Rick Barnes discussion (merged)

The farther in the tournament you go, the lack of a point guard, ZZ, becomes magnified and harder to overcome. That's not on coaching , that is just a very bad break at a bad time. Tough for any team to overcome.
You can lose a player at any point during the season. Having it all ride on one guy without having a backup plan is a coaching failure.
 
You can lose a player at any point during the season. Having it all ride on one guy without having a backup plan is a coaching failure.

There are only 13 scholarships and having high level backups at every spot isn’t an option. Those players go somewhere that they get to play instead of sitting on the bench just in case. NCAA success is highly dependent on avoiding bad luck.

TN had Santi, BJE, JJJ, JM, and Key in the unlikely scenario where ZZ is lost for the season. TN still managed to get into the Sweet 16 when Plan A at PG ended.
 
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There are only 13 scholarships and having high level backups at every spot isn’t an option. Those players go somewhere that they get to play instead of sitting on the bench just in case. NCAA success is highly dependent on avoiding bad luck.

TN had Santi, BJE, JJJ, JM, and Key in the unlikely scenario where ZZ is list for the season. TN still managed to get into the Sweet 16 when Plan A at PG ended.
Don’t get me wrong here. I think Rick does a great job and there is no way he is getting replaced until he decides to retire/leave. And he shouldn’t. But to be fair, he brought Key in to play some point when he didn’t get Yuri Collins and it was a mistake. It was painfully obvious that Tyreke is not a play making point guard. Edward’s might become one at some point (too inexperienced this year) but none of the others mentioned are consistently capable of running point. They had to try to do it by committee and it eventually caught up with them. On that point, Rick made a bad decision.
 
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Hypothetical question, say Barnes were to retire, who do you go after?

I would have 4 targets. I would take the number we are paying Barnes now (average of 5.7 million over deal) and go to the following guys in this order:

1- Jay Wright / likely a no but you have to ask. Get the sense he retired because of NIL ordeals. He’s basically same age Barnes was when he got Tennessee job. If we could land Jay Wright and squeeze out 8 seasons from, that’s a win.

2- Scott Drew / This would be my #1 target. He makes 3.5 million at Baylor. I would go up to 6 million starting out and make him say no and Baylor virtually doubles his pay.

3- Shaka Smart / guy is a winner. Texas was a weird stint, but they didn’t handle his last season well as they were in the tourney with one foot out the door on the separation from Texas. They wound up splitting but Texas made it known they were itching for a change for Beard off his Tech run.

4- Greg McDermott / I threw in one mid major coach. With the final four berth, he has reached his peak at Creighton. If we were to go the cheap route for the sake of not paying a new coach as much as Barnes, I’d go hard after Greg M. He makes around 1.3-1.5 million. Even 2x’d it that still saves us 1.5-2 million dollars vs Barnes’ number.


Flame away but those are the 4 guys I would target. If Barnes up and retired tomorrow, Drew would be my #1 target of current coaches. I would either make him say no or he gets a massive pay raise at Baylor. Literally zero risk to Tennessee either way.

I think any AD of a school paying 5+ million for a coach now would be doing a disservice if they had a vacancy and didn’t call Jay Wright. I think he is done personally but if we had open, it would be AD malpractice to not call him and say “You want the Tennessee job and $5.5-6 million dollars per year, yes or no?”
 
I would have 4 targets. I would take the number we are paying Barnes now (average of 5.7 million over deal) and go to the following guys in this order:

1- Jay Wright / likely a no but you have to ask. Get the sense he retired because of NIL ordeals. He’s basically same age Barnes was when he got Tennessee job. If we could land Jay Wright and squeeze out 8 seasons from, that’s a win.

2- Scott Drew / This would be my #1 target. He makes 3.5 million at Baylor. I would go up to 6 million starting out and make him say no and Baylor virtually doubles his pay.

3- Shaka Smart / guy is a winner. Texas was a weird stint, but they didn’t handle his last season well as they were in the tourney with one foot out the door on the separation from Texas. They wound up splitting but Texas made it known they were itching for a change for Beard off his Tech run.

4- Greg McDermott / I threw in one mid major coach. With the final four berth, he has reached his peak at Creighton. If we were to go the cheap route for the sake of not paying a new coach as much as Barnes, I’d go hard after Greg M. He makes around 1.3-1.5 million. Even 2x’d it that still saves us 1.5-2 million dollars vs Barnes’ number.


