Jerry Green Question? Just Curious.

[UTK]

So I didn't start watching Vols Bball until 06, so Bruce and ownwards is all I know really. Of course I have heard of some of the former greats that played like Houston, Bernie, and Ernie. I knew the coach before Pearl was Buzz as well, but never looked before that until tonight outta boredom when I stumbled upon a YouTube video of the 1999 win at Rupp. Found out it was Jerry Green that was the coach and to my surprise he had a pretty good record and made the NCAA tourney all four years. It seems he was talked into resigning, so people that were following them, did that seem like the right call at the time? Just curious outta boredom really. Lol

 

[vols 30]

Won a lot of games with great talent, but underachieving post season record. We had North Carolina beat in the sweet 16 but choked it away.

I heard he didn't get along with UTAD, he supposedly has a "don't like it, then fire me" attitude.

He wasn't really a coach that warmed up to the fans either.

 

[Special Ed]

So I didn't start watching Vols Bball until 06, so Bruce and ownwards is all I know really. Of course I have heard of some of the former greats that played like King, Bernie, and Ernie. I knew the coach before Pearl was Buzz as well, but never looked before that until tonight outta boredom when I stumbled upon a YouTube video of the 1999 win at Rupp. Found out it was Jerry Green that was the coach and to my surprise he had a pretty good record and made the NCAA tourney all four years. It seems he was talked into resigning, so people that were following them, did that seem like the right call at the time? Just curious outta boredom really. Lol

Bernie was Bernard King!
Ernie was Ernie Grunfeld.

 

[UTK]

Bernie was Bernard King!
Ernie was Ernie Grunfeld.

My bad, I meant to put Allan Houston and put King twice lol

 

[UTK]

Won a lot of games with great talent, but underachieving post season record. We had North Carolina beat in the sweet 16 but choked it away.

I heard he didn't get along with UTAD, he supposedly has a "don't like it, then fire me" attitude.

He wasn't really a coach that warmed up to the fans either.

Yeah seems that way. Seems like when he lost a first round game to Charlotte it was the excuse the AD needed.

 

[cardvolfan]

Jerry Green won a lot of games, but most of his talent was accumulated before he came to UT. There were some streaks in his tenure where you could say he underachieved based on the talent onboard. He had conflict with those around him, and had a penchant of irritating the fan base by his negativity towards them/us. Coaches certainly don't have to agree with what fans say, but to say some of the things he said probably helped write him a one-way ticket out of Knoxville.

 

[NorCalVol67]

Won a lot of games with great talent, but underachieving post season record. We had North Carolina beat in the sweet 16 but choked it away.

I heard he didn't get along with UTAD, he supposedly has a "don't like it, then fire me" attitude.

He wasn't really a coach that warmed up to the fans either.

I may get over that NC loss some day.

But I doubt it.

 

[vols 30]

I may get over that NC loss some day.

But I doubt it.

Same here.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Underachieved after inheriting a great roster put together by KO and he was a drunk with a toxic attitude. So I hear.

 

[sccshortstop]

Underachieved after inheriting a great roster put together by KO and he was a drunk with a toxic attitude. So I hear.

and his best friend was Roy Williams who was at Kansas i think , who pushed for him to get the job. Seems like JG may have been in the northwest at the time.

 

[zjcvols]

To paraphrase Vince McMahon: “Jerry screwed Jerry.”

In terms of actual success Green is probably a top five coach ever here (Mears, Barnes, Pearl, Devoe...I’m sure TGO could name a couple pre Mears guys you could argue for). But Green was an absolute ******* and nobody liked him and he never got a head coaching job again for that reason. I was still pretty young, but I remember nobody shedding a tear when he was fired despite the success he had. Because success wise he definitely didn’t deserve to be fired.

 

[Zues1]

He referenced K Mart fans or something along those lines.

 

[Godfatha]

Jerry Green did have a good run but KO built the roster that made those runs. I would expect Green would have experienced a substantial decline after Slay, Yarborough, Hathaway, etc. left, which of course would have been natural, but I don't think he could have reloaded the talent on the team. Many had the impression that he just rolled the ball out and just out-talented other teams. I didn't get the impression that his teams were very disciplined. He would have been a better fit at a place like Memphis.

It was nice after the Wade Houston years, and KO years to be in the tournament.

 

[Roustabout]

So I didn't start watching Vols Bball until 06, so Bruce and ownwards is all I know really. Of course I have heard of some of the former greats that played like Houston, Bernie, and Ernie. I knew the coach before Pearl was Buzz as well, but never looked before that until tonight outta boredom when I stumbled upon a YouTube video of the 1999 win at Rupp. Found out it was Jerry Green that was the coach and to my surprise he had a pretty good record and made the NCAA tourney all four years. It seems he was talked into resigning, so people that were following them, did that seem like the right call at the time? Just curious outta boredom really. Lol

Kevin O’Neil has really worked his tail off recruiting and building the pipeline for UT.

Green was a decent coach but not great. UT was by far the high point of his career and it isn’t close. (See Cuonzo). They had some incredible talent under Green. He basically mocked the fans and acted a fool, which got him canned and a nice buy out. I don’t think he has ever coached again, which tells you where his head was. As he cycled through the talent pool left to him by O’Neil, as well as a great recruiting network that had been built, you could see the handwriting. The best player he signed on his own was Ron Slay. When Buzz came in the cupboard was pretty bare and UT fell to a .500 team like a rock.

 

[Chemvol]

To paraphrase Vince McMahon: “Jerry screwed Jerry.”

