So after all the hustle and hoopla.....

[MWAVolfan]

LOL dude just stop. It's embarassing. If you're "old enough" then you know that agents float names to reporters all time during coaching searches in order to get their guys an extension from their current school, despite not actually being a target by the school searching for a coach. We know for a fact that DW went to great lengths to make sure this search was secure. But you're just going to believe every rumor because you saw it on a message board or on twitter? GTFO.

Secondly, considering they hired a search committee, no I don't believe Heupel would have been hired on Day 1. DW has an obligation to the university to vet qualified applicants. The search committee sent out feelers to see who was actually interested and that also met DW stated criteria. Once they brought back a list of potential candidates, DW and anyone else involved would conduct interviews. That's how the process works (or is intended to work anyways). Again, no one knows who was actually interviewed, so it's a moot point trying to assume.

If you want to believe that elaborate made-up justification then I can't help you. Completely gullible. Tell yourself whatever you have to in order to believe that Heupel was going to be the guy White was after. I have a bridge to sell you when you're ready. Good grief.

 

[sjt18]

He just led them to their first 4 loss season since 2016 let’s roll !!

Yeah. 2020 was a year just like every other.

It is stupid to be knee jerk negative about hiring a guy that's produced the O's he's had or won as many games as he has... and is almost always competitive in losses.

 

[sjt18]

If you want to believe that elaborate made-up justification then I can't help you. Completely gullible. Tell yourself whatever you have to in order to believe that Heupel was going to be the guy White was after. I have a bridge to sell you when you're ready. Good grief.

You have no way of knowing that. It may be true. But your reaction isn't reasonable. UT has hired worse....4 times. Give the guy a chance to do something before condemning him to failure.

 

[Carp]

If you want to believe that elaborate made-up justification then I can't help you. Completely gullible. Tell yourself whatever you have to in order to believe that Heupel was going to be the guy White was after. I have a bridge to sell you when you're ready. Good grief.

Elaborate? That was literally the process that was laid out from the beginning! Are you high?

Whether White was "at the top of the list" when the coaching search began is irrelevant. This isn't John Currie frantically trying to find anyone with a pulse to take the job.

We had a process. We put together a committee to bring us potential HC candidates. Candidates were vetted. Candidates were interviewed. Then a selection was made. That's what we know. Anything else about any other suspected candidates is PURE 100% conjecture coming from 2nd/3rd hand "sources."

 

[MWAVolfan]

You have no way of knowing that. It may be true. But your reaction isn't reasonable. UT has hired worse....4 times. Give the guy a chance to do something before condemning him to failure.

I'm not going to believe that Danny White's first act as AD was to waste the university's money on a sham coaching search when he knew the whole time he was going to hire Heuple. He could have easily called that off in a second.

He passed up Heuple in hopes of landing a better coach and found out that at Tennessee he couldn't pull it off. so he went and got the guy that he knew he had worked with in the past as a last resort.

I have no facts, just the evidence and the result and I'd be willing to bet anything that I'm right.

 

[MWAVolfan]

Elaborate? That was literally the process that was laid out from the beginning! Are you high?

Whether White was "at the top of the list" when the coaching search began is irrelevant. This isn't John Currie frantically trying to find anyone with a pulse to take the job.

We had a process. We put together a committee to bring us potential HC candidates. Candidates were vetted. Candidates were interviewed. Then a selection was made. That's what we know. Anything else about any other suspected candidates is PURE 100% conjecture coming from 2nd/3rd hand "sources."

I'm not high and I'm not blind either

 

[Lurker]

You have no way of knowing that. It may be true. But your reaction isn't reasonable. UT has hired worse....4 times. Give the guy a chance to do something before condemning him to failure.

Giving a "guy a chance" isn't the current Vol fans' way. There wasn't a single name mentioned on this board that didn't get criticized by some arm chair AD or another since the search began. If Saban had been hired there would have been a chorus of "too old" or "too Bama" or worse.

