CrankE

Commitment. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means - Inigo Montoya.

Coach, to my eyes, it looked like some of you "went home" BEFORE bowl season (which is why there was no bowl season.

So let me see if I get this right; You're the head coach and in response to a dismal season, you draft a recovery plan that has almost as many pages as you have conference losses. And you expect to be taken seriously by your boss? Drew wasn't doomed by a new boss. I'm thinking it had more to do with that 0-19 conference record.

Beating Auburn in their building behind a team that has no draft picks is a good start. Pruitt hasn't yet done enough to help Tennessee or scare anybody else. Until he does, I can't see how he'd be a hot coaching candidate for any other jobs. Much less replacing Saban at Alabama. Finebaum means to tell us that Alabama would hitch the entire empire to a coach who has a grand total of one year's experience as a head coach? Sorry. Not buying.

+1

I'm with Oskie, I've seldom seen a sports reference in church that wasn't cringe-worthy. An honest pastor would call it idolatry, rather than cheer for their team from the pulpit.

+1

I thought he was leaving football altogether to like be a mentor and work with kids and such. Whatevs. Good luck to Drew "Breeze" Richmond. Why "Breeze"? That's what defenders did against him on their way to Tennessee quarterbacks. Maybe he'll get some good coaching.

On the upside, the young man will have more time to spend with his mom. This was the stated reason for the transfer, right? In this case, the existing rules would seem to dovetail well with his circumstances. Still though, the NCAA approves waivers all the time for bigtime players to play immediately for programs with enough sway. Why not for the little guy going to Illinois? You know, the "student athlete" that I keep hearing about. Brian Bosworth's T-shirt had it right thirty years ago. National Communists Against Athletes. So when the NCAA decides to get it right, apologize to the Boz too.

Try to keep up? I was commenting on the story. Not your comments (until now). As for Hyams, he's a Haslam mouthpiece.

If Barnes actually told a fib here, I feel confident that the league will step in and Pearl him with an 8 game suspension.

Barnes has a Strong Ass Denial. If only he were this engaged in working the referees during games... If it came from Jimmy Hyams then you KNOW it's true. Right?.....

Meanwhile, Bruce Pearl waits for his apology from the SEC.

Sad for Cobb and prayers to his family. Gonna go knock on YouTube for some Reggie Cobb highlights and listen to John Ward call it.

I thought maybe he got a parking ticket at 1:14. As much money as he's making, I'm asking HIM for a free one!

Best wishes for you, Lamonte Turner. When you need a dagger shot to go down at gametime, this is a guy who can get it for you. Turner is a Stone. Cold. Killer.

Coach Barnes better and get some hosses in here and meld them into a team. Tennessee ain't paying money for Rocking Chair Ricky from Hickory. We're paying Rick Flair kind of money so there ought to be some strong ass offers in there somewhere. If WWE Will Wade can do it, then Rick James Barnes needs to get a full length fur coat and make it happen.

Translation: Alleva has been given a "strong ass offer."

First! (4 days later.) Don't worry kid. Nobody else is putting much stock in your 4 TD spring game performance either.

except he's asking Nick for a bullet now.

The FBI probably doesn't want him to actually testify under oath, on the witness stand, indicted and charged with a crime because then his lawyer gets to cross examine the "evidence" the FBI has, how they obtained it, who their sources are, etc. It may also be that Wade can't offer the FBI any bigger fish to land, like one of the Basketball Rrrrregals. This just in, Anthony Jordan has been promoted to head of SEC basketball officials. As for Finebaum, if I'm Will Wade, I tell him he can stuff it. I don't owe Finebaum-a bought and paid for bammer shill one syllable. Will Wade will be rolling straight gangsta next year and frankly, why shouldn't he? The level of corruption in the game is widespread and is surely beyond anything Wade has done by himself.

DUKE Vitale. Need anyone say more?

If Barnes was so enamored with John Wooden and UCLA, then maybe UCLA should have offered him $35,000 per year. Wasn't that all that Wooden ever made? For years people have laughed at UT for paying big money for buyouts. Now we're paying big money for a great coach (which is what every school that wants a winner does) and suddenly there's a problem at UT? Huh? Finebaum is a bought and paid for Bammer and a disgrace to his degree.

I'm not upset at all. Rick Barnes has shown us that there's a stone cold killer side to him. Something that Texas thought he'd lost and something he has not yet shown at Tennessee. Why, if Rick Barnes were to recruit the way he worked this UCLA deal, we'd be near unstoppable. It's good news/bad news for Barnes. Good news is he's going to be paid a pile of money. Bad news is that he can't sell the square deal Rick Barnes anymore. Tennessee isn't paying for the square deal, aw shucks, rocking chair Rick. They're paying Ric Flair money now. And Fulmer has every right to expect those kind of results next season. Grins.

So wait. You mean to tell me that after running a coaching search that looked like one of Tennessee's, UCLA is hiring a coach from Cincinnati? (disclaimer; Someone else shouted this out and it was too good not to share.)

If you had told me that in 2019, the SEC would have a Final Four coach, a coach with a lifetime contract, a coach under the FBI's gaze, and a national coach of the year, I'd have expected that to be a single coach who made a legendary run. Instead, it's four separate coaches.

I'm really glad that we can keep Barnes. Frankly, if we go on a Texas sized run of 16 or 17 straight NCAA tournaments, that'll be just fine. Tennessee hasn't broken through yet because we simply haven't made a habit of first getting to the dance. I'm also glad because the calls for Bruce Gruden to return to Tennessee can be silenced. Love Bruce, but there's just no going back.

At Tennessee, Barnes can write his own story and his own legend. Sure, he'll be compared and contrasted with others here, but at last recollection, nobody's won the SEC tournament in a while, nobody's made the final four, and nobody's won a national championship at Tennessee. Barnes could be that guy here. Or he could go to UCLA, be daily scrutinized by the national press, play before half-filled arenas, and be constantly compared to John Wooden and found forever wanting. Coach, If you're even considering UCLA, then you should just go. For real. If you think that UCLA is the better job, then by all means take it. But I'll promise you that this is the best job you're ever going to have. If you leave Tennessee, we'll take a while to recover. But you will regret it to your grave. To. Your. Grave. For a coach that never wanted it to be about him, it sure does seem to be about him right now.

For either Georgia and/or Florida to jawbone about a home and home series is a joke-given that these two never play each other on a home and home basis.

Maybe he's holding out for a lifetime contract...