Pearl to Memphis nightmare scenario the fault of big orange poison
by Joel Hollingsworth on Apr 2, 2009 10:54 AM EDT
in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball
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PrintUPDATE BOX! (In reverse chronological order.)[Note by Joel, 04/02/09 11:23 AM EDT ] GVS reports that Hamilton and Pearl are scheduled to talk about Pearl's contract today. I bet. HT: raynoch46.
[Note by Joel, 04/02/09 10:51 AM EDT ] Mr. SEC has spoken directly with Hamilton, and Hamilton says it ain't so. According to Jimmy Hyams, Hamilton will be issuing a statement shortly that Pearl is going nowhere.
[Note by Joel, 04/02/09 10:32 AM EDT ] And now, WMC in Memphis is reporting that Pearl has been offered a 7-year, $21-million deal to coach at Memphis.
This is your nightmare. The Dread John Calipari not only abandons Memphis for Kentucky and takes a bunch of his talent with him to the SEC East, but the Beloved Bruce Pearl abandons Tennessee for Memphis. This site, and the entire Tennessee interwebosphere, is replete with Pearl's contributions to Tennessee basketball. Yet we have one season that is "down" only by Bruce's own standards, and the orange poison begins to work its way into the man prompting defenses that shouldn't have been necessary but were. Well, how do the venom-carriers feel now?
Would Pearl take the Memphis job? He just might. Yes, Mike Hamilton has shown Pearl some serious commitment with facilities and the like, and Pearl's salary at Tennessee has almost tripled since he arrived. His current deal escalates to $2.2 million for the 2009-10 season.
But coach Pearl had to call out his fans for being dissatisfied for winning their division and making the NCAA Tournament on four of four tries. He witnessed the quick kill of a coach of 17 years the season after winning his division. No matter what he does, he feels like he's always third on campus behind football, regardless of the coach, and the Lady Vols as long as Pat Summitt is around.
And like it or not, Memphis has something to offer. Easy conference. Rich talent base. Easier path to the national championship. An angry and spurned fanbase with a FedEx airliner full of make-me-feel-better money. An opportunity to be King of the Campus.
Mike Hamilton says that Memphis hasn't called to ask for permission to speak with Pearl, and he says that if they do, he will tell them no. What will Pearl think of an athletic director that won't even let him talk to other schools?
Hamilton also says that the $1.8 million buyout should keep Pearl at home. Mr. SEC says that Hamilton shouldn't be so cocky, and GVX cites "a source close to Tennessee's program" has said that Pearl has indeed expressed interest through intermediaries.
If Pearl does in fact go to Memphis, I blame us. The orange poison. Can't we just do our part as fans to make our own grass green every once in awhile?
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3rd Place is the Key
No matter what he does, he feels like he’s always third on campus behind football, regardless of the coach, and the Lady Vols as long as Pat Summitt is around.
That sums it up right there. It’s just the culture of Knoxville, and unfortunately its going to take more than 4 years of decent success to change that. The AD has shown a commitment to changing that culture with new facilities as you’ve pointed out but a consistent cultural change isn’t going to happen by throwing money at the program. The potential is certainly there but its going to take some patience on Pearl’s part if he wants to see it through. Pearl is King of Tennessee basketball and if he has the patience, the support for the program can be on par with football in time. But he’ll never be top dog in UT athletics.
i agree
im from memphis and sec is known for football powerhouse and womens basketball. its tough for bruce to get to the top in knoxville. i maybe one of few memphis fans who thinks bruce has turned tn program around for the better and if memphis takes him i would would feel conflicted. i root for tn basketball 2nd memphis first. look on the bright side though, if he comes the orange jacket would be gone and would stop playing havoc on tvs around the country.
I would argue probably unfairly (but whats fair) that he is second behind football.
I know Summit has won a bunch and people love women’s basketball because lets face it there never has been anything to love on the Men’s basketball until Pearl got here.
I think fans would care more about having a good basketball team than having a good women’s team. Just my two cents. Sorry Pat I love ya and I know what I said is Taboo but people talking about men’s basketball year round not so much with women’s. And to be even more unfairly harsh people only talk about Lady Vols near post season or during a big games (Uconn), except this year because they were so bad and pat got 1,000 wins.
