Is Barnes the best coach EVER at UT?

[Jravol78]

Many of you are too young but Ray Meats made Tennessee competitive with Kentucky. He really raised the bar for Bog Orange basketball.

.

They helped keep the recruiting pipeline to the Pacific Northwest flowing into Big Orange Country . Too bad the NCAA busted them supplying Bruce all the burgers and dogs for that infamous cookout and the UTAD had to severe ties 😁

 

[DULL_BOY]

I would agree but add Fulmer is not a quarter of the coach that Barnes is. Makes me sad knowing we had a chance at him before Texas but AD went cheap.

Barnes is now getting the Kentucky level kids here...he is a better pure player development HC too. He has us on a path to push UK to the side. He is 7-6 vs Calipari....with way less talent during that 13 game span.

 

[djohnnyg]

Barnes is a good coach but he doesn't have the ncaa tournament success to be considered "great" imo. Certainly not all time great. No coach gets that distinction without winning titles. Kyle Alexander being out vs Loyola hurt...but you can't overcome one guy being out to beat some upstart Horizon League team? That doesn't smack of "greatness" to me. Granted...it's tough in the tourney cuz all it takes is one lapse and you're done. We could be 35-0 and have an off night in the tourney and season over....but Barnes hasn't even got us to the elite 8 yet. I'm glad we have him as head coach don't get me wrong. He's got us in contention...and at least to the point of being one of the premier college bball programs in the country. He's a very good look for UT...no.doubt.

 

[vegasvolfan]

It wasn't "most accomplished" coach. It was "best". Lots of posters believe those terms are synonymous. They're not

I considered that when answering. The outlandish differentiation in results speaks to both in my opinion. I think Barnes is an incredible coach. He just has not done enough to be considered a legend in my opinion.

 

[BreatheUT]

I have a friend that has a 13 year old son, that played for Maze's AAU team and probably still does, although I haven't talked to him since last Spring. I wouldn't call BMaze a thug, from what I hear, just a business man

Maze was also never suspended from the basketball team or faced disciplinary action. So I wasn't talking about him.

 

[Vols8086]

It wasn't "most accomplished" coach. It was "best". Lots of posters believe those terms are synonymous. They're not

When you are trying to determine "the best" to ever do something then accomplishments undoubtedly come into play. That's how you start to separate. If we aren't measuring accomplishments then what exactly are we looking at to determine this?

The women's game is different from the men's game for sure, but you can't write a book on women's college bball without her name all over it. You could write a book on men's college bball without Rick Barnes. For the record I love Rick Barnes, but putting him on the top of the Hill all time at UT is crazy.

 

[Volfan1000]

Summitt
Fulmer
Mears
Barnes
Majors

 

[hUTch2002]

This thread is fixing to be swarmed with the Pearl lovers.

He’s better than Pearl but I like Pearl and I don’t think it’s a big difference. Different styles.

 

[Nute Gunray]

Summitt
Fulmer
Mears
Barnes
Majors

Neyland?

 

[orangefloyd]

So much for that.

 

[08Vol]

Barnes is a good coach but he doesn't have the ncaa tournament success to be considered "great" imo. Certainly not all time great. No coach gets that distinction without winning titles. Kyle Alexander being out vs Loyola hurt...but you can't overcome one guy being out to beat some upstart Horizon League team? That doesn't smack of "greatness" to me. Granted...it's tough in the tourney cuz all it takes is one lapse and you're done. We could be 35-0 and have an off night in the tourney and season over....but Barnes hasn't even got us to the elite 8 yet. I'm glad we have him as head coach don't get me wrong. He's got us in contention...and at least to the point of being one of the premier college bball programs in the country. He's a very good look for UT...no.doubt.

This all day. Barnes had an easy path to the Elite Eight and then got out played by freaking Loyola. This after getting blown out by Auburn when he had a shot at winning our first SEC tournament. Pearl at least made it to the Elite Eight.

 

[patrick]

Any sport?

Look at how he has rebuilt men's basketball. Started by bringing in "diamond in the rough" 2 and 3 star players who were eager to learn and improve. He took some heat from the fan base his first 2 years. Some ignorantly saying he didn't care as much now and was coasting into retirement.

