailored to him. You could possibly make a point if he wound up being a lousy coach that he wasn't cut out to be a coach and went into it because he was expected to, but that's a separate discussion from not only sleeping around on your wife, but compounding that by doing it with one of your players, which is a major violation of ethics and character. We should stop making excuses for stuff like that, because there is no excuse for what he did and acting like growing up a spoiled rich kid came with pressure for him to do it is utterly laughable.

The judge has spoken.

Utterly ridiculous.

 

[munsterlander]

Do you think 32 year old Tyler makes the same choice as 23 year old Tyler in the same circumstance? I don't, and I think that's the point in regards to being elevated above what he was equipped to handle at that time.

32 yo Tyler is hopefully wiser than 23 yo Tyler, just as 50 yo Tyler would be wiser still - all completely independent of the pressures of "we". As with all of us, hopefully that wisdom leads to better decisions.

There are tons of people that are successful and to whom high expectations are directed at a young age - some pull it off with class (eg, Ron Howard, Jordan Spieth) some don't (eg, Justin Butthead Bieber).

I'm just not into this voluntary collective guilt thing so commonly used to distribute other people's bad decisions to everyone else. So you and I just fundamentally disagree on this, but you're entitled to your opinion. Peace.

 

[EZE]

Do you think 32 year old Tyler makes the same choice as 23 year old Tyler in the same circumstance? I don't, and I think that's the point in regards to being elevated above what he was equipped to handle at that time.

I’ve known plenty of older men AND women who have given into this temptation. Affairs happen. They aren’t morally right, but they happen. And age has very little to do with it.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Do you think 32 year old Tyler makes the same choice as 23 year old Tyler in the same circumstance? I don't, and I think that's the point in regards to being elevated above what he was equipped to handle at that time.

That job came with significant responsibility, but that was a responsibility that he had agreed to accept. Nobody forced him to.

 

[GrayWaterCanine]

I’ve known plenty of older men AND women who have given into this temptation. Affairs happen. They aren’t morally right, but they happen. And age has very little to do with it.

It has a lot to do with it when a 23 year old man is unwisely placed in charge of a group of college women.

 

[GrayWaterCanine]

That job came with significant responsibility, but that was a responsibility that he had agreed to accept. Nobody forced him to.

That's the point. He should have been advised to not take that position at his age and experience level. That is where he was failed, along with public sentiment that further encouraged him. His mom possibly would have advised him differently had she been healthy. He failed on his own with the bad decision, but he never should have been in that position.

 

[EZE]

It has a lot to do with it when a 23 year old man is unwisely placed in charge of a group of college women.

I seem to recall a mid-30s HFC at UT who had similar issues...his were just covered up instead of exposed...and he is now the HFC at another SEC school.

And a 50-something DC at UT....

And I’m sure there are others (Pruitt had rumors too, which I find hard to understand how any coed could go there).

 

[BowlBrother85]

That's the point. He should have been advised to not take that position at his age and experience level. That is where he was failed, along with public sentiment that further encouraged him. His mom possibly would have advised him differently had she been healthy. He failed on his own with the bad decision, but he never should have been in that position.

That's ridiculous. He was an adult and a college graduate in 2014. He was solely responsible for his career choices. Nobody failed him. He failed on his own.

 

[lvocd]

I won’t mention any names, but some posters in this thread show a shocking lack of empathy. I could be wrong, but I’d be willing to bet those same posters in real life claim to be “good Christians,” too. Sad.

 

[BowlBrother85]

I won’t mention any names, but some posters in this thread show a shocking lack of empathy. I could be wrong, but I’d be willing to bet those same posters in real life claim to be “good Christians,” too. Sad.

For losing his mother at a relatively young age, Tyler Summitt deserves our empathy... but that doesn't come with a license to act like a spoiled jerk.

 

[LasVegasBill23]

People seem to give Tyler a pass on this one.... he was young.... made mistake etc.... I think he made a huge mistake.... messing with young peoples lives for his own benefit.... and he himself was promoting himself at every turn to push forward because of his last name.... i remember when he got the asst coach job at Marquette, he applied for head coaching jobs.... he was probably already carousing with his future wife at that point... a sad story.... but i do not have sympathy for him.... hope he is living happily