$10,800,000.00 surplus for last year

#26
#26
BigOrangeMojo said:
Of course, that doesn't explain how two " historically lesser programs" (UCLA and A&M) got coaches that have either won or played in the Championship this offseason.
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Benefactors of circumstances.

Chip Kelly didn’t really want to be in the SEC and deal with all the elbow rubbing expected of a an SEC HC. He likes the West Coast and is familiar with the PAC.

Jimbo left FLST because things with their AD went sour otherwise he would still be there. Good timing for TAM to swoop in. Kudos to them for obviously being prepared to make that move as soon as Sumlinn was fired.
 
#27
#27
BigOrangeMojo said:
Of course, that doesn't explain how two " historically lesser programs" (UCLA and A&M) got coaches that have either won or played in the Championship this offseason.
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Kelly was never going to coach in the SEC.

And, Jimbo fleeced A&M big time. That contract will come back to bite them. I think Jimbo is a good coach, but there is no way he's worth what A&M invested in him. With the resources, tradition, brand, and recruiting base at FSU, he should have had a Saban-like dynasty.
 
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#28
#28
Elhanan said:
I see why schools can’t afford to pay players now. We’re barley scraping by.

/s
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There are only about 25 schools in the country who operate an AD in the black. The others are in the red and supplemented by the general funds of the school. How are those schools supposed to pay players?
 
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#29
#29
We’ve had some VERY POOR leadership in the last 12-15 years in our AD...and on campus...to say the least. I believe that turned when Fulmer was named AD.
 
#30
#30
BigOrangeMojo said:
Of course, that doesn't explain how two " historically lesser programs" (UCLA and A&M) got coaches that have either won or played in the Championship this offseason.
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It's interesting that they are viewed as better options than Pruitt. I think we'll have to wait and see what they do in their new jobs. It's true that they have had success at other programs. I personally don't think Chip Kelly wanted to coach in the SEC and I don't think he would have been successful here. Jimbo did win a NC at FSU. He also went 5-6 last season.

As with all things, time will tell.
 
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#31
#31
Hacksaw said:
There is a false premise that a lot of our fans like to believe, that there are homerun coaching hires out there just waiting to be plucked and we just aren't interested in doing what is necessary to attract them.

The facts are that there are only a few coaches that could be looked at as sure bets to turn us into a contender -- and even among those few (maybe a half-dozen or so at most), they don't come with a money-back guarantee of winning championships. And these are guys that would be at the top of the list of any school looking for a new coach. But they are comfortable where they are. Nothing we, or any other program, can offer them is likely to dislodge them.

It's not because anyone in Knoxville is lacking the will to win or has some secret scheme to sell us mediocrity. That's just an over-simplistic way of looking at things, IMO.
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This should be required reading before posting in any coaching thread. :good!:
 
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#32
#32
Typical reactions. After finally properly planning to operate in the black, every fool in Tennessee want them to spend willy nilly to deplete it again. There are reasons you incompetent people will never be in charge. What scares me is it seems those who actually are in charge might be just as eager to make bad decisions again.
 
#33
#33
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#34
#34
So the fan base and admin should learn how to make our coaches more comfortable like the comfortable coaches at other schools? Hmmm wonder how that is accomplished !
 
#35
#35
Hacksaw said:
There is a false premise that a lot of our fans like to believe, that there are homerun coaching hires out there just waiting to be plucked and we just aren't interested in doing what is necessary to attract them.

The facts are that there are only a few coaches that could be looked at as sure bets to turn us into a contender -- and even among those few (maybe a half-dozen or so at most), they don't come with a money-back guarantee of winning championships. And these are guys that would be at the top of the list of any school looking for a new coach. But they are comfortable where they are. Nothing we, or any other program, can offer them is likely to dislodge them.