The truth is the UT football program is a dumpster fire and criticism of it is warranted; however, Heupel and White should be respected as potential remedies, not rejected as incompetents. Based upon their performance records and their reputations across college athletics both of these guys are HUGE upgrades over where UT was just two weeks ago and certainly where it has been since 2000.

Go Vols!

 

[EZE]

Well hell it hasn't been a good job to have since fatboy Fulmer drug it into the ground back in 2008..........we gonna be rebuilding in my eyes for probably 2-3 years again but it depends on Huepel n the coaches that he hires on how fast we turn this thing around! maybe with a lot of luck finally we will get some great transfer players in and keep Gray,Too-Too, and a few others....

It is much worse with NCAA sanctions on tap. New coaches don’t survive those very often.

Now, I probably woulda just rode with Steele to get through them, but it wasn’t up to me.

 

[Ibleedorange47]

Because it was painfully obvious after days and days of searching for a head coach that White just went to his "break glass in case of emergency" hire. Every other coach that White wanted turned us flat down or tried to bilk us for 10 million bucks a year because we are desperate. So White took the easy way out and just went to get his guy at UCF. This was another embarrassment of a coaching search. Just like when we hired Jones and Pruitt. Not because this coach doesn't meet my approval. It didnt meet Danny White's approval either. If he really wanted Heuple from the beginning he would have announced him on day 1 as our head coach. But he went searching for much better coaches and found out that much better coaches didnt want to come to UT. Or the administration wouldnt let him hire Freeze or Kiffin or Chadwell.

I must agree.

 

[Carp]

I'm not high and I'm not blind either

No. You were just willing to believe everything you heard/saw regarding the coaching search because you wanted it to be true.

 

[Ibleedorange47]

Giving a "guy a chance" isn't the current Vol fans' way. There wasn't a single name mentioned on this board that didn't get criticized by some arm chair AD or another since the search began. If Saban had been hired there would have been a chorus of "too old" or "too Bama" or worse.

The truth is the UT football program is a dumpster fire and criticism of it is warranted; however, Heupel and White should be respected as potential remedies, not rejected as incompetents. Based upon their performance records and their reputations across college athletics both of these guys are HUGE upgrades over where UT was just two weeks ago and certainly where it has been since 2000.

Go Vols!

Boom

 

[Carp]

It is much worse with NCAA sanctions on tap. New coaches don’t survive those very often.

Now, I probably woulda just rode with Steele to get through them, but it wasn’t up to me.

I mean Heupel is a better coach than Steele, imo. I don't know that Heupel will turn this team into a national title contender, but his offenses should be fun to watch while we sit in NCAA purgatory.

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

If you're Danny White, how do you wipe this egg off your face? Oh, that's right, with 100 dollar bills! Our 2 million dollar AD just hires the coach from his former job? So basically Danny White just de-facto brought UCF to the SEC?

What this proves:
1. Tennessee truly is no longer a good job to have
2. Danny White had no idea what he was in for with this coaching search and he had no coaches "in the bag" when he was hired
3. If we want a top tier coach to take us to the next level, we CANNOT let the current coach stay until he ruins the program again, we must cut our losses while he is still having success
4. While this hire is an upgrade over getting a coordinator to be our coach for 3.5 million, it's not going to bring us back


Please Lord God I hope we didn't give this guy more than 4 million a year!

1.) This isn't a surprise. This place is more toxic than Chernobyl.
2.) No one ever said he had anyone "in the bag". See number 1 for why this was not a "sexy" hire.
3.) So because it's not asexy hire, all of a sudden we need to cut our losses, even if he's successful? So by that logic, if he gets 9, 10, or 11 wins in years 4 or 5, we should fire him? If this is our fanbase's logical conclusion, then it's no wonder #1 is true.
4.) You don't know that at all. This is, honestly, probably the best hire we could get considering everything going on with our program. The more I read on Heupel, the more I go from apathetic to cautiously optimistic. Just sit back and let's see what happens.

