Hyams: Butch will coach against Kentucky

[VolRoger]

The Kentucky game has always been the logical end game for this regime. The UGA and Bama losses were/are inevitable, the only thing in question is the degree of humiliation which we suffer. Allowing Butch to coach and lose to two lower-tier programs like SC and UK will make it abundantly clear to all of the holdouts (and as hard to believe there are some still) that the program is in a downward spiral. I don't believe for a minute that Currie still hasn't made up his mind to move in another direction, I think he is getting all the political pieces in place behind the scenes and giving Butch enough rope to hang himself with.

I also think that Currie would like to follow the Texas model of coaching change, wherein Charlie Strong was fired and Tom Herman was hired in the space of about 7 hours.

We shall see. I still think UK is a winnable game if the players believe in the coaching staff guiding them. They don't believe in Butch Jones imo. :mf_surrender:

 

[jasonvol18]

What hit? There's no financial hit to UT. I don't care if the buyout is $20M. If the real caretakers of the program are concerned for its future, they'll reach in their coat pocket and write the check even as a lump sum settlement. We are talking billionaires, one of which paid about $2B if I remember correctly to buy the freakin Browns in the NFL.

Wrong..there's absolutely a hit. From ticket sales, fans not coming to the game and spending money, loss of merchandise sales. Not to mention the PR and bad press. What recruit would come play for Butch knowing his days were numbered. There would be substantial hits.

 

[volmoon]

This administration and the powers that be don't care about winning big, they care about winning enough to keep fans interested and donations rolling in.

Think back to DiPietro dancing like an idiot when they made a bowl game a few years ago.

Successful football programs don’t just fill seats in the stadium. It’s proven to fill seats in classrooms. (i.e. Bama’s enrollment up 15,000+ since Saban.)

 

[Vol4ever]

I'm starting to really dislike Hyams

he is just reporting what he has heard. I know we want Jones gone but it probably will be the end of the season.

 

[jasonvol18]

Good lord, the whining and hand wringing on this forum is ridiculous.
Nothing is going to happen until either Butch loses 7, making them bowl ineligible, or the end of season.

Vandy lost 66-3. It's going to be ugly, so don't come on here after the game demanding Butch be fired immediately. You're wasting your breath.

Firing Butch is not going to save the recruiting class. I'd say half to 2/3 of this class would end up waiting until the late signing period if Butch got fired at season's end. if you fire Butch now, the recruits are all wide open and UT is not going to be able to get a coach in place. No school is going to grant an interview in the middle of the season. And, chip Kelly is NOT coming here. Currie is not going to touch anyone with NCAA baggage and he received a show cause. They don't flippantly deal those out. Currie will go after a sitting coach and he wouldn't be able to formally start the process until December.

Any other feelers, agent discussions, Etc., can happen while Butch is still here, and likely has.

So, STFU, relax. Hyams is correct. If UT loses to UK they'll have 6 losses, and still be bowl eligible if they win out. A seventh loss changes the entire buy out structure.

Wrong. A UK loss would be loss #5 for starters. They are not waiting till a 7th loss to let him go. Hell last year several 5-7 teams still went to a bowl. No saving Butch won't save it but keeping him would do way worse damage. And that's why agents get involved they talk to their clients when schools can't and work out things through back channels. And who says the next HC is currently coaching? And no a 7th loss doesn't change the buyout structure when the buyout has already been renegotiated and signed.

 

[TN_Transplant]

For the love of Christ himself, please Lord, let Hyams be wrong.

 

[Dudleys87]

Didn't our new president go on record saying football wasn't important?

 

[ru4real-really?]

what I have been saying:

when it happens it happens, but Butch does not win another game as Vol coach!!!

 

[Bluetic]

Responding to being asked about Albert Haynesworth’s tweet.

“I think that John Currie has not made a decision yet, so I think it’s premature.”