It's not because anyone in Knoxville is lacking the will to win or has some secret scheme to sell us mediocrity. That's just an over-simplistic way of looking at things, IMO.
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Until we stay with a coach long enough that he gets hired away because he is good, we won't get the homerun hire to come in. As long as we are running coaches off that we "don't like" or after 1 or 2 bad seasons (outside perception) we will have that stigma.
 
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#36
#36
Idiotic admin for 10+ years is the reason hardly any big time coaches were interested in UT. I'm confident those days are over with Fulmer in charge and fully believe Pruitt is the coach to get us back to winning championships.
 
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#37
#37
Titan&Volfan4life said:
It's not about the school making $$$ or not for the coaches.

It's about the perception that coming to UT as head footVol coach is a career ender as a HC.

Fulmer spoiled us, as has some other good coaches, so we OVERexpect most years.

Reality is that we've always averaged a little over 9 Wins per season but we're Loyal and rabid fans so we got to where we expected 10 or 11 WINS every season and less than that wasn't nearly good enough.

Even Fulmer wasn't good enough but if we'd kept him a few more years he WOULD have broken the record of General Neyland and then we'd look dumb if we didn't have a statue of Fulmer in front of Neyland stadium.

Another perception to coaches, even a Hall of Fame coach that WON a National Championship was badly mistreated and fired midseason so the odds of them having a long term career at UT wasn't good at all.

Deck is already stacked against a new coach by starting the season with 1 LOSS before a game is played because we play alaBubba every year and we fans do NOT want that rivalry to end since it's 1 of the best, most hallowed Traditional games ever.

A good coach nearing the end of his career might be willing to come to UT but we do NOT want a older, proven coach, we want a younger coach that can WIN consistently and stay on the hill for 20 years or longer.

It's great that UT is making some $$$ finally but that doesn't mean anything at all to a football coach with many years ahead in his career.

1 bad season and the fans beat him to death and want him beheaded.

VFL...GBO!!!
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WAY over the Top There Buddy! Way Over.
 
#39
#39
IMO the AD is a tricky situation financially. It absolutely should make money or a profit similar to a business. Yet by the same token it should be similar to a charity in that the funds should all be distributed i.e the good work doesn't occur if the money is kept in the bank somewhere it has to be put to use. If the Haslams, and there is some evidence in the public domain in support, held the purse strings of the UTAD and ran it as a business, then yes they succeeded in making money. Yet they failed in the primary mission of having a championship caliber football program. Money should not have been an issue but we saw the institution put forward the concept of mediocre football for UT and that did not fly thank goodness.

Poster Hacksaw however made a great point earlier in this thread in that you can count on less fingers that appear on one hand "homerun" type college football coaches. Kelly is not one of them by the way, he had all the money Nike had to produce a NC for Oregon and could not get it done there. I fail to see him doing it anywhere in the foreseeable future. Bama has one. OSU has one. Swinney MAY be, he has to do it more than one to convince me. Fisher now at TA&M MAY be, same issue as Swinney at Clemson. Harbaugh? No way, he can't figure out how to beat one residing at OSU. But those are about it on the landscape for now and none appear ready to go elsewhere.
 
#40
#40
OrangeSoddyDaisy said:
... and that was our worst year ever!

I think Pruitt is the man but I'm stunned at the lack of interest in our program from nationally recognized coaches.
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Sounds like a lot of doe and I believe that includes payment for past upgrades to Neyland Stadium.

Most of the assistant coaches from cBJ have landed jobs elsewhere which will reduce our payout there. We still have CBJ, Beard and Wells on at full price.

We also have future Neyland Stadium upgrades at the tune of $400 million...ouch! I'm hoping donors will help out on this one.

Also, the football program typically supports the other UT Sports programs which usually don't make money.
 
#41
#41
Titan&Volfan4life said:
It's not about the school making $$$ or not for the coaches.

