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Packer: Naler won't forget first impressions of UT, DeVoe
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With the success of Tennessee basketball these days comes discussions of when the program was at its best before now. Former Vol Kirk Naler says that time was when Don DeVoe was coach at UT.
“DeVoe started it all in the late ’70’s,” Naler said. “After he left, the program went down a notch or two with each of the coaches that walked through the door.”
“Starting it all” essentially referred to life after Mears to the Tennessee program. When Naler was being recruited to this “football school,” it was the Tennessee basketball crowd that sold him on Knoxville.
“I had taken a visit to Auburn and they had about three or four thousand fans in the stands,” Naler said. “That was on a weekend, too. Then, just a few days later, I took a visit to Tennessee and you couldn’t have fit another person in Stokely. It was incredible to see that many people wearing orange and I was sold.
“What also impressed me about Tennessee was Coach DeVoe. He seemed to be truthful and on the level. I remember Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee were my top 3. But, when Wimp Sanderson left my house, I told my dad that that Alabama coach was crazy.”
You hear stories about recruiting and how coaches will say anything to get a player to sign, then when the athlete arrives on campus the coach is different. Naler said this never happened with DeVoe.
“He was just what I thought he would be,” Naler said. “However, I don’t know a player that didn’t want more playing time when his career was over. One thing you could say about Coach DeVoe was that he was the ultimate optimist.
“I remember being down by 30 to Georgia one year and he called a timeout with three or four minutes to play. He told us to get within 10 so that we could leave the gym with some respect. It didn’t matter if we were down three, seven or 30, Coach DeVoe was always ultra positive and made us think that we had a chance to come back.”
Things were different when Naler played at UT (1981-85) than they are now when it came to starters.
“I started most of my sophomore, junior and senior seasons. But, the way it would work back then is that you would start two or three games in a row, then you’d come off the bench for a few games,” Naler said. Coach DeVoe would change up the starting lineup all the time to match the personnel.”
I remember when we were playing Kentucky one year and they had Kenny ‘Sky’ Walker. We were only a few minutes into the game and Walker had already scored several times. I hadn’t started that game, so when Coach DeVoe called a timeout he asked us if there was anybody who could stop Walker. I had my warm up top off before he had the words out of his mouth.”
I went in and never came back out. I think Walker scored 6 points the rest of the game. My approach was that if he never got the ball he’d never score. It was just a determination that I had and we beat them that game.”
As for whether DeVoe could still coach today, Naler has no doubts.
“Oh yeah, that guy could coach and win today just like he did then,” Naler said. “It’s just nice to see that (coach) Bruce Pearl has things going for this program like we’ve never seen before.”
Naler spent four years as middle school boys coach at Christian Academy of Knoxville. He did it for a couple of reasons. First was his love of basketball, second the opportunity to spend more time with his two sons. After a year off, Naler will return to the sidelines with former Major League Baseball player Atlee Hammaker as his coaching sidekick.
“We’re going to coach the girls middle school team so that we can coach our daughters,” Naler said. “It’s funny that the things I learned from Coach DeVoe are the things that I instill in the kids that I coach. And, those things are also the things that I watch for in the Vols now.
“This team has a chance to win an SEC and a national championship. The most important things are defensive rebounding and loose balls. I’ve always felt that if you can win those two facets of the game that you can dominate enthusiasm and tempo. Those are two areas that the Vols must win night in and night out to win championships.
“We were able to win a lot of games when I played at Tennessee. It’s so much fun, as a former player, to see the program at a level it’s never been at before. I hear people say that Tennessee is a football school. I think you’d be hard pressed to tell that to (women’s coach) Pat Summitt or Bruce Pearl right now.”
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by splinterdand on February 16, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Tennessee basketball didn't skip a beat when DeVoe took over for Mears. I missed those days so much until Bruce Pearl brought it all back.
Posted by TommyJack on February 16, 2008 at 4:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good article. I remember Coach DeVoe as an outstanding GAMEDAY coach. Perhaps he had shortcomings in recruiting, etc, but his teams could match up and compete (for awhile) with vastly superior teams.
Posted by weisgarber2003 on February 16, 2008 at 5:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Tennessee basketball didn't skip a beat when DeVoe took over for Mears. I missed those days so much until Bruce Pearl brought it all back."
It might not have skipped a beat until Mear's players were gone, but go back and check the SEC record and I think it will show that Devoe only had one winning record in conference play his last six years.
Posted by TurboFan on February 16, 2008 at 11:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was in school from 82-87 and I probably missed only 2 or 3 home games during that time. I have no memory of a Kirk Naler.
Of course, he probably doesn't remember me either.
