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...then Hart had better hope that his hire wins, and wins BIG.  Or else he will join him in the unemployment line in 3-4 years.  :frown:

http://outkickthecoverage.com/all-that-and-a-bag-of-mail-jon-gruden-rumors-hit-overload-edition.php

He's completely FOS IMO.  His story directly contradicts what Gruden's agent said today - that Gruden never seriously considered the UT job.  And if it seems Hart was slow to pursue him, it's simply because he's smart enough to know Gruden doesn't want the job and is not going to waste energy on a lost cause.

If I didn't think Travis was FOS before, I do now for certain. 

Why in the HELL would Gruden give up a very easy $5 million+ a year to coach in college?  This has always been the central question, fan expectations aside.   And no one has ever had an answer for it.

Pisses me flat off.  It's one thing for us to go all in and for Gruden to just decide it's not what he wants.  But for Hart to drag around and not seal the deal.

And Bandit, VQ's J. Brice basically said Hart didn't want him as well.  I think Gruden had legitimate interest.

But how do you square that with what his agent said? :confused:

Good question, because we know agents would never lie.

He's an agent.  What else is he going to say?  After all, Gruden is still employed by ESPN, and he probably doesn't want to poison those waters in the event he decides to return to MNF next year.  If Gruden was really never interested, he or his agent could just said so two weeks ago, and saved everyone's time.

Simple.  Ego.  At some point its not about money, its about getting back into the game and showing everyone what you got.

I am convinced we could have had Gruden, but I think Hart wants Fisher. Regardless now, I am convinced we will pay alot for mediocrity when we could have had someone who instantly breathed life into a program that is on life support.  I grew up in Tennessee, graduated from Tennessee, and have spent my entire life hanging on every first down on a Saturday in the fall.  That changed a few years back.  The UTAD does not seem committed to doing what absolutely must be done.  I hope the hire is good.  With Gruden I knew it would have been.

But we do know to take Clay Travis' word for something?

The agent doesn't have a blog that needs hits, so far as I know.   :biggrin:

It's definitely something we can agree to disagree on, but I trust an agent over Travis any day. 

Sigh, idk.  I'm weary of thinking about it.  Looking for someone to blame.   :naughty:

I just go back to my post this afternoon
 :frown:

I'm not defending the veracity of Travis' claim, I was answering a question about an agent's comments.

I don't believe a word Clay Travis says. 

To be fair, Clay isn't the only one saying it.  Actually, it was speculated by many way back in October that this was going to be a battle between Hart and the boosters.

Yup, definitely not just Clay.

I don't take investment advice from my aunt, but I'd listen to hear about cooking fried chicken. Most people aren't great sources for everything, but are useful for some information. There are a lot of things I wouldn't listen to Clay on, but he's as good as they come on conference realignment and I think he's correct about the Gruden situation. His information passes the sniff test and matches what a couple of other seemingly in-the-know folks have said.

Just because you want someone to blame and Hart is a big target does not change to fact that Gruden has done this same thing multiple times.  You cannot seal a deal that was NEVER going to happen.  Until you can accept the fact Gruden said no, stop looking for someone to blame.  Blame the party that said NO.

I reject your condescending instruction with unwavering defiance.

I don't read Travis as a matter of principle. But I don't have to read what he said to think that this can be laid at Hart's feet. If we take a route other than Fisher, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that perhaps Gruden's demands were simply too great. Otherwise, I'm going to assume that the assumptions are correct: Hart never really wanted Gruden; he wanted Fisher.

Anybody who says that Gruden was not interested in the Tennessee job doesn't know what they're talking about. Period. LaMonte's comments are nonsensical as agents' comments usually are. It's always about CYA in these situations.

SIAP, but...

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2012/11/28/3702642/jon-gruden-tennessee-rumors-false-coaching-search

5. This is the best kind of lie -- a big, shiny persistent one. This is the same rumor not just from Tennessee's last coaching search, but from the one before it that brought Lane Kiffin for one very strange year. Despite all debunking, despite all evidence to the contrary, the John Birch Society of Coaching Rumors still passes this pamphlet out, and people continue to believe it. Did you hear the story about the coach the lady picked up, and treated like a pet, and then it turned out to be a rat, and not a chihuahua? Jon Gruden is the Mexican Pet of college coaching search rumors. I can tell you a hundred times that it is not real, and yet there you are, insisting it will happen, and perhaps also telling me that your aunt really did have a shizzlehead, Orangejello, and Lemonjello all in her first grade class. Sure she did.

Nailed it, IMHO.  Enough though...the horse is dead.   

It's easy for talking heads who don't have a clue to spit out stuff that couldn't stand on its own two feet. He didn't even come close to nailing it. The part you quoted implies that there was never any mutual interest between Tennessee and Gruden, that Gruden was never interested in the job. And that's false. This writer's reasoning is Jon Gruden has never considered coaching in college before so why would he consider it now? Therefore, it must be false. And that's a dumb assumption.

Btw, VN posters are keeping help alive. There must be a 12-step treatment plan available for those who sold themselves on Gruden-to-UT.  :laugh:

Oh it was over the top, but so was Travis.  Just fighting fire with fire. 

I have no doubt there was contact or even an offer on the table, though I do believe it was through third parties and that Hart merely confirmed what he already knew.  I have no problem with any of that.

In fact, I thought Gruden was a strong possibility until I learned how much he is making right now, which the article in the link provides more detail on (I posted what was probably the most inflamatory part of it) .   :biggrin:  Specifically, it states that he just signed a 5-year contract with ESPN in September.  Really doesn't sound like a guy interested in getting back in coaching! 

When I learned how much he currently makes, I figured there was no way we get him.

Another thing I don't relate to well is the seeming attitude that "Gruden is it' or that he is the only coach that can bring us back.  He definitely would be the splashiest, most exciting hire.  Even I was excited that he might come to UT however unlikely I thought it was.

And now that it's apparently over, I understand people's disappointment.  What I don't get is that some seem to think this is it, we are screwed.  I really don't get that at all.  :confused:   Any coach we get will be a huge improvement over Dooley and we have much more in the cupboard than when Lane left.

So....more talent, and the new coach, whowever it is, almost HAS to be better than Dooley.  I just don't get all the gloom and doom.  One of my best friends from college called tonight and was saying we are screwed now no matter who we get, that Gruden was pretty much our only option.   :confused:  I just don't get it.   :dunno:

Then again, I am pretty sure he was shizzle faced drunk, so.... :dielaughing:

That might explain my friend's attitude, but I would hope  most of our fanbase knows better.