Pearl is Second at UT and he can be first in SEC basketball if he WINS big.
Don’t leave Pearl I love you.
Would Pearl really leave?
The twice a year battles with Calipari are going to be great. Plus, he has turned that program around. Memphis offers $$$$, but it is still a C-USA school.
Fingers crossed this is just angling for a raise
Now I am getting nervous.
"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook
I am loathe to say this, but I doubt anything will come of this.
I say I loathe to say this, because I feel like I’ve been wrong a lot lately on the coaching changes that have been going on in the NCAA ( I didnt think Billy G would be out, and I didnt think Cal would come), but I hope I stay on right on this and nothing comes of it.
Hopefully, just the talk of this happening will wake up the fanbase and make us realize just how lucky we are that Bruce Pearl is the men’s basketball head coach, and just how much he has not only done for the program but the school itself.
now with less meyton panning.
by Pride of the Southland on Apr 2, 2009 9:47 AM EDT reply actions
If you have another 0-for
We’ll have to start mentioning you alongside Lee Corso. :)
"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook
I was almost afraid to admit my bad calls so far
because I don’t think I could take being wrong on this one, not to mention the shame I’d have to carry around here for it. I can just see it now: “Look its PotS, that jerkwad should’ve kept his musings to himself, otherwise we’d still have ourselves a world-class coach!”
now with less meyton panning.
by Pride of the Southland on Apr 2, 2009 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Much ado...
I have no worry whatsoever that Pearl is going to go to Memphis. He will turn this into another raise, but I think his real motivation behind this is to rouse the fanbase, in whom he has expressed disappointment this year. Just more of Pearl’s brilliant PR skills on display.
Lou Brock loves Lamp.
oh well...
I knew this was going to happen. I just have to not let it stress me out, and stay off the internet for a day or two…see ya later, guys!
I wonder
. . . if the fanbase’s confidence that Pearl won’t leave isn’t a more subtle symptom of the same thing that bothered Pearl during the season. What would he think of an assertion that he’d be foolish to leave because the Tennessee job is better than the Memphis job? Could that be evidence of the same unrealism?
Just something to ponder.
Rocky Top Talk
by Joel Hollingsworth on Apr 2, 2009 10:31 AM EDT reply actions
To me, the Tennessee job is better
But I’m not sure what a neutral observer, or Pearl at this point, would think about that…
Memphis Job is way better....
More money, better talent (easier to get), FedEx money for coaches and players (internships), higher tourney seeds, Big Man on Campus, City Worship, Big Jewish Community….
I HATE MEMPHIS STATE!!!!
Please stay Pearl… Mike remember, he IS the Pearl of Great Price! PAY HIM!!!!! NAOW!!!!
Quick! This thread needs more video of doors to watch.
Someone get a crew in Detroit, Knoxville and Pearl’s home. I want to know if a squirrel so much as eats an acorn on Pearl’s lawn.
now with less meyton panning.
by Pride of the Southland on Apr 2, 2009 11:19 AM EDT reply actions
Cowbell...
Do you think Mississippi State uses that SNL clip at their sporting events?
Nope, its just the BC - Broadcasting Channel there
there’s a reason its Starkville
now with less meyton panning.
by Pride of the Southland on Apr 2, 2009 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Don't Blame Memphis
Don’t Blame Memphis, blame Kentucky who’s upping the salaries and causing the run on coaches. They wait for Calipari to get the No.1 recruiting class and then rape away the coach and recruits. This is becoming a sick college sport and the NCAA must stop the prostituing of recruits by coaches inorder to get these so called “dream jobs and $$$ jobs”. Memphis offered John Calipari more to stay than Kentucky offered yet he still left. Now an angry bunch of wealthy boosters are hunting for a replacement. GO KICK YOUR SEC PARTNER -KENTUCKY in the HEAD. They started it and now the entire SEC is going to be paying more. More for coaches, more for assistants, more for tickets, more in donations and during one of the worst econonic climates in US history. One day the bubble is going to pop, when advertising on all the media outlets greatly reduce so that these ridiculus payouts to conferences and the NCCA will virtually dry-up. My opinion; everyones got one.