 

[Wolfeman_Vol]

You can't hire a name coach because this place is in the trash can right now. I don't like it but it is what it is and we're just gonna have to live with it. No name coach was ever gonna take the job with the NCAA breathing down our necks except maybe Freeze or Kiffin and I don't think they ever had a chance in the first place. Heupel is the new coach and I'm with him til he gives me reason to not be because I love the Vols and always will.

That first sentence is why you hire White as an AD. You expect his reputation to be able to attract a proven winner. Instead he goes with his old guy. Feels like we just got scammed.

 

[MWAVolfan]

No. You were just willing to believe everything you heard/saw regarding the coaching search because you wanted it to be true.

Here's a "fact" for you. For the 4th time in a row Tennessee has hired a guy that literally nobody had on their list of gets or potential hires. There were dozens of names thrown around on this board and in the media. Nobody guess this hire and the reason because nobody guessed it is because nobody saw it as a potential good hire or good fit or even a good possibility.

So you tell me how this hire is any different from any of the previous three or that this went the way Danny White planned on it going.

You can call me unreasonable or negative all you want it really doesn't matter. I'm not swayed by social media and it doesnt inform my opinions. I look at what I can see, especially in the aftermath.

I'll say what I said after all the other coaches were hired. "Maybe it will work out, we will see". But I am not confident in any of this that it went as Danny White wanted it to.

 

[rltw1974]

It should be telling that not one P5 coaching vacancy even sniffed this guys way!

The fact is this was a hire to get White’s boy a raise!

 

[EZE]

I mean Heupel is a better coach than Steele, imo. I don't know that Heupel will turn this team into a national title contender, but his offenses should be fun to watch while we sit in NCAA purgatory.

Oh, I will give him a chance for sure...he is the coach. I just think the whole situation is a short-term setup for failure, and it wouldn’t matter who the coach that UT hired.

As I think about it, this might be one of the most difficult situations a coach will ever step into...upcoming sanctions PLUS free transfers for the existing players.

 

[VFFL@THE BEACH]

If you're Danny White, how do you wipe this egg off your face? Oh, that's right, with 100 dollar bills! Our 2 million dollar AD just hires the coach from his former job? So basically Danny White just de-facto brought UCF to the SEC?

What this proves:
1. Tennessee truly is no longer a good job to have
2. Danny White had no idea what he was in for with this coaching search and he had no coaches "in the bag" when he was hired
3. If we want a top tier coach to take us to the next level, we CANNOT let the current coach stay until he ruins the program again, we must cut our losses while he is still having success
4. While this hire is an upgrade over getting a coordinator to be our coach for 3.5 million, it's not going to bring us back


Please Lord God I hope we didn't give this guy more than 4 million a year!

1. Unfortunately, right now the job is not in the best shape with impending sanctions and losing mentality. Doesn't mean that it can't get better.

2. No proof that White had no idea about the search, he may have just went a different direction than some thought he should have went. Maybe, he was a package deal with Heupel?

3. I totally agree with being more aggressive and fire coaches before its too late. Unfortunately, our rivals have kicked our tail in getting rid of bad coaches.

4. He may not "bring us back" to competing for the east. Hopefully, at the worst he will lead us out of sanctions, beat the teams we should beat and make us attractive place for better coaches. You never know, if he can beat the teams we should beat and then sneak up on a Fl, Ga, or Al then this could get exciting.

 

[Lurker]

I don't know whether he is better than Steele or not. I do know that I preferred to try a head coach with a modern offense rather than another alleged defensive guru who maybe didn't know how to develop or evaluate quarterbacks. I also know I wanted a guy with a decent personal reputation rather than some of the more popular but sleezey types preferred by some of my fellow fans.

Heupel was not my first choice, but his performance record suggests he has the potential for success and no one will know if he can handle the big time until he tries. When he was last in the SEC at Missouri his offense certainly kicked UT's butt and contributed to the dismissal of the bricklayer.

