"95% chance Butch is fired..."

I think the time to be searching is always yesterday. We aren't chopped liver. It's a matter of paying top dollar for a great coach, or paying top dollar for a mediocre coach in 2 years anyway because he's the coach of a big time school like tennessee.

The bargain bin of coaches is a myth. You end up paying eventually if they win any games. The return on investment is better hiring someone transformational. We were paying saba prices when considering buyouts, lost revenue, etc anyway after hiring butch and Dooley

 

i understand that firing Butch after UGA would ensure that you avoid any messy situation if Butch were able to win out. After losing to UGA and piss-poor performances against Florida and UMass even the Butch supporters would get it.

But apart from that aspect is there any benefit from firing a coach this early in the season?
My fear is what happened at LSU happens here, although there is really no one other than Fulmer that seems likely to be interim that has UT connections the way Orgeron had at LSU.

For instance - Currie could have, right now, a deal in place that brings Shoops, Kelly, Gruden, or Patterson, into UT. So the timing of the firing would not matter on that end, right? Is it a matter of making it official? As in, if you have a handshake deal you can make it official after Jones is gone - so the sooner the better?

 

you can be far more open about contacting future coaches. hell you could actually hire chip kelly or gruden and give them that recruiting head start. like ohio state did with meyer. he was hired before the season was over wasn't he?

 

early takes away any cloud of uncertainty except for who the coach is going to be and we can start the next steps. I however don't have all the details of a buyout and if the number is 12 mil as mentioned to me last night, we aren't paying that unless there is a you suck clause or some type of clause about attendance or control of the team. No idea.

 

firing for cause is almost impossible. that being said they should be able to negotiate a number lower than the total buyout unless butch's agent thinks he'll never coach again since any future salary will off set the buyout unless you negotiate a lump sum.

 

This.

They won't pay out 12 mil.

 

Tennessee will be forced to pay 100% - every cent - of Jones' buyout.

 

You realize that a buyout isn't cash up front, right? They can pay that back over several years, and will do so.

 

I guess he'll get some kind of gig like Dooley, making a few hundred k. Maybe even a Tennessee Tech or someone of that ilk might take a chance, if he is willing to go dumpster diving.

 

They're saying that if Jones gets cash up front it will be a lot less than 12 million. Like maybe 5 million dollars to go away and never show his face in the state again.

 

That is the EXACT person that I thought would end up at A&M. And, there is a certain poetry to life, sometimes cruel. Arkansas fans HATE A&M. They would be incensed if Petrino ended up there.

I still want to be the first marquee program to the table though.

 

Where do I contribute?

 

most agents will negotiate a buyout so their clients can feel free to take whatever future position they want. it also severs all ties with the school. that being said, they might realize butch is such a dumpster fire that getting well paid future employment will be impossible and decide they want 100% of the money instead. that's fairly unusual though.

 

I'm not sure what future employment has to do with a buyout in a contract. If i'm an agent and the contract says 12 mil, we are getting 12 mil and my client can go work wherever he wants.

 

I don't care if we renegotiate to $15million. Get that mother****er out of my university.

 

No you wouldn't. Because Tennessee didn't sign a contract that would allow that to happen. The buyout is 2 million per year, offset by future earnings.

 

You don't fire Butch Jones until:

1. It's early November, or
2. He leaves you with no option (melts down, players quit, stadium at 55k, off the field scandal, etc.), or
3. You have your new guy in place AND he's ready to be at a presser with 96 hours

It's stupid to put yourself on the clock and to invite all of the scrutiny that a coaching search brings, at any point beforehand. My belief that he could be fired after UGA is just a guess that #2 occurs with a bad loss.

And remember, you only have to have permission to speak with a prospective coach who is currently under contract - but don't require any notice being given to, or permission received from anyone else before doing so, including from your existing coach.

John Currie could share a chalet in Gatlinburg with either Kelly or Gruden, and not need any permission to do so. And let's be really honest here, what prospective coach doesn't know that Butch is already done, even as if right now? But, if a prospective coach does have some concerns about wheher the gig is really going to open up (as in, you reach out to them before you officially fire Butch), the mere fact that Tennessee is reaching out to you, even if informally and through intermediaries, should put those concerns to rest, both quickly and easily.

This isn't rocket surgery.

 

ok. I know very little about coaches contracts and buyouts. Assumed the buyout was 12 mil flat.

 

Sumlin's is due within 60 days of dismissal.

 

I am in the wrong damn business. I want millions in Fail Money.