Flame away but those are the 4 guys I would target. If Barnes up and retired tomorrow, Drew would be my #1 target of current coaches. I would either make him say no or he gets a massive pay raise at Baylor. Literally zero risk to Tennessee either way.

I think any AD of a school paying 5+ million for a coach now would be doing a disservice if they had a vacancy and didn’t call Jay Wright. I think he is done personally but if we had open, it would be AD malpractice to not call him and say “You want the Tennessee job and $5.5-6 million dollars per year, yes or no?”

Creighton is in the Big East, so not a mid major
 
The Big Least is nothing more than a Mid Major…. Nothing more than a once glorified “P5” level conference. Creighton is very much a mid major institution.

Ok, then you included 2 mid major coaches because Jay Wright coached in the Big East. Hard to see how a conference that includes UConn, Marquette, Xavier, Creighton, Providence, Villanova, etc is a mid major though.
 
Ok, then you included 2 mid major coaches because Jay Wright coached in the Big East. Hard to see how a conference that includes UConn, Marquette, Xavier, Creighton, Providence, Villanova, etc is a mid major though.

Two of those schools are unlike the others you rattled off…

Let’s see, conference loses historical staple schools and keeps some… in order to stay relevant, they have to add new members which they pluck from mid majors….

If you are calling Nova and UConn mid majors, you’re delirious. Those two schools have been perennial teams for the last 2-3 decades in the tourney, if not longer.

Creighton has been a mid major for the same amount of time and gotten an upgrade in conference affiliation in name only

Just because you’re new to a bigger conference doesn’t mean you’re immediately washed of the mid major status… Creighton is nothing more than a mid major level school in college basketball. This isn’t controversial.
 
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Two of those schools are unlike the others you rattled off…

Let’s see, conference loses historical staple schools and keeps some… in order to stay relevant, they have to add new members which they pluck from mid majors….

If you are calling Nova and UConn mid majors, you’re delirious. Those two schools have been perennial teams for the last 2-3 decades in the tourney, if not longer.

Creighton has been a mid major for the same amount of time and gotten an upgrade in conference affiliation in name only

Just because you’re new to a bigger conference doesn’t mean you’re immediately washed of the mid major status… Creighton is nothing more than a mid major level school in college basketball. This isn’t controversial.

As an alumnus of a former Big East School (although not exactly a powerhouse, BC), I have some nostalgia for the old Big East and am aware of the history of UConn and Nova (having experienced many losses to them). I couldn't care less about Creighton, but I will give them credit for having won 6 total games in the last 3 NCAA tournaments, which I think makes them more than just a fly on the windshield.
 
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I would have 4 targets. I would take the number we are paying Barnes now (average of 5.7 million over deal) and go to the following guys in this order:

1- Jay Wright / likely a no but you have to ask. Get the sense he retired because of NIL ordeals. He’s basically same age Barnes was when he got Tennessee job. If we could land Jay Wright and squeeze out 8 seasons from, that’s a win.

2- Scott Drew / This would be my #1 target. He makes 3.5 million at Baylor. I would go up to 6 million starting out and make him say no and Baylor virtually doubles his pay.

3- Shaka Smart / guy is a winner. Texas was a weird stint, but they didn’t handle his last season well as they were in the tourney with one foot out the door on the separation from Texas. They wound up splitting but Texas made it known they were itching for a change for Beard off his Tech run.

4- Greg McDermott / I threw in one mid major coach. With the final four berth, he has reached his peak at Creighton. If we were to go the cheap route for the sake of not paying a new coach as much as Barnes, I’d go hard after Greg M. He makes around 1.3-1.5 million. Even 2x’d it that still saves us 1.5-2 million dollars vs Barnes’ number.


Flame away but those are the 4 guys I would target. If Barnes up and retired tomorrow, Drew would be my #1 target of current coaches. I would either make him say no or he gets a massive pay raise at Baylor. Literally zero risk to Tennessee either way.

I think any AD of a school paying 5+ million for a coach now would be doing a disservice if they had a vacancy and didn’t call Jay Wright. I think he is done personally but if we had open, it would be AD malpractice to not call him and say “You want the Tennessee job and $5.5-6 million dollars per year, yes or no?”
These are all solid choices. Shaka, Drew and Wright would definitely be on my list. Make one of those say no. I feel like we’re in good hands with White though, which is more than I could say about our past ADs.
 