 

[CobbVol]

If you're Danny White, how do you wipe this egg off your face? Oh, that's right, with 100 dollar bills! Our 2 million dollar AD just hires the coach from his former job? So basically Danny White just de-facto brought UCF to the SEC?

What this proves:
1. Tennessee truly is no longer a good job to have
2. Danny White had no idea what he was in for with this coaching search and he had no coaches "in the bag" when he was hired
3. If we want a top tier coach to take us to the next level, we CANNOT let the current coach stay until he ruins the program again, we must cut our losses while he is still having success
4. While this hire is an upgrade over getting a coordinator to be our coach for 3.5 million, it's not going to bring us back


Please Lord God I hope we didn't give this guy more than 4 million a year!

Bullet #5 - UT supporters now have a better understanding of the impact of pending NCAA issues can do to a program and its plans for the future.

 

[sjt18]

I'm not going to believe that Danny White's first act as AD was to waste the university's money on a sham coaching search when he knew the whole time he was going to hire Heuple. He could have easily called that off in a second.

You shouldn't believe they wasted money on an expensive search firm and went through all of those gyrations if White had already made a decision with all of the appropriate "stamps" from the powers that be. You should believe that there are some pretty hacked off power brokers right now if he planned to bring Heupel all along and wasn't up front about it.

He passed up Heuple in hopes of landing a better coach and found out that at Tennessee he couldn't pull it off. so he went and got the guy that he knew he had worked with in the past as a last resort.

That's possible. Now prove it.

We're here now. And as someone else posted, this could be the best hire made since Fulmer was fired. Let's see what these two guys can accomplish before donning the sackcloth and ashes.

I have no facts, just the evidence and the result and I'd be willing to bet anything that I'm right.

Evidence isn't evidence unless it is fact. You're making assumptions apparently because you wanted or expected someone else. I'm not. I do not assume success or failure. I think the guy who appears to be the best AD hire of the last 20 years or so hired a guy he trusts. I'll stick with that for now.

 

[badkarma]

Alcohol, lots of alcohol will get you through this. That’s my suggestion

 

[Carp]

Here's a "fact" for you. For the 4th time in a row Tennessee has hired a guy that literally nobody had on their list of gets or potential hires.

The only fact I see is that the so called "insiders" keep getting it wrong. When their information is continually wrong, may be it's time to stop listening to them.

 

[CINCYVOL]

If you're Danny White, how do you wipe this egg off your face? Oh, that's right, with 100 dollar bills! Our 2 million dollar AD just hires the coach from his former job? So basically Danny White just de-facto brought UCF to the SEC?

What this proves:
1. Tennessee truly is no longer a good job to have
2. Danny White had no idea what he was in for with this coaching search and he had no coaches "in the bag" when he was hired
3. If we want a top tier coach to take us to the next level, we CANNOT let the current coach stay until he ruins the program again, we must cut our losses while he is still having success
4. While this hire is an upgrade over getting a coordinator to be our coach for 3.5 million, it's not going to bring us back


Please Lord God I hope we didn't give this guy more than 4 million a year!

Tennessee is not a good job right now, no big time coach would want any part of UT right now.

 

[MWAVolfan]

The only fact I see is that the so called "insiders" keep getting it wrong. When their information is continually wrong, may be it's time to stop listening to them.

there's only one reason they keep getting it wrong at UT and guessing correctly at other schools. It's because UT keeps hiring people nobody every expected them to hire and Tennessee keeps producing results nobody could have imagined a power program could every achieve. 0-8 seasons, going over a decade not beating Bama when almost every other SEC team to play Bama has beaten them at least once if not more. Etc. Etc. Tennessee seems to be doing one thing right. They have the "WTF" factor down pat.

The super secret cabal at UT achieved a hire that nobody saw coming in an age when literally everything is leaked to the media, even facts that put US security at great danger. But OK, I'll accept your theory that literally nobody saw this hire coming because it was so secret. Pshhhhh