Tennessee Hires Jon Gruden or Chip Kelly

Discussion in 'Vols Football' started by Tenacious D, Sep 19, 2017.

  1. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Tennessee could hire either Jon Gruden or Chip Kelly, that is, if they wanted to.

    The school's tradition, participation in the SEC, world-class facilities, broad / wide / ravenous fan base, recruiting prowess, the talent of its current roster - oh, and there is plenty of money to do it, even enough to buy out Butch & Co., and still assemble a world-class assistant coaching staff.

    There is absolutely no reason why Tennessee could not land either Jon Gruden or Chip Kelly.

    If they wanted to.

    The only question - and it's the preeminet one - is whether or not they want to, and will.

    But they absolutely 1000% could have either of them.
     
  2. NorrisAlan

    NorrisAlan Founder of the Mike Honcho Fan Club

    We first have to get over our "We are #2!" syndrome. Stop playing second fiddle to Alabama in football and Kentucky in basketball. We take pride in that shit, and it pisses me off.
     
  3. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    EDIT: One of the insiders can confirm / refute this if they wish, but I think that I heard / read somewhere that it was Currie who was telling people that Gruden could be had after Fulmer's firing.

    Given Currie's familiarity with Tennessee, from both the inside and outside of the program (e.g. fans, boosters, Admin, etc.), and an understanding of how his success would be so directly tied to the football program and any hire he made, would have allowed him to leave KState without positive assurances from all involved that he would have the freedom / backing / ability to hire his own guy, when the time to do so came.

    Absent those those assurances, and particularly as he watched Hambone's (Currie's mentor) undoing when he was hamstrung by the Haslams hiring Dooley, you simply don't take this gig without this matter being firmly settled and agreed.

    This should give everyone a great deal of much-needed hope, that this time around may be quite different.
     
  4. chavisut

    chavisut Dan Mullen Fan Club President

    We'd be in NC contention by year 3.
     
  5. NorrisAlan

    NorrisAlan Founder of the Mike Honcho Fan Club

    Year 2. And not year 0-year 2. Actual year 2.
     
  6. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Yes. Either would be program-changing hires.
     
  7. Beechervol

    Beechervol Super Moderator

    I could see Gruden burned out on the subject after the last run.

    Kelly is more attainable.
     
  8. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    You may be right, but my point is this: Any notion that Tennessee couldn't land one of these coaches, is patently false.

    My list might swell to include Bob Stoops, but it wouldn't go beyond that.

    And like JG said earlier, all three would have to file a restraining order on me - and then I'd repeatedly violate it, until one of them said Yes. This doesn't have to be any more difficult than Tennessee wants to make it.
     
  9. cotton

    cotton Stand-up Philosopher

    Your point is a good one--that there is a big name, sure fire rainmaker out there if UT is willing to pay him and give him the resources he wants.

    I just think it is a mistake to pin your only hope on one or two individuals. Gruden may not want to screw with coaching, or coaching in college. Kelly may prefer LA to Gatlinburg. And if that's the case, there isn't anything that can, or should, be done about it. There are other people that can win here. Find one and pay him.
     
  10. Lexvol

    Lexvol Super Moderator

    History says a tier 2 hire is much more likely. Kelly is a marquee name, but I'm shocked there aren't more reservations given his loss to Cheesit.
     
  11. A-Smith

    A-Smith Chieftain

    Let me educate you on math.
     
  12. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    1. Cash talks. So does commitment. But cash speaks loudest.

    2. I don't think Saban preferred Tuscaloossa over Miami. Bama had to woo and relentlessly pursue him, just as Michigan did with Harbaugh. Tennessee isn't - and shouldn't be - above that, if that's what it takes.

    3. These guys aren't the only two who could win here, nor would hiring them be a guarantee of success - but they are inarguably the two (three, including Stoops) with the proven ability to consistently win against a high level of competition, and who in turn, present the greatest chance / least risk of winning here, both immediately and in the long-term.

    4. Through many factors, notably including it's own near-sightedness and ineptitude, Tennessee is now quagmired in 10+ years of futility and mediocrity, from top to bottom. The need to reestablish the program amongst the elite is perhaps greater now than ever before. Having torched all of its Get Out Of Jail Free cards, and pissed on the ashes - Tennessee no longer has the luxury of continuing to make hires with any unnecessary risk. Gruden, Kelly & Stoops are not only the three best but least risky hires that they could make, and all three are just sitting there, for the taking.

    5. I'm not pinning my hopes on these three guys, or that Tennessee will somehow and miraculously get it right this go-around, but it's entirely reasonable and appropriate to expect that they should, wherever they can. And my original point, which both stands and remains, is that they absolutely could hire any of the three...if only they want to do so. And if they don't, then simply because they wouldn't, and not because they couldn't.
     
  13. TDVol1989

    TDVol1989 Always Be Menstruating

    I don't disagree, but especially with Kelly, you need to move and BEFORE the end of the season. I think UT's history of infighting and bumbling the hiring process would make some handshake "in principle" agreement to be inked at season end about useless. UCLA and A&M are likely going to be making changes and Kelly is THE marquee name on the board. Stoops is next.

    Currie needs to be in the mad lab now!
     
  14. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    And if Tennessee could hire Gruden, Kelly or Stoops and doesn't, simply because they don't want to do what that took, then it becomes unavoidable for me to believe that what they desire and I (and many others) expect for this program will have become so divergent as to be irreconcilable, going forward.
     
  15. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    There is no doubt that schools are already reaching out / having informal discussions / sending feelers to each, and that such began well before today.
     
  16. A-Smith

    A-Smith Chieftain

    Yes. Unless Currie has some insanely low (read Dave Hart level) standard then Butch is a dead man walking. If so, he should absolutely act soon. It does not have t be now, but it should be in October. Clock starts ticking rapidly on Nov. 1 on the marquee names. Texas A&M, Florida, LSU, Notre Dame, UCLA, Nebraska, and Auburn will all potentially be looking. Have to beat them to the punch.
     
  17. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    UT will always be an option for Gruden. Especially with a change in AD like we had with Hart gone.

    Don't ever discount what this place means to him and his family.
     
  18. A-Smith

    A-Smith Chieftain

    Yeah this is their last chance with me. If they get it wrong, I'll be tuning out. And probably never look back.
     
  19. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Here we are.
     
  20. NorrisAlan

    NorrisAlan Founder of the Mike Honcho Fan Club

    Here is how negotiations should go:

    [video=youtube;KxJ2VljuqeY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxJ2VljuqeY[/video]
     

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