Some information on Wilcox

[BanditVol]

FWIW, the guy that I drove to the game with is a UDub (University of Washington) grad, who has adopted the Vols as his second team because (a) they are not Auburn or Alabama, and (b) a couple of his close friends are Tennessee fans, myself included.

On the drive back, I was complaining about losing Wilcox.  He stated that it wasn't necessarily Tennessee's fault, that UW wanted Wilcox really bad and offered him a pile of money (this goes for the guy that went with Wilcox, whose name I forget).

He stated that Wilcox is making $750K and the other guy $500K.   Looking at it, I suppose Wilcox had another offer that he liked better (he is a "West Coast guy" supposedly), and UT was simply unwilling to top it.  Rumor has it that Dooley wasn't completely satisfied with Wilcox anyway, and perhaps was unwilling to outbid UW.  Wilcox may well have been in a state where he was willing to take slightly less to get away from UT anyway.

At the end of the day, Dooley and Hart probably thought they couldn't justify giving any assistant more money after the crappy season we had...this seems very likely to me, but WDIK.

Anyway, FWIW, according to a huge Washington fan there was a bidding war and UT declined to play.

Looking back.....

[VoLynteer]

Peter Sirmon is the guy that went with him.  I was the biggest critic of Wilcox last year....I wish he had stayed. 

[VinnieVOL]

Wilcox got to the point that he didn't like working for Dooley, same as some of the other assistants we lost.  The conclusion I draw from that is it wasn't hard to lure them away.

[Creek Walker]

Wilcox got to the point that he didn't like working for Dooley, same as some of the other assistants we lost.  The conclusion I draw from that is it wasn't hard to lure them away.

I hate to sound like I'm piling on Dooley, but when the majority of the coaching staff leaves to make lateral moves, I don't know how any other conclusion can be drawn.

[murfvol]

Yeah, it seems like people aren't big fans of working for him given the attrition. That having been said I know one guy who worked with him a few years who really likes him. Go figure.

I'm not connected, this guy and I just have a mutual friend.

EDIT: Please tell me we're not paying more for Sunseri than Washington is paying Wilcox. And yeah, I said we wouldn't miss Wilcox. That having been said hiring a guy with literally no track record probably wasn't the way to go.

[Creek Walker]

EDIT: Please tell me we're not paying more for Sunseri than Washington is paying Wilcox. And yeah, I said we wouldn't miss Wilcox. That having been said hiring a guy with literally no track record probably wasn't the way to go.

Even though I hated to see Wilcox go, I convinced myself that his bend-but-don't-break defense would never cut it in the SEC. In fact, I said after the NCSt game that it was awfully nice to have an aggressive defense again. What I wouldn't give to have Wilcox back right now.

Oh . . . yes, we're paying more for Sunseri ($800k/yr) than Washington is paying Wilcox. 

[VinnieVOL]

I said after the NCSt game that it was awfully nice to have an aggressive defense again.

I said the same thing.   

[Cobbvol]

Wilcox was making $600K at UT and took the Washington job making $750K, while Sirmon was making $150K at UT and took the Washington job for $225K. If we matched, the opinion is neither would have stayed for their desire to get back to the West Coast as both played at Oregon and Sirmon being from Washington state. So I don't know if a bidding war ever started.