Report contradicts Rick Barnes account of not taking UCLA job

I think Barnes admitted himself that the buyout was the sticking point to him turning them down. I think after Fulmer made his offer, UCLA paying the buyout 100% became necessary for Barnes to leave. That's what I think was Barnes asking for more money. UCLA not paying 100% of the buyout meant the TN offer was better.
Except they were going to pay the full buyout then Barnes asked for more salary and they backed off.
 
Barnes is sitting in the catbird seat, he's made out better than anyone in this situation.
As did Fulmer.

His legacy is on Pruitt fixing football. It's not any more complicated than that.
Overpaying Barnes to be a S16 coach for 5 or so more years is going to matter little either way if that happens. And if it doesnt it will be the focal point of Fulmers decisions as AD, not giving Barnes a raise for the peace of mind that you re getting stability in return or hiring Kelly Jolly. The only way Fulmer could lose big on this was if he had let Barnes walk and hired a failure or a show-cause. Both of which UT has mastered frequently.
 
Except they were going to pay the full buyout then Barnes asked for more salary and they backed off.


I wouldnt believe much coming from UCLAs end. They publically caught jabs over the Cal offer and similar ending with Dixon not signing over ironically the same sticking point. Somebody over there is busy calming the blue blood waters over why they were the joke of the coaching search world.
 
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We didn’t pay $5 mil to GET Barnes. We paid it to KEEP him. Define “good”. We couldn’t pry Archie Miller away from freakin DAYTON once upon a time! Mike White from a directional Louisiana school shunned us for the same money from Florida. You don’t get a Barnes level coach on the cheap...UCLA couldn’t. If your interpretation of “good” is Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Bill Self et al, just ask yourself why UCLA couldn’t land em. Truth is, you nor anyone else pulverizing that horse has a name of a candidate that matches. Fulmer gets static if he goes to Boyd for money to entice Beard and Pearl is a pipe dream. Your whole scenario is fiction and poorly wrought. You say “others” name one!
This is the point that continually goes unrecognized. Tennessee has a history of rewarding coaches for success at Tennessee. We rewarded both Fulmer and Pearl for their accomplishments, and the threat of potential they could leave for higher paying jobs. On the other hand, we do not have a history of paying top dollar to lure coaches in.
 
This is the point that continually goes unrecognized. Tennessee has a history of rewarding coaches for success at Tennessee. We rewarded both Fulmer and Pearl for their accomplishments, and the threat of potential they could leave for higher paying jobs. On the other hand, we do not have a history of paying top dollar to lure coaches in.
Agree...hope we're needing to give Pruitt a big raise sooner than later.
 
Not like UCLA lost out on another coach for refusing to pay his buyout. Oh wait, they did. Maybe the UCLA AD is telling the truth about Barnes, or maybe he's attempting to cover his own incompetent ass. Only the parties involved really know. But I think I'll roll with the guy who's actually our coach. You know, the guy who's done a pretty damn good job since taking over the Tyndall clusterf@#k. I'm not sure why so many are looking for a reason to hate?
 
I'm not saying we get a better coach. I think this Barnes flirtation with UCLA sorta shows us he doesn't really want to be here as much as we thought or he squeezed the program for as much as he could get. He is making the type of money coaches with championships and highly ranked recruiting classes make. I like Barnes but I'm raising the question since this is a message board.
 
Except they were going to pay the full buyout then Barnes asked for more salary and they backed off.
This only holds weight if you believe the LA Times/UCLA side of things. They have more motivation to spin this than Barnes if you think about the entire timeline of their coaching search objectively and remove the animosity over his contract situation.
 
We win because someone has to pay a buyout. It would hurt the basketball program whether we want to admit it or not.
We win because we kept a coach someone else wanted to win with.
 
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So LA Times reports this and it is suddenly fact? Regardless, has everyone forgotten where this program was when he inherited it? We were one shot God himself sunk at the buzzer from going to the sweet 16 last year and a last second terrible call against Turner from going to the elite this year. IF Williams and Bone return, we will be playing in the sweet 16 next year.

Bruce took three years to get us to the sweet 16 and 5 to reach the elite 8. He also cheated on his efforts to do so. Sure he is doing well at Auburn, and they should pay him more. He has also been there one year longer than Barnes has been at UT.

Let it play out.
 
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Dude, Barnes played this up himself. He leveraged his own by threat of leaving in the dark of night. Why? No Grant, no Bone, no Schofield. No doubt it played a role in Lanier leaving. And guess what, regardless of the coach, next season is gonna be very tough and Barnes knows it. He got his payday after last season. And parlayed his UCLA interest into taking advantage of Fulmer. There’s no integrity in Barnes, he just wants that money.

But keep apologizing for him. He’ll run as fast as he can without regards to anything Tennessee as soon as more money presents the opportunity.
“Dude” you’re a real nutter.
 
I will never trust the media again. I'm not foolish enough to fall for anything they report anymore.
 
Great stuff for a movie here folks. Barnes left in the dead of night to secretly conspire with UCLA. Lanier over hears a conversation and jumps ship to save his career. All the added insider insights. Great stuff. The Great Barnes Conspiracy. We'll make zillions.
 
I don't understand why so many Vol fans choose to run with an unverified "story" out of LA over the word of our coach, who has never given us any reason to doubt his sincerity in the past. Then, people carry that further: attacking his coaching record, character, and even faith.

Maybe we should step back for a minute, realize that the report (from a storied program going through some really rough times) *might* not be accurate, give CRB the benefit of the doubt, and be thankful that UT finally didn't cheap out a coaching move. The Vol basketball program has really gained ground and momentum the past couple of years, we just had one of the most fun seasons in history with an awesome group of guys, and losing Barnes would have almost certainly set us back.
 
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Exactly, so we shouldn't be paying a mediocre basketball coach top 10 money. 1 final 4 in 30 years

I agree, let's just fire the most successful b-ball coach in recent history because some unverified story (floated by UCLA to obfuscate its embarrassing coaching search) has has the trailer-park simpletons up in arms.

If anything, this whole mountain-out-of-a-molehill story has demonstrated that some posters have a delusional view of the sports/business worlds.
 

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