Irrational Rick Barnes takes (merged)

[Ttucke11]

Yeah, we saw how that worked out when we fired him instead of letting him retire.

We made terrible hires after, that doesn't have anything to do with Fulmer needing to go.

 

[Jdw2920]

Barnes is the right man for the job. He's a great coach and knows how to play defense. He does however need help on the offensive side. If om Barnes, I'm hiring an offensive coach this off season to develop our players

I agree I like Barnes think he is a great coach he just needs some help on offense he needs to turn over the keys to offense and lessen the strangle hold on some of the kids creativity and let them go. Phillips likely went from a lottery pick to a g league player mainly because I don’t think he could handle having the defensive pressure which effected his offensive game.

 

[JCP201]

We made terrible hires after, that doesn't have anything to do with Fulmer needing to go.

Fulmer had two heisman quarterbacks on the roster and an offensive coordinator that turned out to be a great coach. Just had to be patient and let them rebuild after winning the SEC the year before and Cutcliffe going.

 

[TennVols12]

You people act like his salary comes out of your pockets hilarious and I am sure sometime in your lives your co workers will say the same about you

That’s also fair, pay me like that and idgaff what anyone says about it

 

[Voldog1998]

Barnes is like the really good stripper that gets to the build up for a great finish at the end of the show,,, and waves and walks off of the stage leaving you waiting for the next show buying drinks and hoping!

Great comparison

 

[MOOOOONEY]

I wish some UT fans would be logical, but that’s difficult. Comparing Barnes to those coaches is next level.

I wasn’t comparing Barnes to those coaches.

I was comparing the coach fans response every time a coach underperforms at the university of Tennessee. No matter who the coach is it’s always the players fault according to the coach fans.

 

[MOOOOONEY]

There’s only one coach in the SW16 who has won a NC; Izzo.

The OP stated that out of Barnes, Self, Izzo, and Cal only one was in the elite 8.

I pointed out that 3 of the 4 had won a national championship and made multiple final 4 appearances.

Was I wrong?

 

[NighthawkVol]

Spot on

Also, Bruce Pearl wasn’t able to get Tennessee to a Final 4. Bruce Pearl got friggin Auburn to a Final 4.

 

[AthensVol2007]

The OP stated that out of Barnes, Self, Izzo, and Cal only one was in the elite 8.

I pointed out that 3 of the 4 had won a national championship and made multiple final 4 appearances.

Was I wrong?

The post you replied to said the 4 highest paid in the SW16 all lost. That’s what I saw.

 

[MeanOrange]

Also, Bruce Pearl wasn’t able to get Tennessee to a Final 4. Bruce Pearl got friggin Auburn to a Final 4.

Pearl missed the final four by one point. Vols free throw shooting was horrible that game.

 

[Volsfaninva917]

Pearl missed the final four by one point. Vols free throw shooting was horrible that game.

 

[knoxvol52]

Put the Zima down, I said several times I don't think he should be fired.

Zima they still make that crap

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Also, Bruce Pearl wasn’t able to get Tennessee to a Final 4. Bruce Pearl got friggin Auburn to a Final 4.

Also I really wish people would stop acting like Pearl is a great postseason coach. He is not. He's had 2 good runs, both completely unexpected.

 

[Dissident]

Barnes is what he is. I'm glad he got us the hardware in the SEC tournament last year. However, I'm much more optimistic about Heupel and the football program.

 

[MOOOOONEY]

The post you replied to said the 4 highest paid in the SW16 all lost. That’s what I saw.

sorry for the misunderstanding. This is the post I was replying to that mentioned Self, Izzo, and Calipari.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

I’m better at my current job than Barnes is at his.

Did not know that over valuing one's own intelligence was a job. Congrats.... got to be a leader in your field.

 

[ColinS]

Lmao, one of the worst takes on here.







Congratulations.

Saying the same thing that pretty much half of the posters on here are saying and the Knoxville media. Barnes could crap at mid court and you would say it was the greatest coaching move ever.

 

[Jxn Vol]

Did not know that over valuing one's own intelligence was a job. Congrats.... got to be a leader in your field.