“If I’m told correctly then Butch Jones coaches against Kentucky, and if he beats Kentucky, he is going to coach another week. And he may coach the rest of he year if that occurs. I don’t believe the Haslems and John Currie and whoever else is in the decision-making process has made a decision right now.”

Hyams

5 years in, we just suffered our worst defeat at OUR PLACE in history, we are squarely in the bottom tier of the SEC and even the eastern division, our coach is the but of jokes around the conference where fan bases hope we do nothing and keep him and we are clearly moving in the wrong direction. Does Curry and the gang need more? WTF? :blink:

 

[mitzustu]

I thought I saw that the buyout is reduced without bowl eligibility. If so it’s logical to let him play it out.

 

[Glockmeister]

He's a UTAD puppet!

 

[UTnJAX]

i live in Jacksonville Fl, and there is a local sports radio station. The afternoon show is host by a guy named Frank Frangie and he has Hyams on every Thursday. I want to rip my radio out every time i hear him, he NEVER has anything good to say about UT. It doesnt matter if we are winning and playing well or a complete dumpster like this year. It is always the same negative BS he spews. I have a hard time believing this guy as a source to anything and find it difficult to think anyone in the know would give him info. Frangie a UF grad does more complimenting and defending us to him. It is sad really.

 

[Bloodrunsorange27]

Holding off until a likely embarrassing loss to Bama and then firing Butch makes perfect sense.
That loss and everything leading up to it are all on Butch.
Name Hoke as the interim, focus 100% on coach search and trying to finish out the last 5 games in decent fashion (all 5 are winnable - likely lose 1 or 2)
Name new head coach after the VU game and it's on.

Not doing that after the Bama loss is concerning.
- They could actually win some or several of the last 5 games so the timing is bad
- Continued losses will equal losing more recruits, fan base suffering, entire media ridiculing the Vols.
- It would essentially be letting the program come completely off the rails before fixing it

Still hoping he is gone within 24 hours of his last sideline warning against Bama

 

[VolRoger]

Wrong..there's absolutely a hit. From ticket sales, fans not coming to the game and spending money, loss of merchandise sales. Not to mention the PR and bad press. What recruit would come play for Butch knowing his days were numbered. There would be substantial hits.

There seems to be lots of miscommunication here. I'm not advocating keeping butch either for next year or even for the KY game. I won't him fired Sunday. My point is the boosters have the money to pay whatever the buyout is right now.

 

[jimed1]

So Currie is ok with the current class falling apart and fans not showing up? And what about all of the cupcakes made at Food Lion saying to fire Jones? Its serious when cupcakes come into the picture.

The recruiting class is a distant 2nd in importance compared to getting the right coach. Besides that what has firing Butch got to do with fans not showing up. I don't think the interim coach is going to magically make the team win out. The fans aren't coming because Butch is coach , they aren't coming because they are not winning.

 

[jasonvol18]

I thought I saw that the buyout is reduced without bowl eligibility. If so it’s logical to let him play it out.

If the buyout has been renegotiated as it's been reported by very reliable people then that won't matter. But still last year there were several 5-7 teams that got into bowl games. Either way I believe the buyout was renegotiated and agreed upon so it doesn't matter if he wins or loses. Plus from the sound of it Butch cannot handle the stress of this job anymore and he and his wife are ready to move on.

 

[jakez4ut]

i said all off season that i didn't believe an AD with less than 10 months on the job wanted to fire the football coach. and that they would be looking for any reason to keep him. so barring an epic meltdown, and leaving them no choice but to fire him, he'd likely be here thru 2018. if what he's reporting is true, then it is what it is....

 

[jimed1]

Great give Butch another chance to embarrass Tennessee

That is likely going to happen no matter the coach that finishes out the year. Until QB play gets better and the O line blocks better I wouldn't expect any huge turnaround in the team. Play calling on the other hand could make a difference.

 

[wildorange]

HYams??? LOL! GBO!

