Talking points: Steve Sarkisian and the coaches shell game edition

by Joel on Dec 5, 2008 7:39 AM EST in Rocky Top Talking Points Comment 13 comments

Keep your eye on the coaches shell game. First, Pete Carroll underling Lane Kiffin takes the Tennessee job, and now it appears that Pete Carroll underling Steve Sarkisian is poised to take the Washington job. Meanwhile, Charlie Weis is in contention for the Notre Dame job -- wait, he already has that (who knew?) and will for at least another year anyway. Whose roots were deeper but apparently not as strong? The Papa and Tommy Tuberville, who apparently, SRSLY, just quit and wasn't removed with a Garden Weasel like everyone thought he was. Incidentally, that means that Mark Richt is the new Dean of SEC Coaches. Still looking for port is Mike Leach, who may be headed to Auburn, in which case we will get to see whether all of this nonsense about his offense being nonsense is indeed nonsense. And finally, our very own John Chavis could find himself either at Clemson or LSU in the near future. Best of luck to Chief. Okay, where's the pea?
Speaking of nonsense, that arrest of Demetrice Morley? Mistake. On the part of the court clerk, it sounds like. Morley did have an issue down in Miami in 2007, and he was ordered to perform 75 hours of community service, which he did in Knoxville. Tennessee submitted proof of this to the Miami court, but for some reason the court hearing wasn't canceled. When Morley was pulled over for speeding the other day, this bit of information popped up on the magic machine, and Morley was arrested for not attending a hearing that he probably shouldn't have been required to attend. Okay. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Barking at Barkley? Will Kiffin pursue 5-star QB and USC commitment Matt Barkley? Maybe not yesterday. Maybe today, what with Steve Sarkisian headed to Washington and all. Just saying maybe.
A motion that matters. lawvol of Gate 21 moves for a recess in his current trial so that he can do the important thing and welcome Lane Kiffin to Tennessee on his blog.
Hmm. I am disturbed. Didn't Kiffin say in his press conference something about Peyton Manning. Let me check. Oh, yes:

The last thing, I’d really like to thank some of the former players who have reached out in support of this decision throughout the last few days. Jim Haslam, Charlie Anderson, Tee Martin, Peyton, just to name a few of the guys that reached out.
Um, yeah, but Peyton says that he wasn't consulted and that he found out about the hire at the same time the rest of us did. Now "not being consulted" and "reaching out" aren't necessarily the same thing, so it could be that Peyton said howdy or something and that everybody's talking about something different, but certainly the impression that I got from listening to the press conference was that Peyton endorsed the hire. Apparently not. He's more wait and see. And on the question of whether he should have been consulted, probably, maybe, yeah, but he was busy getting ready for his games. Look, guys. We want to win. We want our team and our administration to be honest. I don't know that they weren't, but something went wrong here. Some clarification may be in order.
Eric Berry for Heisman? Now? Yes! Ray Holloman at the FanHouse puts Crunch Berry No. 1 on his list for the most prestigious and despised individual player award in college football:

1. Eric Berry, S Tennessee: The Vols' athletic outlier plays the game like it's on a sheet of ice and he's the only one that brought skates. The sophomore leads the nation with seven interceptions, has 12 for his career and his 472 interception return yards shattered the SEC record two picks ago, a record set 59 years earlier. On the style point side, the sophomore lays down licks like he's playing with cement shoulder pads (see this cobweb-clearing pop on Knowshon Moreno). The Vols may have just finished a season it would prefer to consign to the depths of the Tennessee River, but Berry is the flower that's sprouted in a compost heap of a year.
Chest bump to Will at SouthEastern Sports Blog, where I saw this first.

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Comments

It’s going to take a looooooooooot of convincing to get me to believe that Tuberville quit. I just can’t get that to work in my head with these tibits released to the press:

+ Saying that he was absolutely the right guy to turn it around – just a couple days earlier.
+ Asked by the AD three times to not quit.
+ Asked by the Auburn Pres. to not quit.
+ Not giving his staff (even the ones he’s kinda been loyal to) any warning.
+ And still getting his buyout in full.

