Talking Points: Whiffing on ADs, Eyeing the Search Firm

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jul 27, 2011 7:53 AM EDT in Rocky Top Talking Points

So UT continues to whiff on AD candidates, the latest of which is LSU AD Joe Alleva. Some wondered why we were even swinging at Alleva, but once the bat gets loose, it's hard to corral. According to Scout, UT has now missed on Tom Jurich of Louisville, Gene DeFilippo of Boston College, and Mitch Barnhart of Kentucky, not to mention nearly biting on Georgia Tech AD Dan Radakovich. Ah, well, on to someone like SMU or something. What's the saying? Everyone's prettier at closing time? By the way, be sure to check out Caban's takedown of the Parker Executive Search Firm and its [mystery adjective here] portfolio.
Congrats to Chris Walker, who's off to join the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent. He joins Nick Reveiz (Tampa Bay), LaMarcus Thompson (Atlanta), Chad Cunningham (Tennessee), and Jarrod Shaw (Cleveland) in the Whew Woo group of guys jumping on the NFL ferry as it pulls away.
John Adams squeezes a bit more out of the snark bottle in suggesting UT just give tickets away to kids to pack out the stadium.
Practice starts Monday. It's almost here.

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To me,

The AD is someone nobody should really know anyway. As long as we hire someone who 1- isn’t going to allow coaches in any sport to run afoul of the NCAA (NCAA being said in my best Pepto Bismol commercial “diarrhea” voice) and 2- isn’t going to fire Martin or Dooley unless they can’t win, then I don’t really care. The main thing is we have got to stop the PR bloodletting and now. Cheek has got to figure out how to handle the public or he has got to go now. Too many screw-ups for too long now has just made us look much worse than the situation is and it’s building on itself in the fact that we get turned down by big-ish names.

"I condone fun things" ~~ Cortland Finnegan

Hello ladies. Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me.

by VolBrian on Jul 27, 2011 8:57 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed.

by GhostDance on Jul 27, 2011 7:46 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I heard a couple of years ago that Louisiana Tech had a pretty sharp AD

We should look into that.

Lou Brock loves Lamp.

by birdjam on Jul 27, 2011 9:08 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

THIS.

Dooley-isms Archiving the Genius.

by kingofzachland on Jul 27, 2011 9:16 AM EDT up reply actions

I've heard the name of the SMU AD bandied about

and I can’t see anything wrong with the idea. Especially not compared to who we just almost hired.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Jul 27, 2011 9:25 AM EDT reply actions

On giving tickets away to kids

We used to do this in basketball all the time in the early 90s. In particular I remember Boy Scout Night being a big deal that made a noticeable difference in attendance. It’s really not a bad idea for Montana and Buffalo.

Rocky Top Talk

by Will Shelton on Jul 27, 2011 10:28 AM EDT reply actions

especially Buffalo

Montana at least has it being opening weekend and a holiday to help boost attendance.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Jul 27, 2011 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Works for the Lady Vols...

Lou Brock loves Lamp.

by birdjam on Jul 27, 2011 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh, yeah

I agree that it’s a good idea. It was just hard to see because the idea was bathed in a bunch of sarcasm.

Chief Editor, Rocky Top Talk. Chief in Charge of Woo, Gameday Depot.

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jul 27, 2011 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Do it...

It’s a fantastic idea to build future fans… we’re obviously a big deal, but we do compete with other programs for fans. Get your hooks into them early, and you may attract quite a few future season ticket holders.

And anyone who refers to this as some negative form of welfarenor setting a bad precedent is brain dead. It’s just infrastucture building, and it helps us look better on TV and maybe be a little louder. Remember, kids can yell like nobody else.

by Caban on Jul 27, 2011 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't even realize Montana tickets were already on sale

I thought single game seats didn’t come out until August 8th

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Jul 27, 2011 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

Appears to be the only single game ticket you can buy

August 8 appears to still be the date for the rest

Rocky Top Talk

by Will Shelton on Jul 27, 2011 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions

well, I just went ahead and bought seats for me, Dad, and one of my sisters

this will be our 2nd game together, and it hopefully doesn’t end like the first one (MCB). Shame we don’t have many games on long weekends this year. It’s much nicer to drive up for three days than two. Although I guess either is better than your standard one.

Heel for school, Vol for life!

Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!

by Incipient_Senescence on Jul 27, 2011 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Hey...

I still think we played pretty well in the MCB, you may still be good luck for the Vols.

by Caban on Jul 27, 2011 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm all for giving tickets away

Agree, especially to kids, it doesn’t hurt the program’s goodwill in 20-30 years when those kids grow up singing Rocky Top and bleeding orange and having money they want to contribute. I went to BYU, but I grew up going to Vol football games, so they get my first loyalty over my alma mater, so thanks Dad for the free tickets which he gave to me sometimes at the expense of him attending. I read Caban’s thing, wow, that’s a bit depressing about the search firm. I just hope and pray we get a good AD at UT, I could still go for Cronan, she’s done well so far. JUST GET SOMEONE GOOD, please! Made the mistake of catching a minute or two of an ESPN college football show, liked seeing Erin Andrews until she sat next to UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel and that other guy from LA, turned that off quick. C’mon NCAA give him a show-cause (Please!!) or at least lots of restrictions for a few years on Coach Voldemort (He Who Must Not Be Named at Tennessee).

by VolfromBYU on Jul 27, 2011 7:08 PM EDT reply actions