It's about the perception that coming to UT as head footVol coach is a career ender as a HC.
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This is the real issue. Coaches that are past their prime (... e.g. can see retirement in the near future ...) are not going to worry if this is their last job. Coaches that are young and in their prime who want to coach 20+ years know full well that if they run into a series of bad luck that leads to their firing understand quite well that this could be their last HC job ever.

This fan base has absolutely NO patience. With the first expectation not met - it is not only fire the coach but make the coach look stupid ... make up rumors about the character of the coach. Even after coach has left the stupidity continues.

If Pruitt is somewhat successful here - he will leave before the down trend starts otherwise he will end up like the coaches that preceded him - a good coach that took a chance on Tennessee only to watch this all destroy his integrity and career.
 
#42
#42
Elhanan said:
I see why schools can’t afford to pay players now. We’re barley scraping by.

/s
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I would argue that they are getting paid quite well already.

1. Cost of a 4 year education at UTK > $200k. With books and other items this probably is closer to 300K.

2. Free exposure at a minimum of 12 Saturday's each fall. NFL scouts and others are watching.

3. Free training using the schools weight room, et al with free trainers.

4. Free interviews with sports writers and announcers with free exposure on networks like CBS, ABC, NBC, ESPN, etc.

5. Jerseys, equipment and other gear FREE.

6. Free travel to many different locations and places possibly trips to bowl games and such.

So pay them but make them:

1. Pay their own tution.
2. Buy their own books.
3. Buy their own food.
4. Pay to use the training facilities.
5. Pay their own transportation to games and such.
6. Pay for their own gear.
7. Line up their own interviews and pay to learn how to be presentable at such interviews.

Stop acting like these players get NOTHING for their time at UT.
 
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#43
#43
Doyle Hargraves said:
This is just my opinion and I have no real facts to back it up but...

I think that just proves that the ones that run the show (big time donors) aren't really concerned with competing for championships on a serious level. As long as mediocrity is profitable, they are content with the status quo. They aren't interested in investing in the short term in order to bring even bigger profits in the long run that championships would bring. It's really a good system they have in place. Hire an unproven head coach on the cheap and if he wins? Great. If he fails, fire and hire another one. The fan base gets excited with the new guy. Rinse and repeat.

Proven coaches realize there is a fan expectation to win here without a real commitment from the money people. Imo, that's why there's no real interest from elite coaches to come here.
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I agree and the further along in years that we move away from the 60's to 90's the worst it becomes. Hamilton did a lot to contribute to this over his yrs as AD by allowing big donors to make the rules and hiring decisions sorta speak.

Fulmer hiring Pruitt was an "Outside the Box" selection that was probably not totally agreed upon by all board members, but they had no choice but to do so in light of the circumstances. I would like to think that Fulmer knows what he is doing and Pruitt appears to be the right person to restore those type teams of old. Defense with above Average Offense.

Fulmer's next challenge will be CHW and what to do.
She is burning rope at both ends, I did not expect to see her win an NC this year, but I did not expect to see this team fall back into the same issues from years past.

Time will tell.
 
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#46
#46
Haslam is (hopefully WAS) the main problem. He cares as much about winning as does the Browns 🤪. Speculation that governor haslam may be the next UT prez. Keep them away imo
 
#47
#47
Elhanan said:
I see why schools can’t afford to pay players now. We’re barley scraping by.

/s
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Players are paid. Look up all the costs that they don't pay to attend school - starting with tuition, lodging, meals ... Athletes also get stipends - NCAA termed "cost of attendance", and it's pretty generous. If you are thinking more, then let the NFL step up with a farm league, and let everyone else go back to being real student-athletes.

At $5,666 for 2015-16 UT had the most generous COA in the SEC.
 
#48
#48
BigOrangeMojo said:
Of course, that doesn't explain how two " historically lesser programs" (UCLA and A&M) got coaches that have either won or played in the Championship this offseason.
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UT got the better deal at any price. Of the three, I have more confidence in Pruitt for an SEC HC position.
 
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