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Per TN Sports Radio twitter feed ‏@TNSportsRadio

Breaking: Tee Martin has declined the Tennessee Job.

Not at all surprised, if accurate.  I thought all along that if he left Knoxville without accepting the job that he wasn't going to take it.  

https://twitter.com/TNSportsRadio

yeah...I expected that. I suspect Butch Jones did too and has already looked at other guys

If this is the case, then I wish Tee well in his USC Career, however short it may hopefully be with Kiffin. Could have used those players Tee's recruiting for USC. If he turned us down to accept Saban's offer, then I hope he face plants in some bovine excrement. :powert:

Damn turned down again! :frown: :banghead:

If true He can crash and burn with Lame Kiffin :mad: :pin:

Don't be that guy.

Why? Because he made a decision that he thinks is the best for him and his family and not for WoodstockVol? He's done more for UT than ANY fan has, so you can keep your statements to yourself, they're nothing but sour grapes

So be it

I certainly do not resent Tee for his decision. However, we have been through a long stretch of bad play on the field, poor coaching, and rejection. Both the program and fan base are in a very fragile state right now, so I understand the frustration some folks feel when one of our own turns us down.

Yep. I'm sorta indifferent to it, because while I would love to have some former Vols on staff I'm far from sold on his coaching abilities. But it's just part of it. If Tee worked for anyone other than Kiffin, it wouldn't be a big deal. But when your national championship quarterback turns you down to stay with the coach who you still despise for his midnight flight to Southern Cal . . . yeah, there's gonna be some resentment there.

I think that when we did not get Gruden and had to settle for Jones, many folks rallied behind the possibility of (at least) getting Tee back at UT. Whatever his on field coaching abilities, there is a perception that he would be good for recruiting. So I think his rejection would have wounded no matter where he was coaching. However, for some, the fact that he is with Kiffin rubs salt into this wound.  

Too bad. Tee would have been treated like a king here. I'm sure he had his reasons for staying where he is, but he'll never be loved there like he is here. :frown:

Very disappointing if confirmed.  Tee knows whats best for him and his family though.  It means that we need to find another good recruiter for this staff.  Watching to see what choices are made in this regard...

I can understand why he turned us down, and after reading a fuller background story on it (wife probably wants to stay in LA), I understand why.  I don't resent him staying there at all, even if it is Kiffin.

I will agree with 101st if he turns us down for BAMMER though.  It's one thing to turn down UT and stick with Kiffin, another to turn us down to go work with Saban.  That would definitely piss me off. What, Knoxville is not good enough but Tuscaloosa is?  At that point, I would suspect Tee is effing with us.

Having said that, I think the chances he ends up with saban are nil.  In fact, I never saw any confirmation that saban's interest in Tee was ever more than a rumor.

I give Tee props for actually coming to Knoxville...though it may have been a way of sneaking in a visit with his son (a middle school student in Knoxville from a previous relationship), but I don't even blame him for that.  It was good just seeing him on campus again.  :clap:

I blame Lyn. :dielaughing:

Oh, bite me!  :tongue:

Ya know I am sick and tired of this "when we did not get Gruden" talk......Gruden is not going to give up his "work weekends and make 400K per week" ESPN gig.   At best it was a long shot to get Gruden.  Strong was just using UT to get a raise out of Lousiville just as the OSU coach did.  I am happy we have a coach that wants to be here.  Jones wanted the job and he let Hart know it.  So we did NOT settle for Jones we got a coach that has won everywhere he has been and is glad he is here.....

(See Urban Meyers story for proof that a coach that wins at "smaller schools" can be successful at "larger schools")

Me thinks you just may be right :old: :thumbup:

I like Jones and I think he's gonna be successful here. But UT interviewed a set of candidates even after the Gruden rejection and none of them worked out. So, yes, Tennessee did "settle" for Jones. He wasn't even one of Hart's top five candidates when the search started. By every definition of the word, he was a fallback guy. Which may mean, as Mortensen said, that Tennessee got "lucky." Time will tell.

This article claims Jones was on Hart's initial short list.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/dec/08/cincinnatis-butch-jones-accepts-uts-head-football/ (http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/dec/08/cincinnatis-butch-jones-accepts-uts-head-football/)

Hart said during his Q&A at the press conference that Jones was on the original list of, I believe, 6 people.  I'll look for his exact response.

Here are the Hart comments I remembered:

On several candidates turning down the job: "I think when you get into a search and you target, and we had half a dozen targets that I thought could do the job.  You move on if you offer the job and somebody takes or somebody doesn't, you move on and you feel confident in going onto the next guy.  I think it was stated very well by Butch: things just work out.  Things work out for the best."
 
On when Jones got on his list of candidates: "Butch was on that list all along.  We did not get a face to face, until I said, last evening.  I knew he was weighing the Colorado job.  I knew he had been offered a couple of other jobs and really felt secure in Cincinnati.  It was not 20 minutes into our conversation that lasted through the night that I could see genuine passion.  It wasn't artificial when he said, 'Dave, this is my dream job.'  I knew that that was coming from his heart."
 
 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I remember very well what Hart told us, and I also know he was selling us a little AD speak.

Whether Hart did or not, UT wanted Gruden and didn't get him. Hart wanted Fisher and didn't get him. He interviewed Strong and Gundy and didn't get either of them. He interviewed Fedora and apparently decided he didn't want him. It wasn't until after those five candidates were exhausted that he turned to Jones.

Based on what we know about Jones and what we've seen and heard from him, I'd rank him No. 2 on that list of candidates. But it is what it is. If being No. 6 meets the definition of "short list," maybe he was on the short list. But he clearly wasn't one of Hart's first five choices.

I'm not sure how strong or serious his interest in Gundy and/or Fisher was.  Those were two very difficult "gets" to begin with.  Not as bad as the Florida AD targeting Stoops and then hiring Zook, but I don't think Stoops was a serious target for Florida either.

I think Strong and Fedora were real targets.  If Butch was on the list of the "half dozen" then that could easily mean Gundy, Fisher, Strong, Fedora, Jones, and even Gruden....without needing any "AD speak".    :biggrin: