UTC's David Blackburn says no official contact with UT on job

#201
#201
I will admit men's basketball has improved tremendously in pay over the past 10 years or so but football is the money maker.
 
#202
#202
landscapingvol said:
We can all agree that hiring a "sure" thing is next to impossible but to suggest that there aren't far better resumes out there than the coaches we have settled for is a bit dishonest and money played a major factor. I mean good grief Donny Tyndall had more baggage than a 747. Lane Kiffin had never accomplished anything as a head coach prior to UT. Derek Dooley had one winning season as a head coach prior to UT. Holly Warlick had never been a head coach at any level and had no major college job offers as an assistant. Butch Jones had a moderate level of success and he has done ok so I will give him the benefit of the doubt but IF we are willing to pay top money but can't find a coach that is willing to work here with let's say a conference championship, a BCS bowl berth, or the experience of turning a program around on their resume then we have deeper issues than I thought.
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Look who LSU hired.
 
#203
#203
sport3500 said:
Huesman took the Richmond job so now Blackburn is looking for a new head football coach.
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If he is going to be UTAD he won't be able to hire a coach UTC because a coach wants to know who his boss will be, I think this is correct, right?
 
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#205
#205
Geaux said:
Why do people say this? Is it because someone from x school doesn't understand expectations or that you all think they are going to sabatoge the AD? Serious question.
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Coach Doug Mathews is a strong proponent of hiring an AD with Tennessee ties this time. Said we're one of the very few, if not the only major program in the country, that has no one in administration with ties to the university in some capacity....from the campus president to the chancellor to the provost to the AD. He said that, in his mind, it matters because a guy like Blackburn, who spent 28 years at Tennessee and is an alumnus, has more invested in Tennessee and will be more likely to make the best major decisions based on his knowledge of our history and traditions and will uniquely make them in a way that always benefits the university.....vs a guy who's brought in from a place like Oregon or Ohio or somewhere who will be making decisions based on his paycheck without the same type of knowledge unique to Tennessee.

Now, to be fair, he did balance that by saying that Dickey was the best AD he ever worked for and did a great job here, while having roots in Florida.

However, he said given the recent history of our university leadership and the major failures within our Athletic Department, and the disharmony between the two, that now would be the time to bring in a "Tennessee guy" to move things forward.
 
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#206
#206
landscapingvol said:
He had at least won a few games with LSU as the head coach but that will probably be a terrible hire in the long run. I won't make excuses for their stupidity.
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Doesn't meet your "resume" criteria...so they have "deeper issues"...was more my point. What kind of mess is going on down in Baton Rouge? :scare:
 
#207
#207
butchna said:
Doesn't meet your "resume" criteria...was more my point. What kind of mess is going on down in Baton Rouge? :scare:
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No it doesn't and history tells us that he will be a poor fit which is precisely my point. He may turn out to be great but I have my doubts.
 
#208
#208
landscapingvol said:
No it doesn't and history tells us that he will be a poor fit which is precisely my point. He may turn out to be great but I have my doubts.
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Point being that LSU didn't skimp financially and still ended up with him. Paid 2 mil to keep their DC away from Texas and their second choice as HC. Chalk it off as a MISTAKE but what were their options? Tennessee bites the bullet and fires Butch after losing to Vandy? Where are we now? Read a post that stated that we can't keep a coach out of FEAR...ok? How about firing someone without someone better guaranteed to take the job? That's called stupidity. An athletic department that has never failed to pony up and has tradition through the ying yang couldn't find anyone better than Orgeron? This fanbase as a collective has always been ready when a change was needed. But when you fire for effect and emotion, you generally burn more than you intended.
GpHD4YG.gif
 
#209
#209
jos3ywales said:
I have looked and looked for the Article I seen last week and now it is no where to be found. Maybe it was one of the bogus artlicles and has since been taken down. When I seen it I was quite surprised I figured someone from here had seen it. I could very well be wrong but I did read it. What it said was anyone that was involved in the title 9 and was at UT in that ERA including when Coach Fulmer was the Coach at UT until to Date she would not want them involved in the UTAD in any way shape or form, then it said which would include David Blackburn being hired as UTAD. I in no way claim to know all that goes on I was just hoping someone else had seen it and could explain to me if it was true or not.
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Your not crazy, I remember seeing that same article and thinking to myself that we was doomed and we was going to become a Vanderbilt. I was/am afraid this new admin will concentrate on academics and put athletics on the back burner. Now don't get me wrong academics are important and the main reason for a "college" but I want the best of both worlds.
 
