Alright 'Nut, who did this talent come from?

Thanks much BDV. I was nosing around the board in search of advice not long ago.

I see him getting $850k at WKU and think he would have taken $750k and a contract with anything UT wanted to put in it. Plus, I don't know how long he'll walk the straight and narrow, but I'm betting he's as safe now as he'll ever be. And yeah, if WKU has him for two or three years that's a great deal for them.

That having been said Butch Jones is our coach and I'm pulling for him to do well.

You rang? 

I'm cool with him picking his own guys, BUT they better be better than Chaney and Pittman. If not his leash got a lot shorter. I'm pulling for him to excel, but this decision looks curious. You can't just hire your buddies at UT.

I say this as nicely as possible. I hope Jones destroys every other team while he's at UT. That having been said I've heard a lot of good speeches. Houston Nutt was a master of them (in a very unpolished kind of way)

I sat through a ton of nice speeches in meetings this week. The proof is in the pudding. Most people know what they should do, they're just not great at doing it.

I'll say we should finish year 2 in the top 25.

Unlike Creek I couldn't take the other boards. The place is where I go for sanity. It's a relative term. 

If Hart can't sell UT's job to those guys he does not need to be UT's AD.

Let's review. Fulmer and Majors were UT grads. That's great, but Neyland wasn't. Pat Dye is a UGA grad and Vince Dooley is an Auburn grad. Saban is from, uh, some school in Ohio.

Local recruits and coaches are overrated. Get me a smart competitor and he'll do well. That having been said I'm a big Jay Graham fan.

Feldman said 6 years/$18 million, but I'm not sure any other sources have confirmed.

That's a good synopsis. I'm not ticked at Jones, just with the process that hired him...and gave him an outsized contract instead of a lesser one loaded with incentives. Hopefully he'll do really well.

EDIT: Saying the process stinks is not a personal attack. I love my mother, but want her nowhere near the football program. She'd run it into the ground

I don't think there's a reason to hire any of the guys on my list, but here's why I have them on there. Freeze, Mullen and Briles took over train wrecks. That's what seperates them from Jones. Jones has followed Brian Kelly, but his record is what I'd expect from someone who has had to build programs.

What's done is done, but here's why I'm critical. Even if you have to go to Plan B some guys seem to have a better track record or more upside than Jones. I'll list five.

1) Dan Mullen
2) Hugh Freeze
3) Bob Dibiaco - 39 year-old ND DC
4) Art Briles
5) Willie Taggert ( C List for now who should not have been considered but has big upside )

It should be noted Strong took over a program in disarray and Jones took over for Kelly. The two situations are completely different - except that Strong's best record is greater than Jones' best.

I'll shut up about Petrino after this, but for those who didn't want Petrino would you rather have him than Jones?

One of my UT co-workers has been screaming for Notre Dame's DC (Bob Dibiaco) as a fallback. I think he's right. Fire Hart.

The thing that troubles me is Jones' ceiling at Cincy was three loses. That's fine if he took over for an idiot, but he didn't. If we were going to roll the dice on upside I'd rather have gotten Mullen or Freeze.

I'll go on record as saying Jones is a step up, but not the step I'm looking for. Dooley left the program in good shape so hopefully Jones will as well. I'm giving him two years given the quality program he's receiving.

Oh yeah, and this will sink season tickets.

Yeah, I think Fulmer would be motivated enough to get 9 wins. I just don't know he'd have to energy or motivation to exceed that. I think we'd be there in a couple of years without looking at the schedule.

And yeah, I have nothing on which to base the above other than feeling. Please note I love Fulmer, but do not want him hired. We can do much better.

Our goal isn't a ceiling of 3 losses a year. If it is we just hire Fulmer.

Fulmer was a great head coach. Great. That having been said to my knowledge he never understood how things went south at the end of his first tenure. Without that understanding I don't think it would be wise to have him return.

No to Pelini. He does indeed seem crazy and I'm not sure about upside. He's a fine DC, but he's been a head coach 5 full seasons and lost at least 3 games every one. Most of his tenure has been in the awful Big 12 North so that's not too good.

Let's see. She's spent her entire career in education, but I see nothing on her bio that suggests she could teach anyone a marketable skill. Her gender isn't a problem, but that is.

That's a great move by Malzahn.

Here's one thing I try to keep in mind in most every situation. People are stupid. Thank you. That is all.