I just think Gruden fits UT to a "T" and will do well on all fronts. Most importantly he is somewhat one of us, and he will unite and excite a fan base that needs something to get excited about.
Saban wins, but I don't know if even he could have the immediate impact that Gruden can. Let's hope we get to see the Gruden side of it.
for whats it worth here's a comment posted about the article on Mr SEC that is linked in the cliff notes thread
Arkansas is in an awkward position thanks to Bobby Petrino but is in overall good shape throughout their athletic department and has an AD that has shown that he's loyal to a fault with his people and not meddlesome.
Tennessee on the other hand has a long history of backstabbing their head coaches (Majors, Fulmer, Summitt), meddling in their head coaches staffs (how long has the current football staff been there?) and has been a general dumpster fire for several years (that WHOOOSH you heard was Lane Kiffen).
Jon Gruden may in fact wind up at Tennessee but why on earth would a man that can write his own ticket want to go to work under those conditions? In-laws? oreally. Wife is from there? Have you ever seen Tampa, you can't be serious if you think that she's pining to move back. Because he spent some time there 20 years ago?
If Jon really want's to coach in college Tennessee seems to be quite a stretch
IMO, if Gruden actually wants to come here, and you pass on the biggest homerun hire, that everyone has wanted for the past decade or so, that actually loves this university and admits he's biased towards TN, then we have got serious problems at the top. If we go all out and get turned down by him, so be it, but if he wants to come, and we go in any other direction, then I have no confidence that we will ever return to prominence again.
Apparently if we open the bank we can get him... which is almost impossible for me to believe. But talk about a return on investment... Hire 'em and I'll beat all of you to the season ticket office!
It looks like Mr. SEC is letting his agenda show. Uh, right, Arkansas never screwed a coach over. How about the Houston Nutt/Mitch Mustain saga, the end of the Nolan Richardson era, and the infamous incident when a new basketball coach only stayed 1 day once he got on campus and saw how screwed up things were. So, absolutely Arkansas is just a huckleberry.
According to 247, it's not just about money. That's a big part of it, but his demands are pretty steep too, regarding overhead (only wants to report to 1 person), and wants $4-5M for his assistants.
I'd be all in favor of the Grude, I just don't see it happening.
Can someone please tell me where all this Bob Stoops stuff is coming from? Why in the world would he leave Oklahoma? He's king there.
Saban is on another level above Gruden and Stoops.
Where did this stuff about Hart not hiring Gruden start?