 

[Bluetic]

Holding off until a likely embarrassing loss to Bama and then firing Butch makes perfect sense.
That loss and everything leading up to it are all on Butch.
Name Hoke as the interim, focus 100% on coach search and trying to finish out the last 5 games in decent fashion (all 5 are winnable - likely lose 1 or 2)
Name new head coach after the VU game and it's on.

Not doing that after the Bama loss is concerning.
- They could actually win some or several of the last 5 games so the timing is bad
- Continued losses will equal losing more recruits, fan base suffering, entire media ridiculing the Vols.
- It would essentially be letting the program come completely off the rails before fixing it

Still hoping he is gone within 24 hours of his last sideline warning against Bama

Makes a lot of sense, but I think we are still believing it isn't as bad as it is. I don't think, if you look at UT strictly from a statistical perspective, we will beet the teams down the road. Shot at S.Miss, but Mizzou and Vandy are toss ups imo. I think UK is up hill...5 or 6 wins tops. They need to get this guy out of here at the end of LAST season, not this one.

 

[VolRoger]

There seems to be lots of miscommunication here. I'm not advocating keeping butch either for next year or even for the KY game. I won't him fired Sunday. My point is the boosters have the money to pay whatever the buyout is right now.

Just as an addition to the statement I made above, if UT is under a new regime before the KY game and the Vols showed life against the Mildcats (win or lose), I would make a point of attending homecoming and cheering the Vols on under an interim coach. I think there are lots of fans that feel like me.

 

[tbones0711]

This sucks

The AD, President, and boosters don't give a damn about football

Until they start seeing empty seats at Neyland and season tickets sales plummet. Football alone supports most of the athletic construction we see going on as well as a lot more. Ultimately the fans control how well UT does financially and this schools administration best not forget it. Once that money is lost, it can't be regained. They have to give a damn about football, like it or not.

 

[LittleCat]

I swear if we go 0-5 against Butch imma lose it comepletely.

 

[superdave1984]

The Kentucky game has always been the logical end game for this regime. The UGA and Bama losses were/are inevitable, the only thing in question is the degree of humiliation which we suffer. Allowing Butch to coach and lose to two lower-tier programs like SC and UK will make it abundantly clear to all of the holdouts (and as hard to believe there are some still) that the program is in a downward spiral. I don't believe for a minute that Currie still hasn't made up his mind to move in another direction, I think he is getting all the political pieces in place behind the scenes and giving Butch enough rope to hang himself with.

I also think that Currie would like to follow the Texas model of coaching change, wherein Charlie Strong was fired and Tom Herman was hired in the space of about 7 hours.

Possibly the most logical post on this entire board regarding this situation. You should know by now that isn't allowed.

I think everyone agrees that bama will be a loss. Makes no sense to fire him then since it's an expectation really to lose to bama at this point. However, follow that with a loss to KY and that gives you 5 straight SEC losses.

I see one game on the schedule that is a solid chance of a win, and that's Mizzou. I wouldn't bet the Vols to win any of the others looking at this team now.

I understand the buyout language would indicate the financial reasons to keep Butch until we are no longer bowl eligible, but to allow him to do another 3 weeks worth of damage would be unacceptable to pretty much everyone involved.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Successful football programs don’t just fill seats in the stadium. It’s proven to fill seats in classrooms. (i.e. Bama’s enrollment up 15,000+ since Saban.)

I don't necessarily think Saban's success at Bama would translate the same as here in terms of enrollment.

Options for a major university are fewer in TN than Alabama.

Alabama has been siphoning off students from Auburn which is fairly comparable in size.

The closest thing UTK has in terms of size is Memphis which is nearly 6 hours away. The closer option is going out of state which would cost a lot more for out of state tuition.

Point being I don't think a successful football program at TN would necessarily guarantee a huge boost in overall enrollment like Bama has seen. UTK has more of a monopoly on this end of the state of TN in terms of higher education.