It’s like you just made that up and typed it on a message board. Excellent job. Splendid even.

 

[VOLtaism]

Let the excuses pour in from those who think every year of Barnes isnt a big enough sample size to realize he's never taking us further.

There is no evidence either way at this point. The team shot 30% (they hit a few finally at the end of the game so actually worse than 30% in the key part of the game). They missed good shots, especially from 2-point range. You don't advance in the NCAA without hitting shots. I think Barnes's game plan was bad but still, if they had hit shots they would have won easily.

 

[hUTch2002]

I bet UCLA is elated that Tennessee overpaid to keep him.

At some point when you are paid final 4 money you have to produce final 4 results.

You say that but that’s often not the way it ends up happening in sports. Look at Jimbo, Tucker at Mich St., and others in football. For basketball, Cal is the first person that pops in my mind. Barnes is producing top 15-20 results making top 5 salary. That’s not horribly out of whack.

 

[volbound1700]

I’m fine continuing with Barnes for about 2-3 more years as I think he is retiring in that time frame. I see no upside of firing him at all.

With that said, there are only 3-4 coaches I would consider an upgrade given the state of our program, our salary commitment, and recruiting pipeline. However, I think the money needed to hire the 3-4 plus pay a buyout of Barnes are not realistic

Yeah outside of frustrated fans on this board, no one is seriously talking about firing Barnes. However, the SEC is raising the bar. It isn't just Tennessee, every SEC school minus UK, Donovan Florida, and Nolan Richardson Arkansas have pretty much sucked in the Tournament. Musselman's Arkansas might be another exception.

Donovan's Florida even had a drought for 7-8 years straight of 1st/2nd round losses prior to back-to-back titles.

Sad thing is that you could put Butler in the SEC right now and they have more Final Fours than 75% of the conference.

 

[volbound1700]

Not more than B10 schools. The Big Ten’s deal with CBS, Fox, and NBC dwarfed what the SEC got from ESPN. B10 programs are expected to get close to $100 million a year after all is said and done.

That will chance once Oklahoma and Texas joins the SEC. However, I can guarantee you the SEC is getting a lot more $$$ than ACC, Big12, Pac12, Big East, etc.

Tennessee has way more resources than schools like Butler, Villanova, Seton Hall, Florida Atlantic, etc. that have done far more in March than we have.

 

[MOOOOONEY]

You say that but that’s often not the way it ends up happening in sports. Look at Jimbo, Tucker at Mich St., and others in football. For basketball, Cal is the first person that pops in my mind. Barnes is producing top 15-20 results making top 5 salary. That’s not horribly out of whack.

Jimbo has won a national championship.

Calipari has won a national championship and been to multiple final fours.

Tucker like Barnes is a head scratcher.

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

Oh i agree. I genuinely like Barnes and realize we are now cruising as a program but this current trajectory is needing to go higher. But at end of the day, Barnes is likely only here for 2-3 more seasons max…. So I’d rather much roll with him even with the likely ending being known each year then kick the tires on him, doing a buyout, and going the mid major route.

I’m not opposed to parting with him but there are prolly only 3-4 coaches I would do it for and they would have to be locked up 10000% before considering it.

Agreed.

Im not even remotely suggesting they fire Barnes or anything. The guy has done enough in the game and is genuinely nice enough that he deserves to go out on his own terms barring unexpected disaster. 2 to 3 seasons sounds about right.

Same thing thats happening here is what happened to him ( and happens to most coaches eventually wherever they are) in Texas though. Things are going to get stale as we keep hitting that Sweet 16 ceiling at best every year and flaming out against lower seeds.

One thing I do feel better about if/when they make a move than in past years is White. Took a bit of a leap of faith with him on Heupel and its working out great obviously. I think he will bring in a solid replacement when the time comes.

 

[hUTch2002]

Jimbo has won a national championship.

Calipari has won a national championship and been to multiple final fours.

Tucker like Barnes is a head scratcher.

Fair on the NCs. Cal hasn’t done squat since 2015 and Jimbo since Famous Jameis. If it was pay for performance those guys should be getting reduced salaries but that’s not how it works.