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[livefaith]

I heard Fulmer interviewed during halftime of the TN BB game this weekend. Why want someone ask this question?

"Many Vol fans were under the impression that TN was in position to get Jon Gruden as our next coach. Was Gruden ever truly in play? If so, what went wrong? If not, why were the rumors never shot down by UT?"

I wish they would have asked that. I wish even more that Fulmer would have said... "Because we love watching the Fiasco play out. It's one of the most hilarious things ever."

 

[TNnative]

10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

This article had some interesting but not earth shattering observations - like how early signing impacted coaching searches - until it hit this little snag:

"Within college athletics circles, the school's brand was far more damaged over the last two weeks than Currie's. He'll certainly resurface somewhere soon."

There are always multiple ways of looking at events, but that one is off the rails. The greater part of the whole issue will almost certainly be the issue of contract negotiation - when it changes from negotiation to something binding - how you "correctly" address terms including having them in writing before the sides officially commit (before all the requisite signatures are in place).

If Currie went out on his own without legal input on a legally binding document that perhaps didn't include who had to sign to make it binding, it sure looks difficult to understand how it wasn't "malpractice" on Currie's part. Hard to blame "rookie error" on someone supposed to be an expert on running an athletic department.

In the end, though, it's really hard to justify that a lightweight AD's reputation (and error) is more important than an institution. UT was around long before Currie and will be around long after him and his memory.

10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

IMHO, the Gruden unicorn hurt us far more than the Schiano fiasco. It ranks right up there with the burning mattresses. It made us a national laughingstock and certifiably stupid. I wish Pruitt the best, but nobody will seriously argue that he was a hot commodity in the coaching market. If he turns out to be a bust, I pray to God that the name Gruden is never spoken again in the same sentence as Tennessee.

Good points, MAYBE. But if you want to get to the heart of the matter, you have to look internally. Blame Currie if you want, but he is gone and soon forgotten. Blame fans desire for a Super Bowl winning coach. So what?

What is going to last is how cutthroat the work environment at Tennessee has become. How info on a coaching hire was leaked and from their views, false rumor was used to slander him. Forget anything about Schiano that led Tennessee people to believe he was an unfit coaching candidate. Who would want to work in a cesspool like that? That will be the lasting perception, whether it is deserved or not hardly matters.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

I disagree and said so for a couple of months.

Firing Jones this season as so many on here demanded is the sole reason for the embarrassing coaching search and potentially embarrassing coaching hire.

But all you FAHR Butch boys got your wish. Now you've got to sleep with the consequences.

Damn son. I supported Butch thru all of last season,
but it was painfully obvious that he lost it. I gave him every benefit of the doubt possible, but after hearing incessantly how loaded this team was/is in talent to watch the abysmal performances one could only conclude that is was coaching that led to the failure. This was the worst .team.in.UT.HISTORY. And,
with a supposedly loaded roster.

How can you possibly still be carrying a torch for Butch?

I will give you this though.
He SHOULD have been fired after losing to Vandy last season. In my opinion.

And pray the CJP hire wasn't as big of a bust as the search that led to him.

On THAT, we agree. I certainly hope he loses his next game.

 

[Tnmitch]

Florida would be better.

Agree

 

[PACKERVOL]

Anyone who ever mentions the following coaches for the head coaching position at UT should be permanently banned from any Vol activity. Kiffin, Gundy, Gruden, and that defensive coordinator at Ohio St.

 

[Smokey X]

[twitter]https://twitter.com/SportsPundette/status/940637259178610688[/twitter]

[twitter]https://twitter.com/DanWolken/status/892522066544644097[/twitter]

now this is a true nugget - what a hypocrite he is

thx for finding

 

[ProudVOLfan]

Alabama cares about winning. They arent Tennessee.

Maybe we should just plant trees inside Neyland since UT doesnt care about winning. Granted there have been several stupid decisions made in the past but hopefully we can get back to winning.
I sure aint wanting them to fail just to prove a point

 

[thistime]

What the Natonal Media just does not understand is that the Schiano fiasco was not as mush about him as it was about the bad hires of the past 10 or 15 years.

Our AD has done an absolutely terrible job of hiring coaches in all of our sports programs. Look at our teams success against the rest of the SEC and Country in EVERY sport not just football and you will see we have fallen in every single one to all time lows.

We all know who has been pulling the strings since Dickey and Johnson retired no matter how much denial they are in. If we as a fan base and a University allow one small group to take over again I am afraid we will be right back where we are now.

One thing to watch out for is Bill Haslam and the University Presidency. Since any thoughts of higher office seem to be out the window, because in some part of the Pilot deal, that is something the "Family" is now looking at.

