Jay Bilas: Fire Pearl

#1
Baldfan

Baldfan

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#1
This is from Jay Bilas' Blog today:
If it was up to me, Pearl would be gone
December, 17, 2010Dec 171:16PM ETEmail Print Comments
The NCAA's due process rules are important rules. I know SEC commissioner Mike Slive had every right to hit Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl with an eight-game suspension because of his violations and the coordinated lying to the NCAA over them. The SEC presidents gave Slive that power to stem some of the league's cheating issues.

But just because Slive had the right to suspend Pearl does not make it the right thing to do. Pearl violated NCAA rules, lied about it and has since admitted it. But by those same rules, Pearl is entitled to a Notice of Allegations, 90 days to respond, and a hearing. Instead, the SEC hit him with a suspension before a Notice of Allegations was even handed down, short-circuiting and encroaching upon the NCAA process and diminishing the authority of the NCAA.

(From here you have to have ESPN Insider rights. If anyone can pull up the rest of the story and post it, I would appreciate it.)

Jay Bilas is now off of my Christmas card list.
 
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#4
#4
We can all agree or disagree, but if I were in charge at Tennessee, I would have dismissed Bruce Pearl. Just on established facts, there is no reasonable justification for his actions and those of his staff. Every coach understands that if he lies to the NCAA in the course of an investigation, he is likely to be fired. And if a player lies to the NCAA, his career is often over. How can we possibly expect it to be different for a coach than a player?
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#5
#5
Freak said:
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via Bilas blog

On the practical side, Pearl is likely to get slammed by the NCAA at the end of this process. The NCAA has a new president and I have little doubt the Committee on Infractions will not wish to be seen as weak in the eyes of its new president and the public.

Once you carefully read the letter in which Tennessee terminated the contract of Pearl, it is clear that he has been fired already, but UT is taking a "wait and see" approach with the NCAA process. In essence, Tennessee is trying to have it both ways. In my judgment, that is weak leadership.

I have serious concerns about some of the NCAA's rules and the fairness of the process, but not in this case. I believe the NCAA is likely to hit Tennessee harder with Pearl still in place, and if I were in charge in Knoxville, I would not put short-term wins over the long-term best interests of my athletic program.

I take no pleasure in saying this, but I would have fired Pearl and hired another coach. There are a lot of good coaches out there -- Pearl was not the only one. And he will survive this and get another job.

What a sad, sorry mess over a little secondary violation.

Outstanding coach: Pearl has a lot of controversy swirling around him, and rightfully so. But there is no denying the guy is one of the elite X-and-O coaches on the college scene. He is a master at preparing a team for a particular opponent and is an expert at the use of angles and adjustments in his offensive sets. Few are better in out-of-bounds situations, both offensively and defensively. Pearl will pre-set and pre-switch and Tennessee is among the best teams in the country at executing and defending out-of-bounds under plays. There are few that I have seen who are better in preparing a team and breaking down the game. He is truly a great coach.

Defensive whiz: One guy who is among the nation's elite on-ball defenders is Tennessee point guard Melvin Goins. I have really been impressed by his defense against some outstanding guards. Goins is strong, athletic and tenacious, and has given Corey Fisher, Ashton Gibbs and others fits. He will get right under your chin and force you into a mistake or to take the ball where you don't want to take it. In Tennessee's outstanding half-court defense, Goins is the key.

Oakland upset: Before the Pittsburgh game, the UT coaching staff was more concerned with Oakland. It wasn't that they thought that Pitt couldn't beat the Vols. Far from it. Win or lose, they understood the players would bring it against the highly ranked Panthers in the Steel City. Against Oakland, the Vols were primed for a letdown. This is finals week, and even though Tennessee was done with exams, the team was out of its routine. Every year there are upsets around this time, with everything going on and disruptions in routines. And every year we seem just as surprised as the players. But make no mistake: Oakland has lost five games already this season. This win by the Golden Grizzlies was an upset.
 
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#6
#6
I like Pearl, he genuinely seems like a good person, and I also like Pearl coaching Vols. That said I would understand if he was fired over this fiasco. This is really going to hurt us recruiting as is, and no telling how it is going to hurt us once they drop the bomb on ol Bruce. If they do decide to fire him is there any chance we could hire an elite name to replace him, or is that a pipe dream?
 
#8
#8
Re: freak's post. I think what you lie about and why has something to do with it. A player who lies about getting paid, gone. A coach who lies about paying, gone.

A coach who panics in the face of an investigation and who would be better off admitting what might be a secondary violation or is nonetheless a minor offense but doesn't ...

I think this is one of those things where both sides can make a reasonable argument.
 
#10
#10
Jay Bilas is a tool and is doing everything in his power to make sure that the NCAA looks weakened if they accept the UT and SEC imposed sanctions. Maybe he should take his own advice and let the NCAA handle it how they will instead of trying to put media pressure on them to fire Pearl.
 
#11
#11
VoL BaLL 777 said:
I like Pearl, he genuinely seems like a good person, and I also like Pearl coaching Vols. That said I would understand if he was fired over this fiasco. This is really going to hurt us recruiting as is, and no telling how it is going to hurt us once they drop the bomb on ol Bruce. If they do decide to fire him is there any chance we could hire an elite name to replace him, or is that a pipe dream?
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Pipe dream. History says we go the bargain basement route again. We really dont give a crap about basketball.
 
#17
#17
gainesvol82 said:
Jay Bilas is a tool and is doing everything in his power to make sure that the NCAA looks weakened if they accept the UT and SEC imposed sanctions. Maybe he should take his own advice and let the NCAA handle it how they will instead of trying to put media pressure on them to fire Pearl.
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you're right nothing will give Bilas more joy than seeing UT burn to the ground.
 
#18
#18
When Bilas slammed Slive over the suspension everyone praised him. Now that he slams Pearl for being a liar everyone hates him.
 
#22
#22
The NCAA is not only going to look to slam Pearl, they're going to do their best to teach Slive a lesson too. I think the punishment is going to be far too severe for Pearl to be retained.
 
#24
#24
yont sum iss? said:
The NCAA is not only going to look to slam Pearl, they're going to do their best to teach Slive a lesson too. I think the punishment is going to be far too severe for Pearl to be retained.
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I don't see how much Slive can get in trouble. The SEC schools all agreed to give him more power. That was the stupid decision.
 
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