Barnes said he would be at UCLA if buyout was paid

#77
#77
It’s amazing the butthurt over a coach, who at 65 years old, only has 4 years of his life invested in Tennessee basketball. Some of you act like he was born in the locker room of Alumni Gym, learned to walk in Stokely, and he owes his birth rite to Ray Mears.

Just face it, like Jeremy Pruitt, Barnes isn’t a born and bred Tennessee fan. He doesn’t, nor should he, view Tennessee in the same historical esteem as UCLA. No one does. He can love Tennessee, and love being at Tennessee, and yet still be intrigued by better jobs. The same way the Dean of Engineering can be intrigued by an offer to take a job at MIT. It’s a business for these guys. And in the end, we kept him regardless of the reasons why. For the ones that were happy about keeping him, that’s all that really matters.
 
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#78
#78
Let's get this out there... Tennessee has NEVER been to a Final Four and only 1 Elite Eight. UCLA has been to more Sweet 16s since 2000 than we have in our entire program history. In no way are we on the same program level as them.

In Rick's eyes, even with their recent "struggles", UCLA is on the same Tier 1 level (as far as program prestige) as Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas. I don't blame him at all for wanting to go there. Glad he's back. GBO
 
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#80
#80
Rick Barnes is national coach of the year, and made phenomenal strides in a 4 year period with 3-star rated players. Not surprised he got so much attention, and programs pulling out all stops to get him. I may be in the minority here, but I thought he explained himself well. The prestige and interest surrounding Barnes and UCLA began long before now, and when they came calling he felt this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Glad they could not work an agreement out, and also glad Tennessee stepped up to the table. As far as I'm concerned that whole thing is done. He will be solely concerned with making our program better. Can't blame a guy for checking out his dream job, if anything it says something about our University that he wanted to stay in the end. I think if he really wanted to work out an agreement with them, he could have.
 
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#81
#81
pasadenavol said:
Leave the man alone. As a business man, you always weigh your options, and $5 mil a year plus bonuses and endorsements is a huge option! Four years ago we were something like 14-19, this year we were 31-6 with NO top 100 recruits! Geesh! Show me another program that has had that kind of turnaround in 4 years...
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Again, I don't think people have raised eyebrows because he felt that way. I think it's just more because he actually said it. Just an unforced error that doesn't benefit him in any way.

Extreme example but same point - would you walk up to a morbidly obese person and say "Damn you're fat?" And if they took offense, then say "Nothing personal, I tell all fat people I come across that they're fat?"
 
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#82
#82
VolArmy74 said:
I'd rather we gave a coach a massive salary to actually want to be here. What happens if the next school is willing to pay his buyout?
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If he didn't want to be here he would have paid the buyout and left.

You can cut this quote a few different ways. At the end of the day it boils down to him spurning a job that he holds in high regard because they essentially wouldn't pay enough for him to leave.

To your question, does he field the call if USC instead of UCLA calls? Im gonna guess the name of "the next school" is gonna matter.
 
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#83
#83
VN


It all boils down to $ for the coaches the majority of the time. Coaches like Barnes are in it to get paid. Take your orange colored classes off and think about it for a moment.
 
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#85
#85
05_never_again said:
Again, I don't think people have raised eyebrows because he felt that way. I think it's just more because he actually said it. Just an unforced error that doesn't benefit him in any way.

Extreme example but same point - would you walk up to a morbidly obese person and say "Damn you're fat?" And if they took offense, then say "Nothing personal, I tell all fat people that they're fat?"
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The only thing that caught my attention was his willingness to say what a lot of coaches won't.

He doesn't benefit from being honest about it no. If he wins basketball games nobody will or should care.
 
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#86
#86
Pretty poor example of loyalty to a school who saved your career from the scrap heap. The line for Rick Barnes wasnt very long when Tennessee hired him.

Reminded me of a saying one told me long ago, "When it comes to money, everyone is the same religion."
 
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#87
#87
The only question I would have, is if Barnes would have been so inclined to leave Texas for UCLA... say in 2013? All we can do is guess now, but I tend to doubt it.
 
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#90
#90
I’ma bit confused that if a deal couldn’t be reached with UCLA then why did Tennessee feel the need to bump his pay, especially as much as they did? That move seemed to be a counter to UCLA, but really there was no counter needed if that’s is accurate that UCLA wasn’t willing to pay the buyout.

On a side note, wtf is wrong with UCLA? They did the same thing with Jamie Dixon, get all the way to the finish line with him and then say they won’t pay the buyout? Why are they pursuing coaches who’s buyouts they know they won’t pay? Are they expecting a school to say take our coach, you don’t have to pay?
 
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#91
#91
wmcovol said:
Pretty poor example of loyalty to a school who saved your career from the scrap heap. The line for Rick Barnes wasnt very long when Tennessee hired him.

Reminded me of a saying one told me long ago, "When it comes to money, everyone is the same religion."
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He would’ve gotten another job if we hadn’t hired him.
 
#92
#92
BeecherVol said:
The only thing that caught my attention was his willingness to say what a lot of coaches won't.

He doesn't benefit from being honest about it no. If he wins basketball games nobody will or should care.
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Very true, but it is still an unforced error in that he's given people (not just fans, but his boss, current players, current recruits/players, etc.) something to hold over his head if he doesn't win enough. And let's face it, he has a history of letting people down at tournament time. He's given himself less room for error, and less leeway with people, by saying something like that.

So yes, it's an honest statement, but it isn't something that had or needed to be said, and if anything it shoots himself in the foot.
 
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#94
#94
cncchris33 said:
It’s amazing the butthurt over a coach, who at 65 years old, only has 4 years of his life invested in Tennessee basketball. Some of you act like he was born in the locker room of Alumni Gym, learned to walk in Stokely, and he owes his birth rite to Ray Mears.

Just face it, like Jeremy Pruitt, Barnes isn’t a born and bred Tennessee fan. He doesn’t, nor should he, view Tennessee in the same historical esteem as UCLA. No one does. He can love Tennessee, and love being at Tennessee, and yet still be intrigued by better jobs. The same way the Dean of Engineering can be intrigued by an offer to take a job at MIT. It’s a business for these guys. And in the end, we kept him regardless of the reasons why. For the ones that were happy about keeping him, that’s all that really matters.
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Its the fact he said it publicly.
 
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#95
#95
SGMVols said:
He would’ve gotten another job if we hadn’t hired him.
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Probably, but I doubt it would have been at a school with a 21K seat arena in a Power 5 league. Very few fired coaches get basically a lateral move.
 
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#96
#96
I'm sorry, but I don't think a press conference with media members throwing questions out and asking for explanations is the same as confronting a fat person on the street. This is a more public situation and not one he can hide from. At least he's put it all out there, and now we can move on hopefully.
 
#97
#97
What I wonder is how, or even if, this'll impact recruiting. I mean, if you're a high 3* or a 4* looking to be somewhere for more than 1 year what's your thought process here? He just straight up admitted that he'd be out of here like he was shot from a cannon if UCLA had handled the buyout. Will recruits take that into account? What if you commit and then next year some school comes calling with their wallet open? As a recruit do you take that chance?
 
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#100
#100
regardless of his slip-up, i do commend him for showing up to the press conference since he's usually no where to be found in the offseason
 
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