 

[orangesicle]

The guys can write whatever he wants but I would like to understand how he can make a statement about other ADs being "giddy" with Fulmer in place. They may know Fulmer but no one knows what kind of AD he will be in the end. The AD, in its simplest form, raises $s, sets athletic department policy, sets performance expectations for the department and interfaces w/Admin to ensure they are informed and in agreement with any situations that would require their input/approval.

I realize there is a lot more to it but fundamentally this covers 80% of the job (IMO). In other words if he raises a ton of $; increases profits (through winning) and avoids scandals there is a good chance he is around for a long time.

What basis does the author have to suggest he can't do that at a high level?

Time will tell but until then more fake news IMO

The point is that Fulmer has no experience as an AD. I agree that he probably will stick his nose into Pruitt's coaching. If you don't think that Fulmer is still bitter over his firing,you're just not being realistic.

 

[AM64]

What the Natonal Media just does not understand is that the Schiano fiasco was not as mush about him as it was about the bad hires of the past 10 or 15 years.

Our AD has done an absolutely terrible job of hiring coaches in all of our sports programs. Look at our teams success against the rest of the SEC and Country in EVERY sport not just football and you will see we have fallen in every single one to all time lows.

We all know who has been pulling the strings since Dickey and Johnson retired no matter how much denial they are in. If we as a fan base and a University allow one small group to take over again I am afraid we will be right back where we are now.

One thing to watch out for is Bill Haslam and the University Presidency. Since any thoughts of higher office seem to be out the window, because in some part of the Pilot deal, that is something the "Family" is now looking at.

Yep. In reality it was simply a big collective Vol "Hell no. Not again." The allegation against Schiano was honest belief by some and simply a useful argument for others to block a hire that should never have made it past the thought process - an incredibly stupid blunder by arrogant, incompetent AD.

Whether there was ever any real basis in the allegation, it would have haunted UT in two ways. It would certainly have been a negative recruiting tool used against UT, and the press would have turned and used it against UT further damaging the reputation. The press and anyone beyond a competent half wit know the real reason for the Schiano rejection, but using the ploy strictly at face value gives them click bait fodder in the days of over abundant political correctness.

 

[AM64]

The point is that Fulmer has no experience as an AD. I agree that he probably will stick his nose into Pruitt's coaching. If you don't think that Fulmer is still bitter over his firing,you're just not being realistic.

The point is that until a job becomes a lateral move, nobody has experience in a position. The point is that even in a lateral move, conditions are truly never the same, and still nobody has experience in that particular position. The point is that we generally have enough luck to be offered the ability to advance upwards - with "no experience"; consider your plight otherwise.

The point is that the best, in fact the only decent, UTADs were football coaches first, and they didn't have the experience (according to you) to be an AD the day they got the job.

 

[TNnative]

1 - Gruden was happy to play along with our stupid fantasy of being our head coach. It just goes to show you're never to old or successful to enjoy a good troll job.

2 - Currie looks like the luckiest guy on the planet after all this. He gets 5 million to not have to be part of the most dysfunctional athletic department/fan base in college sports.

3 - I hope to dear Jesus the next time we go looking for a coach that social media doesn't play a role in the hire.

Well you know as well as I that until somebody with some real authority sits the feuding power players down in one room up there, it's going to be the same ole same ole.

They can blame the vocal fans, but when info gets leaked to fans about a coach 24 hours before any news of him being interviewed becomes public, that negative reaction has been orchestrated. That BS didn't happen just by chance.

And no matter where you stand on whether the move was good or not, it will be remembered the next time Tennessee needs to make a hire. There will be someone we will want to fill a key position who will say no due to this incident. 20 or 30 years ago, you could pull this kind of stuff and still have plenty of time to whitewash and spin it to your advantage. Now? Technology and advanced minute by minute communication has taken away most of those creative options.

If it happens, hopefully we can move forward. But I won't be holding my breath.

 

[andywilson001]

10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

This article had some interesting but not earth shattering observations - like how early signing impacted coaching searches - until it hit this little snag:

"Within college athletics circles, the school's brand was far more damaged over the last two weeks than Currie's. He'll certainly resurface somewhere soon."

There are always multiple ways of looking at events, but that one is off the rails. The greater part of the whole issue will almost certainly be the issue of contract negotiation - when it changes from negotiation to something binding - how you "correctly" address terms including having them in writing before the sides officially commit (before all the requisite signatures are in place).

If Currie went out on his own without legal input on a legally binding document that perhaps didn't include who had to sign to make it binding, it sure looks difficult to understand how it wasn't "malpractice" on Currie's part. Hard to blame "rookie error" on someone supposed to be an expert on running an athletic department.

