The Goat Pen

It probably won't be Gruden, OF, but it has been a possibility.

Consider this - Arky announced on a Monday that they would spend whatever was necessary to get their man, and the following Friday they got their "no thanks" from Gruden. (Then comes this week where they used similar vault money to lure Miles, to no avail) Tennessee, on the other hand, has been in on Gruden almost six weeks...and he's yet to close the door.

Until JG gives a diffinitive no (unlike the Saban kind), it's still game on.

And Gruden may not be a perfect fit but it sure would be fun having ESPN at the O & W game packed with 100k fans.

Gruden's name comes up every time there's a major college coaching opening and frankly I don't get it. The highest position he's had in college is WR coach. He did a good job with the Raiders and Tampa but coaching in the NFL and college are different animals. From watching his rookie QB film reviews, he's obviously very knowledgeable and very candid, but how will that translate to college recruiting?

"Son, I notice on your high school film that you have trouble recognizing the zone blitz and making the proper adjustments. WTF were you thinking throwing this out route on cover 2 zone?"

Coaching in the NFL is harder than coaching in college but requires a different set of skills, particularly people skills. I like Gruden on TV but would have to see him in college before I'd be excited about having him as coach (and yes, his name was mentioned for FSU during the Bowden/Fisher transition).

Oh, and if his wife is dying to get back to East Tennessee, it's not like that's impossible now. But doing it as a coach's wife vastly increases the odds of getting run out of town versus doing it as an ESPN personality's wife.

Plan B -

Dave Hart grabs Jimbo for 4.25 mil/yr.

heh

Jimbo's done a very good job but if someone is willing to overpay him, I wish him well.

Gruden sounded a lot like Tuberville just before he left Ole Miss, and Saban just before he left Miami.

Gruden was never coming you idiots. Damn if those jokes about you aren't right. Morons. Stop sleeping with your cousins!

Oh my...

Monte Kiffin resigning after USC's dismal defensive showing

Throw him under the bus Lane!! You da man!!!!!!

And now Gruden is back in the mix...

Report: Gruden mulling Tennessee offer; staff pay a holdup

Staff pay an issue? Hmmm....

It looks like the last word may have been given on Coach Gruden. The last word is he isn't comming here. The Chattanooga-Times story referred to earlier was not correct. Is is a copy/paste of short article from Volquest.com:

UT on Gruden: Financial details never discussed

There will be no afternoon press conference today for a new football coach at the University of Tennessee, nor was Jon Gruden ever presented with any contract or financial details to become the Volunteers' next football coach. So say sources extremely close to UT's search for Derek Dooley's replacement.

Some half-dozen sources have told VolQuest.com this morning that Gruden both declined an offer to meet with UT officials, most notably vice chancellor and director of athletics Dave Hart, this week and that neither side ever got to a point where a financial framework was outlined.

"We reached out to coach Gruden. Coach Gruden after visiting with his family informed us that it was not a move his family wanted to make at this time. He declined to meet with Tennessee. Financial considerations were never discussed," said a University source Friday morning.

The news comes on the heels of a report in Friday's editions of the Chattanooga Times Free Press that alleged Gruden was mulling over an offer and could decide on his own timeframe, a report labeled "irresponsible" by someone familiar with proceedings

I fall back on several things I've said in the past. He had multiple chances in the past and he didn't jump on them. Add in the fact he is not coaching now: there is nothing holding him back at this point from announcing he is the coach or he is at least considering it. It sounds like coaching at UT was brought up and he declined after talking it over with his family. Gruden actually seems quite upset with the Chatt-Times article.

Now what was it I heard about 'bama defensive coordinator, I forget. Whisper in my ear again ol' sweet wind...

Idiots

I've been looking over some articles and glancing over forum posts here and there.

First, for the record, the posters at Volnation.com are a bunch of dumb@sses.

Now that I got formality out of the way, I would also like to say I am in all seriousness ready for Fulmer to come back.

Vols spoke to Gruden, but that's it

The above ESPN article is in large part a rehash of the article I pasted from Volquest.com earlier today. As such, I'm not going to past all of it. Instead, I will paste the last paragraph:

Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart is expected to meet with potential candidates next week in New York City at the Hall of Fame ceremonies. Some of the names that have been mentioned as possibilities include Florida State's Jimbo Fisher, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Miami's Al Golden, North Carolina's Larry Fedora, Louisville's Charlie Strong and UCLA's Jim Mora Jr.

You've got to be kidding me. Those are the guys we are going after? Either the guys we are going after are already coaching in large, sucessful programs meaning we probably won't be able to get them to leave. Or, the guys we are going after, on paper, are on par with Dooley which will raise the question, if they are hired, why did we get rid of Dooley if we were going to hire someone on his level, such as Butch Jones? The only person mentioned above who would probably come here is Charlie Strong. His record is mixed to put it kindly.

Somebody somewhere is going to wish they had picked and hired a coach prior to firing Dooley. Quite frankly, at this point, we would do just as good to tell Dooley to come back to coach one more season as it is on his contract. But, being a lawyer he would probably point out the option to buy him out per his contract has already been excercised. Basically, he would point out we are @#$%ed.

Might as well give the job to Chaney now. Hart indicated he will be in New York next week at the NFF awards. Might as well keep his options open by talking it up with Fulmer.

What a mess we are in.

You were never, EVER, getting Gruden you dumbass. Don't you realize how many people are laughing at UT right now for even falling for it? I tried to tell you from the start. You UT folk are retarded.

I suspect Fedora could be gotten.

Freak...hang in there, man. You know Dooley, Chaney, and Phil aren't viable options...don't let the suspense play tricks with your head.

Just let the hire play out before you decide that we're f*cked. At least we won't be hiring a wet-behind-the-ears WAC coach with a losing record, right?

AugustWest wrote:I suspect Fedora could be gotten.

People will riot if it falls to a B-lister, Augie - hiring on the cheap won't fly this time. I seriously believe UT will overwhelm some A-lister with a shit-ton of cash.

bluetick wrote:

AugustWest wrote:I suspect Fedora could be gotten.

People will riot if it falls to a B-lister, Augie - hiring on the cheap won't fly this time. I seriously believe UT will overwhelm some A-lister with a shit-ton of cash.

I never said Fedora was the right guy, I just said he could be had.

Where's Hacksaw? I have a question...