Louisiana Tech! 

LOL!  I know, right? 

Apparently Martin's agent told Cuonzo to not sign the extension until the buyout was reduced below 750K.  Apparently Hart was doing his level best ot mkae sure Martin recompensed UT if he bolted in the next two years.  Cuonzo was worried about the buyout to the extreme and this is evident in Hart's statements as well......

Martin was gonna bolt no matter what and the "its all the fans fault" BS is purely smokescreen by the spinmeisters that Martin is talking to.  Yeah the Pearl petition was a distraction, but unlike midtnvol I think you have to have on the court success as well as running a clean program and selling the program as well.  Pearl did get that, Martin apparently was Derek Dooley times 2 in that he went days during the offseason not talking to his STAFF.  Not only the AD but his STAFF.  So if that is the case I think Martin thought he was another Gene Keady!!!

Oh come on.  How could the petition NOT be a factor?  Are you seriously claiming that?

I don't think it's that bad is it?

What? No link?   

yep, the article is very critical of Vol fans. It includes the football program too. Mentions Gruden. It implies the whole athletic department is dysfunctional. Some of it is legit,some of it is just a hack piece. It does try to embarrass Vols fans.

The Gruden thing deserves to be mocked IMO.  It makes me think of Mayberry....

COOTER:  Hey, Gomer, I done heard Gruden was a'comin' ter Tennessay!
GOMER:  Well Shazam!   I cain't wait!
BARNEY:  Andy, you know you need me to escort him on the sideline.
ANDY:  Now, wait a minute fellers, I'm not sure about this thing....
GOMER:  No, it's true, he's a'comin' here!  His wife used ta be a cheerleader!

Etc.....

This is the sort of situation where, if you're not "local", and haven't been taking the temperature of this fanbase for the past few years, then you really have no idea what you're talking about.  

One of the overriding themes I keep seeing in these national articles is that Martin took over a program that was "crippled by NCAA sanctions" when no one else would.  Oh really?  And what WERE those "crippling" sanctions, exactly?  They gave Bruce Pearl a 3 year show cause.  That was it.  No scholarship restrictions, no recruiting restrictions, nothing.  Yet they make it sound like Martin had rebuilt the program from scratch after a 5 year death penalty and overcame the odds to win a championship with Jimmy Chitwood and a bunch of nobodies.  I guess the truth just doesn't fit their narrative.

It was crippled by two All SEC players leaving, that's for sure.

"This is Kent Dorfman, he's a legacy from Harrisburg Pennsylvania"   

I'm pretty sure that eventually, we will hire a men's basketball coach.

In the meantime....    

No way.  No more legacies.   

Just in time for the end of Justified, which I am sure was intentional.  What the heck, I have a "slot" free.   

That is, as much as we were probably going to suck next year, I am not sure we can get anyone better than Martin.

I hope I am wrong though.

No matter who we get, it's going to take at least a couple seasons before we really know what we have.

But given the great patience our fan base has displayed lately, I am sure the new coach has all kinds of time to prove himself.   

Some people are saying ti is the vocal fans that led Martin to bolt....if so then he has the smallest pair known to the coaching profession.  

Maybe, maybe not.   I suspect lack of talent on next year's roster had more to do with it.

What is true is that the petition was very unusual and it likely factored in, though again I don't think it was the main thing.

Cuonzo was treated here like he would have been treated anywhere else under the same circumstances. If that's not fair, then it's big time college sports that aren't fair, because that's all this is. You are expected to follow success with success and when you don't, the fans have basically zero patience. That's life. Cuonzo made a hefty sum of money to absorb the fans' scorn.

Cal is more his speed, I suspect.

So other programs have the most popular coach in their history still living in town and about to be eligible for employement again?

Hmmmm.....

Sorry, I was out of pocket for awhile-- I see your post now and agree. I have to think that Hart was going to pony up if he had to-- because he couldn't justify firing him nor failing to extend him-- but that this is exactly what Hart had hoped for. He now has the opportunity to hire a new basketball coach with cash flowing his way. Perfect.