It’s possible, I suppose, but if I had to make a judgment call on this, I’d say that he was forced out much like Fulmer – only without the department being transparent enough to allow us to see that.

by hooper on Dec 5, 2008 10:31 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I will get bashed for this

Peyton is nothing more than a famous former player for UT! He should not be consulted about the new hire anymore than Travis Henry should be. That being said, Peyton more than likely does contribte a lare amount of money to UT but, did any other boosters have a say so in this hire? I can’t answer that one. However just because he is Peyton Manning and he happens to have played ball for us does not mean that he should be in on every major sports decision that UT makes! Now bash me if you will, but bring some legit arguement other than Peyton is a GOD!

Someone once said "Vince Young bleeds two toned blue!" But I disagree, because The Great One Doesnt Bleed!!

by Vincanity on Dec 5, 2008 11:22 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

He knows football, inside and out

Consulting a guy who will in all likelihood be an incredible head coach in the near future isn’t the worst idea I can think of.

All in all I think it was a misunderstanding on our part. We had all heard that Manning was consulted on the hire, and when Kiffin said he “reached out” or whatever, we took it to mean that. That would be a pretty stupid lie if the two had never talked at all.

by rblakeh on Dec 5, 2008 11:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No bashing at all.

Actually, your stance is quite reasonable. Manning has very sharp football acumen and likely does have a great eye for coaches. But he’s also tied up with his NFL duties and wouldn’t be a sensible choice for a consultant. When you tie in his affection for Fulmer, it’d be an awkward sell, politically speaking, to have Manning as one of your inside voices in the matter. But at that, I’m certain he wasn’t left out in the cold, either. He still actively acts as an NFL rep for the university and will likely continue to do so unless some future employment puts him in conflict (e.g. coach at a different SEC school).

In short, a lot of people overplay Manning’s role at UT today, and some people underplay it. But he does have a lot of influence from financial, historical, and P.R. standpoints that the university has greatly benefited from. (When Cutcliffe came back from Ole Miss, Manning went onto Ainge’s speed dial and helped Ainge buy into Cut’s instructions.)

As far as boosters’ involvement in the hire; there undoubtedly was some involvement. People just don’t toss that much money around and not expect some respect out of it. If nothing else, you keep the boosters involved at a peripheral level so they continue to donate money in the future. But the decision is clearly on Hamilton’s shoulders, and there’s no reason to believe that this wasn’t entirely his decision. (For what I know of that matter, which is basiclaly nil.)

by hooper on Dec 5, 2008 12:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yow.

I correct “basically” before posting and still get it wrong. Must be a Friday.

by hooper on Dec 5, 2008 12:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Steve Sarkisian -> Washington => Matt Barkley -> Tennessee

by rblakeh on Dec 5, 2008 11:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I guess we'll find out, but you'd have to think that helps our chances.

The Washington Project is going to take a lot of work, and #1 recruits usually don’t go for that kind of thing unless they have family ties to the university. Still, I’m sure that there’s a strong belief that Pete Carroll will manage to find another hot OC and keep that team ticking along, so it’s not like USC has suddenly fallen off the map, either.

Now, if the UT plane happens to fly out to Cali or Barkley comes out this way for a visit, we’ll have something juicy to work with.

by hooper on Dec 5, 2008 11:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Barkley is a lock for USC and it goes deeper than Sarkisian

this kid has been groomed to go to USC for years because of his dad being an alum. He is also actively recruiting other players to join him at USC.

Conquest Chronicles

by Paragon SC on Dec 7, 2008 4:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I didn't figure there was much chance at him.

Honestly, there’s nothing substantive about Kiffin even trying to pick him up. But since we’re in speculation mode, there it is.

by hooper on Dec 7, 2008 4:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No worries

Kiffin will make a run at him guaranteed and so will Sarkisian its just that he has been brought up with a heavy dose of the Trojan lore.

OC QB development guru Steve Clarskon pretty much locked him in to the point that when Slick RIck and Norm Chow came a callin’ they were told not to waste their time.

Conquest Chronicles

by Paragon SC on Dec 7, 2008 4:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs