This is true per a prospective assistant coach's mom on the former and per Cincy's AD this morning on the later. My souces were floored and are PO'd. As others have stated, the Avi makes us physically ill.
I loved the discussion on this site! I lurk a lot on Volnation and I hardly ever post anywhere, but I'm posting here because of all the great discussion that you guys were having during the seach. All of you guys made this search fun for me. "TOOS" was, for me, a bit dreary and depressing on coaching speculation. The few Grudenites I saw there were always being dogged and treated as "intellectually challenged". The attitude on all the other boards seemed to suck all the fun out of the discussion, and a message board is supposed to be entertainment AS WELL AS informational. The posters here seemed to really enjoy themselves, and not act like they are presenting dissertation defenses. Tenacious D brought a Fox Mulder "The Truth is Out There" vibe to the whole thing.....and life is always so much better when the Illuminati are seen to be pulling the strings! While TOS and TOOS were shutting down discussion for fear of looking foolish on a MESSAGE BOARD, everybody here was welcomed and got entertainment as well as good information, even if everything didn't completely pan out. Life hardly ever turns out as predicted. There is always stuff behind the curtain, and I have little doubt that a lot of what Tenny D was saying is/was true. Too much smoke for there not to be fire. Having said all that, I think Butch Jones will be ok. He kind of reminds me of Les Miles with the Michigan look about him. Maybe he'll go full "Mad Hatter" and we'll have that to enjoy on the sidelines in the coming years. Anyway, I hope that you folks will let me post here again, and I want to thank Tenny and NYYVol for a whole lot of fun. I love this site, and I love that everyone here isn't so dad-blamed serious all the time. I love Tennessee Football, and I want to win, but it's all a game......and this site and its posters make that game FUN.
Question 1. It is beyond my comprehension that any AD would turn down a chance to get Jon Gruden. Why was Hart so against bringing in Jon? Question 2. Was Peyton playing a role in helping recruit Jon? Did Peyton and Jon ever sit down and discuss the job? Question 3. Was there ever a MOU and how far along in the process did Jon get with the boosters? Where they pretty much there? Question 4. Is it true, I'm guessing not, when Hyams reported that Haslam was the one blocking the Gruden deal? Why was this put out?
Wait a minute. Are you saying that as late as, say, 10pm last night Gruden was still in play, and indeed was set to be the next head coach here? So, as a follow up, what in the hell happened?
Peyton, Haslam et al: "As long as we've got the $18M in one place, why don't we all take a long vacation after the Super Bowl."
I would like to say that I appreciate TD's integrity. Like all of us at one time or another, he was wrong. Without making excuses, he just said it. I respect that. I wish so many others were so honest.
Tenny D - don't worry. I'm eating my crow elsewhere and I had my own sources. I let you lead the way here because of the respect you had garnered. I have a close personal friend that just happens to be the business banking relationship manager for a couple of the bigshots and I was hearing the Gruden rumblings all the way back in September. You just solidified my stance. I would hear more from him and then more from you and get more and more confident by the day. We were wrong - none of us are perfect. Keyboard warriors will beat their chest and cuss guys like us but really, who cares? I'm not on this forum for any reason other than I like the people here. I appreciate you hosting the forum for all of the members. Everybody has a mind of their own and make their own choices and decisions in life. No one was forced to believe what you were hearing. I could make a post that says I'm 100% convinced that NYYVol is heterosexual but we all know that's not the case. Just because someone says it don't mean it's true or anyone else has to believe it. Keep your head up and thanks again for a great forum where people can gather and make fun of each other and themselves without getting their ass in a sling about it.
Hey Tenny, I would have rather have had hope for while as none at all. This has all been a good distraction for me-even though I hate the ending. I don't even know you, but everything you were saying rang true to me. I believe your information was accurate, but everyone knows that when dealing with people, you are dealing with variables. It looks as if Hart and Cheek were the variables that took off in an unpredictable and unreasonable direction. If this coach surprises us all, it won't really vindicate Hart in my mind. Given the critical stage in which we find our program, when the AD needed to go for the gold, he went for mediocrity and embarrassed our great tradition in the process. I remember sitting in the end zone bleachers when I was a kid during Bill Battle's last couple of years, and this has to be the most disheartened I have ever been as a fan. I appreciate the graciousness in which you carry yourself, and thanks for providing a place like this.
No ****ing way I'm shooting the messenger in all this. Still no doubt in my mind that for whatever strange, odd, and unknown reason(s), Hart and/or Cheek did not want Gruden. Hart probably didn't want him because of the innate battle between alpha male egos. Cheek probably didn't want him because it would arguably take all focus off his "top 25" project. Hart and Cheek, above all, ****ed this thing up right ****ing proper.. This is a [dadgum] man bites dog story. How does a school administration ostensibly fart in the general direction of a handful of multi-gazillionaire boosters of the university?!???!?? How in unholy Hell do the likes of Arkansas, Auburn and mothe****ing Kentucky wind up with a better hire than Tennessee? Makes no ****ing sense at all.
When it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's logical for people to conclude it's a duck. TennyD and others, I'm convinced had the first 2 right... I don't blame him or anybody else for concluding it was gonna be a duck. This was virtually a coup d'etat between administration and boosters. What other school operates like this? Bama sure as shit doesn't... and you see what happens? Saban. Boom. Jesus Christ.. I'm so [dadgum] pissed I can't see straight.
I'm just sickened by all of this. I get the feeling that most of our fan base (and a good chunk of the media) always assumed Gruden was a pipe dream, and probably aren't as incensed as they would otherwise be. If it can be made known (i) how close he actually came to being our coach, and (ii) who was responsible for making sure it didn't happen, we might have another round of mattress burning on our hands. I guess my questions revolve around whether we can ever expect the whole story to be told, or is it even worth it at this point for the Gruden pursuers to open up about it? It might also be interesting to see if Hargis at the TFP still has something to say.
I'm not leaving the 8th because of Dave Hart's imbecilic hire, I can assure you of that. No need to stick your neck out any more.