In terms of actual success Green is probably a top five coach ever here (Mears, Barnes, Pearl, Devoe...I’m sure TGO could name a couple pre Mears guys you could argue for). But Green was an absolute ******* and nobody liked him and he never got a head coaching job again for that reason. I was still pretty young, but I remember nobody shedding a tear when he was fired despite the success he had. Because success wise he definitely didn’t deserve to be fired.

This.

Jerry Green had a personality that rubbed everyone the wrong way. That works when you're bulletproof. He had a good run here. Record-wise he's among our best coaches, but (like others have suggested) I think that was due more to KO's recruiting and than to Green's coaching. He was pretty meh at Oregon before he came here.

After he turned a 16-1 start and Top-5 appearance into a loss in the 8/9 game with a totally out of control team, most were glad he was gone.

 

[cncchris33]

This.

Jerry Green had a personality that rubbed everyone the wrong way. That works when you're bulletproof. He had a good run here. Record-wise he's among our best coaches, but (like others have suggested) I think that was due more to KO's recruiting and than to Green's coaching. He was pretty meh at Oregon before he came here.

After he turned a 16-1 start and Top-5 appearance into a loss in the 8/9 game with a totally out of control team, most were glad he was gone.

This.

Combine it with the pitiful postseason record and indescribable loss to UNC in the S16 while up 7 points with 7 minutes to play, and he was done.

His teams were undisciplined, several low character guys who were disciplined via suspension and/or dismissal, and many who gave questionable effort, at times. He potentially had the greatest collection of individual talent in recent memory and generally wasted it. We as fans just didn't realize it because we were winning 20 games and making the NCAAT, something we hadn't done in 20 years leading up to it. A little success felt like we were on top of the world.

 

[beamerman]

Bernie was Bernard King!
Ernie was Ernie Grunfeld.

This dates me but I had classes with both. Ernie was a great bb player but Bernie was the best I have ever seen. Ernie went to class, Bernie not so much.

 

[The Dog]

He referenced K Mart fans or something along those lines.

Yeah, I think Jerry said something like, "if the fans don't like the way UT plays, they can go to K-Mart instead of the game"

 

[Volfan1000]

I may get over that NC loss some day.

But I doubt it.

Athletic Director Dickey offered the job to then Kansas coach Roy Williams who declined and suggested Green then the Oregon coach.

Tennessee had C.J. Black and Isiah Victor and Tony Harris and Charles Hathaway on that team that blew the North Carolina game.

Green said that Tennessee fans could go to Walmart if they did not want to go to the games.

Green's best recruit during his tenure at UT was Vincent Yarbrough and UT would have had Shawn Marion but Green was out of town at the time.

It would have been interesting to see how far Pearl or Barnes could have taken that team.

 

[backdoorcutvol]

Seems like they started 16-1, then went on a long losing streak.
made the famous K-Mart or Walmart statement.
supposedly wouldn’t dress the way Dickey wanted. He wore black and maybe sometimes yellow pullover sweaters.
too KO talent and turned UT basketball fun and very competitive for a couple seasons.
attended a practice once, players had carpet or something similar to lay on to stretch and if I remember correctly they each had small radios or something to listen to as they stretched. Can you spell SOFT, couldn’t even lay on floor to stretch.

 

[Chemvol]

Seems like they started 16-1, then went on a long losing streak.

They started 16-1 and rose to #4 in the polls, iirc. Then they finished the season 6-10 and lost to Charlotte in the 8/9 game. I don't know how they managed to win another six games. Their freefall seemed more dramatic at the time.

 

[vols 30]

They started 16-1 and rose to #4 in the polls, iirc. Then they finished the season 6-10 and lost to Charlotte in the 8/9 game. I don't know how they managed to win another six games. Their freefall seemed more dramatic at the time.

That was rough down the stretch

I used to get so mad at Charles Hathaway. 6'10 and built like a defensive lineman but could only manage 2 or 3 points a game

 

[cncchris33]

They started 16-1 and rose to #4 in the polls, iirc. Then they finished the season 6-10 and lost to Charlotte in the 8/9 game. I don't know how they managed to win another six games. Their freefall seemed more dramatic at the time.

And that team had V. Yarbrough, R. Slay, Tony Harris, I. Victor, J. Higgins, M. Haislip, C. Hathaway, Harris Walker, and Terrence Woods. That might be the most talented 9-deep lineup in school history. Three McDonald's All-Americans (VY, Harris, Hathaway) another who was an SEC All-Freshman player (Victor), another who was All -SEC and a 1st rd draft pick (Haislip), and an SEC POY and 2x All-SEC player (Slay).

 

[cncchris33]

That was rough down the stretch

I used to get so mad at Charles Hathaway. 6'10 and built like a defensive lineman but could only manage 2 or 3 points a game

In Hathaway's defense, he showed a whole lot of promise as a freshman and the 5 games he played as a true SO before they found the blood clot issue. When he came back from that after redshirting, he was never the same player. Just too great a loss of explosion, energy, and strength. Hated it for him, but do remember being frustrated at the time, as well. So much promise just lost due to a medical condition.

 

[k-town_king]

So I didn't start watching Vols Bball until 06, so Bruce and ownwards is all I know really. Of course I have heard of some of the former greats that played like Houston, Bernie, and Ernie. I knew the coach before Pearl was Buzz as well, but never looked before that until tonight outta boredom when I stumbled upon a YouTube video of the 1999 win at Rupp. Found out it was Jerry Green that was the coach and to my surprise he had a pretty good record and made the NCAA tourney all four years. It seems he was talked into resigning, so people that were following them, did that seem like the right call at the time? Just curious outta boredom really. Lol

Rednecks got mad at him. He was a good coach with a fun system. Should have kept him.