In the end, though, it's really hard to justify that a lightweight AD's reputation (and error) is more important than an institution. UT was around long before Currie and will be around long after him and his memory.

10 takeaways from the college football coaching carousel

What Currie did, as far as the contract goes, is pretty common practice... The top UT officials will not be involved in the contract negotiation process. They will simply review and approve it once an agreement is reached. You can't expect Davenport and the CFO to sit in on each of these negotiation meetings... Currie made a lot of mistakes, but this wasn't one of them.

If you buy into the idea that we owe Schiano something, then why aren't we saying the same thing about Jeff Brohm? It was reported that he also signed an MOU that Davenport rejected. Wouldn't Brohm be entitled to the same thing Schiano is allegedly entitled to?

 

[AM64]

What Currie did, as far as the contract goes, is pretty common practice... The top UT officials will not be involved in the contract negotiation process. They will simply review and approve it once an agreement is reached. You can't expect Davenport and the CFO to sit in on each of these negotiation meetings... Currie made a lot of mistakes, but this wasn't one of them.

If you buy into the idea that we owe Schiano something, then why aren't we saying the same thing about Jeff Brohm? It was reported that he also signed an MOU that Davenport rejected. Wouldn't Brohm be entitled to the same thing Schiano is allegedly entitled to?

You would think it all has to do with the terminology - Memorandum of Understanding vs Contract of Employment. One says what the terms would be so that there wouldn't be any disagreement regarding the contract itself.

Of course, just being an engineer and dealing with mundane facts - like technical specifications (after sometimes arduous debate) only being important if a purchase agreement is actually signed; logic would say that owing Schiano, Brohm, or anybody else would only be contingent upon signing a contract of employment.

 

[Pride85]

IMHO, the Gruden unicorn hurt us far more than the Schiano fiasco. It ranks right up there with the burning mattresses. It made us a national laughingstock and certifiably stupid. I wish Pruitt the best, but nobody will seriously argue that he was a hot commodity in the coaching market. If he turns out to be a bust, I pray to God that the name Gruden is never spoken again in the same sentence as Tennessee.

The "Gruden Unicorn" wasn't Currie; it was deluded fans that haven't learned their lesson after multiple repeated heart breaks. Everyone knows what doing the same time over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of, correct?

 

[Orangedogsrule]

The point is that until a job becomes a lateral move, nobody has experience in a position. The point is that even in a lateral move, conditions are truly never the same, and still nobody has experience in that particular position. The point is that we generally have enough luck to be offered the ability to advance upwards - with "no experience"; consider your plight otherwise.

The point is that the best, in fact the only decent, UTADs were football coaches first, and they didn't have the experience (according to you) to be an AD the day they got the job.

Truth spoken here^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[82_VOL_83]

All the ego maniac had to do was come out and say thanks, but no thsnks. He played our fanbase shamelessly. He is dead to me!

omuhgawd!

 

[MikeVol44]

You know.....to the ignorant outsiders and geeks masquerading as sportswriters--it does look like the search here for a HC was a mess.

And they FAIL to understand that the GREAT UPSIDE of the entire mess created years ago when HAMILTON and his intellectual hack, Currie, hired KIFFIN was finally to install a FOOTBALL MAN into the AD leadership that we haven't had since DICKEY.

Attitude in a program is a reflection of leadership. Bringing back FULMER will prove to be the best thing we have done to re-establish an administration leadership team to see the VALUE of a winning FB program.

As Fulmer said in his first presser--FOOTBALL is the engine that drives the train. And FULMER knows that Pruitt is a FOOTBALL MAN, too!

A lot of folks gonna be eating some crow in a few years...

GO VOLS!

 

[Dudley Smith]

I think Currie will have a difficult time finding a job as an AD anytime soon. The Dan Wolken’s and Pete Thamel’s of the world won’t be the ones hiring him and the people he has worked with all hate his guts. The president at Washington State who hired Currie at Kansas State needs an AD and just said this weekend that Currie isn’t under consideration for that job. Who else is going to give Currie a favorable recommendation? Bill Snyder? Frank Martin? Beverly Davenport? Butch Jones? Heck, even Jimmy Haslam is probably mad at Currie for losing his nerve and pulling the plug on his boy Schiano. Currie’s name is mud right now.

 

[Rifleman]

Dan Wolken, who grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and graduated from Vandy in 2001?

I wonder if he might have experienced some Vols-related butt hurt over the years? lol:lol:lol:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWl3cg-gdD8[/youtube]

 

[butchna]

The point is that Fulmer has no experience as an AD. I agree that he probably will stick his nose into Pruitt's coaching. If you don't think that Fulmer is still bitter over his firing,you're just not being realistic.

You’re not being realistic. The man was hired for a new job. He’ll be busy being great at it.