These are all solid choices. Shaka, Drew and Wright would definitely be on my list. Make one of those say no. I feel like we’re in good hands with White though, which is more than I could say about our past ADs.
Solid? Shaka was a flop at Texas. They gave him six years. I think he’s also battling Leukemia.
oh, and there is no job opening at Tennessee.
 
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Ok, then you included 2 mid major coaches because Jay Wright coached in the Big East. Hard to see how a conference that includes UConn, Marquette, Xavier, Creighton, Providence, Villanova, etc is a mid major though.
Seriously. OP is showing a real blind spot there
 
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I would have 4 targets. I would take the number we are paying Barnes now (average of 5.7 million over deal) and go to the following guys in this order:

1- Jay Wright / likely a no but you have to ask. Get the sense he retired because of NIL ordeals. He’s basically same age Barnes was when he got Tennessee job. If we could land Jay Wright and squeeze out 8 seasons from, that’s a win.

2- Scott Drew / This would be my #1 target. He makes 3.5 million at Baylor. I would go up to 6 million starting out and make him say no and Baylor virtually doubles his pay.

3- Shaka Smart / guy is a winner. Texas was a weird stint, but they didn’t handle his last season well as they were in the tourney with one foot out the door on the separation from Texas. They wound up splitting but Texas made it known they were itching for a change for Beard off his Tech run.

4- Greg McDermott / I threw in one mid major coach. With the final four berth, he has reached his peak at Creighton. If we were to go the cheap route for the sake of not paying a new coach as much as Barnes, I’d go hard after Greg M. He makes around 1.3-1.5 million. Even 2x’d it that still saves us 1.5-2 million dollars vs Barnes’ number.


Flame away but those are the 4 guys I would target. If Barnes up and retired tomorrow, Drew would be my #1 target of current coaches. I would either make him say no or he gets a massive pay raise at Baylor. Literally zero risk to Tennessee either way.

I think any AD of a school paying 5+ million for a coach now would be doing a disservice if they had a vacancy and didn’t call Jay Wright. I think he is done personally but if we had open, it would be AD malpractice to not call him and say “You want the Tennessee job and $5.5-6 million dollars per year, yes or no?”
You should add in coach K and Roy Williams. Make ‘em say no. I also hear Phil Jackson and Pat Riley want to get back into coaching.
 
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Two of those schools are unlike the others you rattled off…

Let’s see, conference loses historical staple schools and keeps some… in order to stay relevant, they have to add new members which they pluck from mid majors….

If you are calling Nova and UConn mid majors, you’re delirious. Those two schools have been perennial teams for the last 2-3 decades in the tourney, if not longer.

Creighton has been a mid major for the same amount of time and gotten an upgrade in conference affiliation in name only

Just because you’re new to a bigger conference doesn’t mean you’re immediately washed of the mid major status… Creighton is nothing more than a mid major level school in college basketball. This isn’t controversial.
If we go by school and not conference, is Ole Miss a mid-major in BB? Vanderbilt and Georgia?
 
Scott Drew is not going to leave a place where he’s been 20 years, won a natty, and has infinite job security to come here. Come on.

Once again, there is no risk to Tennessee by talking to him. He may have used Georgia for a pay raise but Georgia isn’t paying top money for their basketball coach. It’s really simple…. Call Drew, offer him $6m and make him say no. If he says no, Baylor has to drastically fork more money over to him and Tennessee literally loses nothing. If he says yes. Tennessee makes the best hire in program history in terms of a coaching resumè
 
You should add in coach K and Roy Williams. Make ‘em say no. I also hear Phil Jackson and Pat Riley want to get back into coaching.

Yeah because 4 coaches who are actively retired and done with their careers are just as much as likely to go back to coaching as 3 active coaches and 1 coach who has 1 season away from the game.
 
Scott Drew is not going to leave a place where he’s been 20 years, won a natty, and has infinite job security to come here. Come on.

Also, what job opening has been open over the the last 5-10 years where a clear upgrade in some form or fashion has been presented to Drew aka Blue Blood or massive pay day?

He wasn’t taking the UCLA job because of conference issues… Duke and UNC were both going in house. Cal and Self are basically coaching until they say they are done….

Simply put, there has not been one school in the last 5-8 seasons that have come along after Drew where it isn’t a rebuild and said school is basically offering top 5 money…. If you think it’s impossible that Drew wouldn’t listen to a “job pitch”, you would make a horrible agent. He gets paid either way. One route is Baylor forks over cash or we get our guy. Literally zero risk.
 
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