Posted by schymtz on February 17, 2008 at 9:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
UT sure paid a big price when Devoe was released. What I remember most was the five wins in a row over Kentucky: Mears' last two and DeVoe's three.
Posted by splinterdand on February 17, 2008 at 10:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Weisgarber, I realize that the last half of DeVoe's tenure that things dropped off from what they were, but come on. DeVoe brought in one of Tennessee's greatest in Dale Ellis, and some other very good ones such as Michael Brooks. Give him credit for those years. How many time did Devoe take the Naval Academy to the NCAAs. That was pretty impressive. I still think he was a hell of a coach. Maybe if the UT administration had the commitment to basketball that they now have under Mike Hamilton, DeVoe could have had more success.
Posted by weisgarber2003 on February 17, 2008 at 11:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"UT sure paid a big price when Devoe was released. What I remember most was the five wins in a row over Kentucky: Mears' last two and DeVoe's three."
UT's big mistake was in NOT releasing Devoe much, much sooner. Devoe set the program back to pre-Mears days, and then a series of bad hires kept the program in the doldrums. Devoe could not compete in conference play, as proven by his last six years of .500 mediocrity. He won a few nonconference games against outmanned teams of lesser caliber to make his overall record look semi-respectable. But, he wasn't a competitive coach contrary to what some would suggest. Look at his SEC record over the last six years, that is the real barometer.
Posted by weisgarber2003 on February 17, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"How many time did Devoe take the Naval Academy to the NCAAs. That was pretty impressive. I still think he was a hell of a coach. Maybe if the UT administration had the commitment to basketball that they now have under Mike Hamilton, DeVoe could have had more success."
As for taking Navy to the big dance, that was a notworthy achievement, but even at Navy, Devoe fell off dramatically his last couple of years. Devoe was and probably is a good human being, but he isn't/wasn't a good basketball coach. He might have made a good assistant for someone with his ability to coach defense, but not to run the program. I don't think the administration had much to do with Devoe's lack of success. Dickey certainly didn't seem to be too concerned with BB, but bottom line is that Devoe couldn't recruit the caliber of players in the quantity necessary to be continually competitive. It is easy to go back and look at particular individuals and try to point them out as somehow making the program successful, but bottom line wins out, and Devoe didn't have the "bottom line." His record at Navy was mixed as well.
Posted by newtonrail on February 17, 2008 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
For those who get and read the " Hard Copy" of the KNS only, and even in GVX, this is a " Feel Good Piece". It seems to me the purpose is to provide some " positive" link to Mears era. I thought DeVoe was an excellent bench coach, but as others have said, didn't get enough talent. I graduated in '67, but have kept going to BB and FB games, and don't understand how a student can claim he never heard of Kirk Naylor. He wasn't Ernie Grunfield, but then there was only one of him. We had some good teams in the 40's and 50's, but no one here is going to know anything about them so voila, Packer pulls Don Devoe out his Hat.
Posted by maples on February 18, 2008 at 11:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I remember guys like Gary Carter, Dale Ellis, and Stephen Ray, but I don't remember this guy at all. What I do remember of the Devoe teams is that they seemed to lose a little bit of steam each season after they won the first SEC tournament. I think it was the shot clock that killed Devoe's. He just could not figure out how to control the clock when that change came. Devoe did a good job for UT, and probably did not deserve some of the things he went through, especially the chaotic year in Flordia, but other than that first season, I don't remember much other than the team was well coached but always seem to lack the talent to win consistently. I heard it said once that Devoe could take five guys from a gym class and turn them into a competitive team cause he was that good of a coach. I think that is true. I don't think I would put him over Mears or Pearl, but he deserves some credit for the job he did at UT, but also deserves some blame for their demise that led to years of mediocrity.
Posted by budrhon on February 21, 2008 at 8:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Devoe was a great X/O gameday Coach who preach and breathed Defense, but his brand of Hoops began to diminish due to his lackluster recruitment of quality athletes. Building TBA was one of the reasons that many thought would help him, but the initial delays eventually cost him. Best players he recruited were Dale Ellis and Tony White. I still believe the shot clock did it for him. The game took on a fast pace style which his coaching style just didn't blend with.
Posted by rabidvolfan on February 21, 2008 at 9:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Naler was one of the biggest examples of how DeVoe couldn't recruit. He played a lot off the bench his last couple of years, but was not very good. No, he never hit a last shot to beat KY.
Posted by dirislr on February 23, 2008 at 12:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nafslov, you must have not seen Ernie and Bernie play. They ran up and down the court much like they do today. Alabama had a heck of a team back then. You are not too smart yourself.
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