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#210
#210
landscapingvol said:
It doesn't have to be a "big" name coach but a coach that has at least accomplished something. Take Florida for example, they didn't hire huge name coaches with the exception of the Muschamp lunacy, but they hired guys who had at least proven they could coach. Urban Meyer had taken a team to a BCS bowl, Mcelwain had turned around the Colorado State team, Freeze had turned around two programs before being hired at Auburn, Virginia Tech hired Fuente a guy who had turned around Memphis, Virginia hired Bronco Mendenhall a guy who had built a good program at BYU, etc. I am not suggesting that UT has to hire a Gruden, Saban, Belicheck type hire but at least someone with a track record of success and that is the issue. I realize Barnes had success is his past but the guy is well past his prime. He is at least doing a decent job. Jones has had some decent success but followed successful coaches so he has had no real experience rebuilding a program. I will give him credit he has done a decent job as well but you can't expect results from coaches that have never really had any at any level as a head coach. You can't then claim that money is not an issue when other schools with no history are able to make better hires. Because if coaches are rejecting UT no matter the price then UT needs to fire its entire athletic department.
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Several coaches were interviewed when Kiffin was hired, head coaches at other places. it was true that Hamilton had already settled on Kiffin when interviewing those coaches but he did speak with them

there were 9 or 10 coaches told us no before Dooley was hired. No to even having a conversation not no to an offer. I believe all were head coaches. Was an impossible situation to get people to come ot.

Gundy and Strong said no, Strong after agreeing to take the job. before Jones..
 
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#211
#211
LWSVOL said:
Several coaches were interviewed when Kiffin was hired, head coaches at other places. it was true that Hamilton had already settled on Kiffin when interviewing those coaches but he did speak with them

there were 9 or 10 coaches told us no before Dooley was hired. No to even having a conversation not no to an offer. I believe all were head coaches. Was an impossible situation to get people to come ot.

Gundy and Strong said no, Strong after agreeing to take the job. before Jones..
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Piss poor athletic organization at work. Tennessee should never have 10 coaches not even want to have a discussion.
 
#213
#213
jos3ywales said:
One of my Concerns is, I read a article where the new Chancellor said she would not want anyone in the new AD that was here or had anything to do when the Title 9 was going on and/or during or after the CPF era. That which would include David Blackburn coming in as UTAD. I wish I could find it again, I would post it.
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Not doubting that, however, that would immediately open UT to another round of discrimination lawsuits. It may have been sometime speaking on her behalf and it got pulled.
 
#214
#214
landscapingvol said:
Are you suggesting that Dooley and Jones were UT's ultimate targets? You don't think money played into other candidates saying no? Alabama wasn't exactly a juggernaut when they hired Saban and had experienced quite a few issues but enough money changes things
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I know for a fact that after Dooley was fired, Jones was the main target.
 
#216
#216
LWSVOL said:
Several coaches were interviewed when Kiffin was hired, head coaches at other places. it was true that Hamilton had already settled on Kiffin when interviewing those coaches but he did speak with them

there were 9 or 10 coaches told us no before Dooley was hired. No to even having a conversation not no to an offer. I believe all were head coaches. Was an impossible situation to get people to come ot.