And we're all guilty
I read somewhere yesterday that Memphis and their FedEx pockets were offering Calipari more than double what the highest-paid coach in college basketball made, upwards of 7 million a season, to stay. I don’t blame Kentucky, I blame the New York Yankees, but it’s in everyone’s blood now.
I don't see what there is to cause blame
And I don’t understand why it is considered so low for a successful coach to look for a big paycheck. If you want the best, you have to pay for the best.
TV report of 7-year offer false according to the Commercial Appeal
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/apr/02/memphis-expected-ask-permission-talk-tennessees-pe/
Memphis is “expected to ask for permission” later today.
"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook
Don't Blame UK for Coaching Salaries
Blame ESPN and their deal with the SEC. The big time money generated from SEC football is starting to trickle down to basketball.
I know Pearl talks about coaching at a football school and how having a great football tradition is good for basketball…but I got a feeling if he got an opportunity at a big time basketball school he would take it. I am not sure Memphis fits into that category because of their conference, but they are close.
Will Pearl Stay for a $1.85 million dollar raise?
I think you hit i ton the head. UT is a football school for men’s sports. A coach that wanted to be in the top 5 in the country year after year and have a chance to get a national Champ every other year is NOT going to stay at UT. PERIOD.
But most coaches really do not want a place that has no limits, unlimited b-ball resources, fans that will stay with the coach, a jet for recruiting… and a much easier City,pro team, etc. to recruit from than UT can every have.
This is just a fact. Till the UT crowd see this, they will always have a lot of almosts.
So, what can Memphis offer Pearl? I’m not hooked on this idea.
- A chace to really win. NCAA t-ments are not considered a win.
- The best facilities anywhere. On par with the UK.
- He can recruit in Memphis. NOTE: CAL would not recruit in Memphis.
- A true b-ball school. That has a more support fan based.
- CAL got $2.35M per year + $1M per year annuity + tv show (say 500k) + $2M nike contract OR OR OR $3.35M/year + $500k = $3.85M/yr
WILL Tenn show its support by offing a TOTAL package including TV of
$3.85M/yr
I heard on SportsTalk
on the way home today that once you figure in all Pearl’s endorsements and stuff he ended up making like $3.3 M last year, its just that his UT salary is something like $1.8M. Don’t quote me on that those numbers though, I was only passively listening…but it was one of the hosts who said that and not just some random caller.
Remember B. King and those orange balzers
TN has had in spots a good team hear in there at the school, but not a program that stays at a consistantly high level. REMEMBER — KING and the G man. Really really good. TEAM. I grew up on Vandy ball and then went to Memphis for school.
Hey, Pearl is not the only UT coach to wear those orange blazers… :)
That said, UT does not have a program yet. It has a singular TEAM then and now.
I’ll put it this way. Vandy has a stronger Men’s basketball tradition than UT.
IIRC, Pearl starting wearing the orange blazers as homage to Mears.
That’s why it’s only the Vandy and UK games; those were the games that Mears would wear his blazer.
I take issue with the “throw away” comment that Vandy has a greater mens hoops tradition than UT. UT has a substantial edge in the overall series between the schools. UT has won more regular season and tournament SEC titles than Vandy. UT has a better Post Season record. And that aint sayin’ much for Vandy either.
Even in recent years (Bruce Pearl’s tenure) UT’s record vs. Vandy and the great Kevin Stallings is 6-2.
Think before you speak.
Memphis' Offer
This is what I think will happen. The rumors would not be out unless Pearl expressed his INTEREST. Yes, UT fans that’s how it goes. His agent talks with a 3rd party and all sides can say I did not talk w/ the Pearl man.
As far was offers w/ Cal and (IF)Pearl gets one, it will be enough money that money will not be a factor. So, you UT folks need to see why he would like ot stay — less pressure but not as supportive fans….. etec. etc. and talk about that.
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