I think Hart wanted to keep him, but realized that it was in Cuonzo's interest to move on. 

If he offered a half million increase on top of a 1.3 million salary, that's a pretty significant raise.  I will take a 40% raise any time I can get it!   

Marquette didn't pick him

Without even knowing anything about Cal, IMO the Marquette situation was messed up.  News reports stated bluntly that "Cuonzo removed himself from consideration".  Looking at Marquette, I can easily believe that.  It doesn't look like a great situation at all to me.

I suspect Cal is much better, but haven't yet looked into it.

You really can't put a lot on the spring game, its designed to entertain fans and to see how certain combinations work. Having said that though if I had to pick a starting QB right now it'd be Worley he looked really good out there. WR's looked really good, Malone is going to be a stud for the Vols. Hurd will not be taken down by arm tackles nor will he be brought down by one man. Keep him healthy and it's untelling how far he can go. Lane looked good as well.
Defense needs to learn how to tackle. That long run that Dobbs had for a TD was witness to pathetic tackling.  

I'm glad that Worley looked good.  I think going in, he is our best option for this year.  The others can continue to develop behind him. 

Whatever else anyone thinks about him, it just seems to me that we were generally much better last year with him at the helm, based purely on results.  It seems our best games were with Worley.

[In January, Green-Beckham and two other men were arrested after Springfield, Mo., police found a pound of marijuana in their car. No charges were filed in that case]

Wow at this part!   In January, Green-Beckham and two other men were arrested after Springfield, Mo., police found a pound of marijuana in their car.  No charges were filed in that case

I know if it was me that got caught with a pound of pot, I would be breaking rocks in the hot sun for the next 20 years.   

So you have a previous history? 

4 star DL - Sawyers, Barnett, Mosley, Hendrix, Henderson
4 star DB- Gaulden, Kelly, McDowell, Berry
4 star LB - Bates, Bryant, Weatherd, Berry


Talent and speed upgrade for sure

Odds are, D will be greatly improved next year (2015) and just bitchin' in 2016.  This season there look to be some growing pains.

I can't wait to see some of the kids above in action though, especially Bates.

He had previous problem with weed.

I think it is for the best.

Projecting starters, and backups who will play

1 - Thompson 6'5 soph
2 - Hubbs 6'5 Soph
3 - Richardson, 6'6 Sr
4 - Reese , 6'8 Jr
5 - Cofer, 6'8 Fr

Backups who will play

Davis - 6'9 Soph Forward
Moore - 6'5 Jr guard
Austin, - 6'1 Fr PG
Cornish - 6'4 Fr guard
Turman - 6'9 Fr center

This lineup is ugly. Not sure where all the points will come from. We will need to add a late transfer, MJ Rhett would help a lot. Hubbs will have to make big improvements, and we'll need our freshmen to grow up fast.

 

Armani seems likely to play a lot.  I think Richardson can replace much of McRae's scoring, but Stokes is irreplaceable.   Rhett could help there, obviously.   We really need Rhett badly.

 

He's gone per multiple twitter sources, including Gary Parrish

Good luck Jarnell

Yeah you just beat me to it. Too bad it would be huge if he came back

A poster on another site is claiming he did this last year...had a presser to announce he was staying.  And FWIW, he still projects to 36th here...early second round.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/draft/mock-draft/round/2

I think we have a decent shot at keeping him.

Probably germans, but didn't see it.

The Twits are all saying it's unusual for a player to call a presser to announce he's staying, but IMO Stokes staying would be big enough for that.

It's unlikely but possible IMO.  We will know soon enough.

The bullet about the incoming DL 4 *'s is very encouraging.  It will probably take some time though.  At least early in the season I expect opponents to be able to run on us.  But maybe I will be pleasantly surprised...

Big part of the gameday experience at Neyland and will definitely be missed.