Gundy and Strong said no, Strong after agreeing to take the job. before Jones..
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I will give you the Dooley fiasco on timing but Kiffin should have never been hired and was do to ease. You know he was settled on from the beginning. In terms of Dooley, why settle on anyone if you know he is not the solution. You know as well as I do the AD was split on Dooley in the first place. Even with Jones, while they did strike out with Strong money played a major factor in other more qualified options. Gundy was never a viable option it was nothing more than a raise aide for him. Tyndall hire was an utter disgrace
 
#217
#217
landscapingvol said:
That's the issue, there are only a handful of coaches who have achieved sustained success at multiple programs. They are Saban, Meyer, and Harbaugh. After that you have a bunch of coaches who have achieved success at times but not consistently like Sumlin, Malzahn, Kelly, Dabo, Freeze, and several others. Could UT be better off under one of them? Maybe, but it would cost a heck of a lot of money to possibly get either of them and you may not see any real improvement. Unfortunately, that is nature of college football at the moment with a handful of teams and coaches dominating the game. Even if UT had the same amount of big money donors as Alabama, which they don't, Saban wouldn't leave Alabama for UT neither would Meyer or Harbaugh so at this point we have to hope that Jones can build a winning program here. Maybe a Chip Kelly wants to get back into college in a year or two or Gruden? Otherwise, UT like 99% of the other programs in college football will take a risk with an up and coming coach.
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Your mention of Gruden invalidates any opinion you might put forth.....just sayin.
 
#218
#218
butchna said:
Point being that LSU didn't skimp financially and still ended up with him. Paid 2 mil to keep their DC away from Texas and their second choice as HC. Chalk it off as a MISTAKE but what were their options? Tennessee bites the bullet and fires Butch after losing to Vandy? Where are we now? Read a post that stated that we can't keep a coach out of FEAR...ok? How about firing someone without someone better guaranteed to take the job? That's called stupidity. An athletic department that has never failed to pony up and has tradition through the ying yang couldn't find anyone better than Orgeron? This fanbase as a collective has always been ready when a change was needed. But when you fire for effect and emotion, you generally burn more than you intended.
GpHD4YG.gif
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Have never advocated for Jones being fired that would be a disaster. My point is the UT AD drove this program into the ground the last decade and the boosters aren't willing just to waste their money even when we had better viable options and I don't blame them. A lot of bridges need to be rebuilt between the AD and boosters which is why I have little faith in major changes
 
#219
#219
LWSVOL said:
Several coaches were interviewed when Kiffin was hired, head coaches at other places. it was true that Hamilton had already settled on Kiffin when interviewing those coaches but he did speak with them

there were 9 or 10 coaches told us no before Dooley was hired. No to even having a conversation not no to an offer. I believe all were head coaches. Was an impossible situation to get people to come ot.

Gundy and Strong said no, Strong after agreeing to take the job. before Jones..
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Im curious as to who all was interviewed in 08. Little before I started following so in depth and it would be interesting to know.
 
#222
#222
landscapingvol said:
Jones was the main target after other main targets declined for various reasons including funding. But no, Jones was not THE main target in the beginning. He became it.
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Strong accepted and the wife convinced him otherwise over night. He was scheduled into Knoxville and called to decline after saying yes..
 
#223
#223
LWSVOL said:
Strong accepted and the wife convinced him otherwise over night. He was scheduled into Knoxville and called to decline after saying yes..
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I am not criticizing the effort on Strong. He had a good resume. You do the best you can. Even Jones for all is flaws had a decent resume but I am highly critical of the Kiffin and Dooley disasters. They could have both been avoided and we are still paying the price for them.
 
#224
#224
TennVOLS93 said:
Im curious as to who all was interviewed in 08. Little before I started following so in depth and it would be interesting to know.
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most did not interview. they accepted call and declined to speak about job. Not sure I can recall all of them. Do you mean 2010? it was before hiring Dooley

in no particular order except my memory

Mendenhall

Whittingham

Calhoun

Kelly

Patterson

Gundy

Cutcliffe

Muschamp

Golden

Sumlin (he didn't turn them down but they did speak with and likely would have went that direction had Dooley said no. negotiations might not of worked but who knows)
 
#225
#225
LWSVOL said:
most did not interview. they accepted call and declined to speak about job. Not sure I can recall all of them. Do you mean 2010? it was before hiring Dooley

in no particular order except my memory

Mendenhall

Whittingham

Calhoun

Kelly

Patterson

Gundy

Cutcliffe

Muschamp

Golden

Sumlin (he didn't turn them down but they did speak with and likely would have went that direction had Dooley said no. negotiations might not of worked but who knows)
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The year Fulmer was fired.
 
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