By 2019 that base of players had UT at no. 1 in the rankings for a period of time longer than anyone in recent seasons. Indicative of a head coach AND his staff having top shelf coaching and player development skills. Especially true of our team identity: DEFENSE

2021: those "diamond in the rough" types, unfortunately, only get mop-up time

This might be our most basketball skilled roster ever. Mid 70s rosters had those too. We have more now plus Barnes. I loved Mears. Great coach
Fun teams with a flair! Barnes is in another level of great.

Maybe Summitt. Maybe Broussard. Not Dickey, Majors or Fulmer

NO!

Hall of Fame Coach - yes - but not best coach ever at Tennessee.

 

[LakeMaryFLVol]

Over the past few days this did not age well

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Over the past few days this did not age well

Minus Pons and Springer there was little CRB could have done. He didn’t take any of the 3 pointers that were going in at a 19% clip.

 

[orangefloyd]

OP is a jinx and should be banned.

 

[wmcovol]

Please, help me Lord.

 

[KarnsTownVol]

Summitt
Fulmer
Mears
Barnes
Majors

Majors won the 86 sugar bowl. Until Barnes gets to a final 4 or to the elite 8 at least twice Majors gets the nod from me.

 

[Chad F]

I like Barnes but he STILL has a lot to prove. He hasn’t won an SEC tournament yet, despite having the team to do it a couple of years ago with Schofield and Williams on the roster.

. . . and then we got bounced waaay too early in March Madness by that Little Sisters of the Poor University (I got really sick of hearing about them afterward . . . as usual, we help make someone else’s Cinderella story come true . . . just like we do with the opposing teams’ back-up QBs in football).

. . . And I know this is old news, but it still bothers me a bit that he was so ready to bolt to the UCLA job and the only thing that kept him from leaving was UCLA’s inability to get the price right. Glad he stayed but that was far too Kiffin-like for my taste.

So, no. Barnes isn’t even close. Pat Summitt is easily the best in any sport. After that, you gotta go with Neyland. It’s still arguable if Barnes is better than Pearl (although I think he is). I’m hoping that Rick Barnes becomes one of the best ever in Knoxville. The results this season could contribute to that if things go his way.

 

[DonjoVol]

This thread is fixing to be swarmed with the Pearl lovers.

Jerry Green was just as good as Pearl.

 

[hUTch2002]

Jerry Green was just as good as Pearl.

Jerry Green wasn’t a bad coach at all. He was there during my years on campus and we had some great times. I really wish Pearl had been coach while I was there though. Pearl is the guy you want while you’re a student. Barnes is the guy you want when you get out of school and no longer desire to paint your chest and body surf.

 

[ColinS]

This is just one of the many press reading delusional fan posts that we have seen the the last couple of months. Games like these are the balloon poppers that bring those fans back down to the ground.

 

[DonjoVol]

Jerry Green wasn’t a bad coach at all. He was there during my years on campus and we had some great times. I really wish Pearl had been coach while I was there though. Pearl is the guy you want while you’re a student. Barnes is the guy you want when you get out of school and no longer desire to paint your chest and body surf.

Green had 4 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Was gone after that 4th year and we ended up with the Buzz Peterson days.

Green stated in an interview after the way Tennessee treated him that he never wanted to be a head coach again. Can't blame him.

 

[hUTch2002]

Green had 4 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Was gone after that 4th year and we ended up with the Buzz Peterson days.

Green stated in an interview after the way Tennessee treated him that he never wanted to be a head coach again. Can't blame him.

Now Buzz ball sucked. It wasn’t just that he turned good talent into mediocre teams but they were horrible to watch.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

This is just one of the many press reading delusional fan posts that we have seen the the last couple of months. Games like these are the balloon poppers that bring those fans back down to the ground.

Very rarely read newspapers
Have been following UT basketball since late 60s. Only an ill informed, reactionary would bring up yesterday's game as some sort of defining moment on Barnes. The thread topic was a question

 

[SWS22]

Coach Barnes has done a nice job as the coach here. However, he has no banners hanging from the rafters at TBA. Meaning, nothing is hanging up there from the SEC. And there’s nothing from the NCAA hanging up there.