Comments by LaneBrains

Written on Haslam Field turf replaced to stay green:

Obviously approved by the State Teachers Union and the Gov.!

Written on Vols' Mikelis Libietis claims No. 1 tennis ranking:

Nice Work, glad to see you are following our standard of excellece.

CLK, Monte and Ed.

Written on John Adams: Vols making progress one detail at a time:

Good to see they finally are following in the tradition that we began years ago. Monte would be happy that Butch and the new staff have such great respect for him and the game. With the QB situation only, an aggressive and creative coaching staff could make that work, as we have everywhere we've coached. Enjoy spring Vol Nation. Thanks again Hammy! We miss you.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on John Adams: Lady Vols ran out of comebacks:

Despite the result, the foundation for the future is in place with Holly and team.

The Lady Vols continue to be among the top programs in the country. They were within 3 points and four minutes of reaching the final four this year, even after a terrible start.

Dissapoointed, yes. Proud and optimistic? definately.

Written on John Adams: Another turnaround leaves Lady Vols one game from Final Four:

Like Pat, Holly and this group of girls are easy to root for, and even easier to like as representatives of the university.

Written on Focus for Tennessee quarterbacks is leadership, avoiding interceptions:

in response to ut4life05:

Butch is goin to turn some heads this season... Next season people will expect Tennessee to dominate and they won't be able to stop it... And by his third and fourth years here, we will be the contendin for a National Championship... Butch Jones proclaimed the storm cloud is no longer over Knoxvegas... I believe!!! Oh yeah... Also... First!!

Yikes! I think you said the same thing when we arrived on campus. Of course you were right, we're just doing that from 'SC. Remember we were ranked #1 last year, with the best QB in the land.

Thank you again M. Hamilton.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Pat Summitt greets full house for memoir:

Best Coach Ever.

Written on A road map for getting back: Study shows Vols' fall from glory years:

in response to GloryDays:

I think there are many factors that have caused the decline of Tennessee football. A lot of it happened when Doug Dickey retired. Mike Hamilton really dropped the ball. The way Fulmer was fired. The hiring of sleezy Kiffin. Then the hiring of incompatent Dooley, he was not qualified to coach or recruit. Hamilton spent his time trying to extract as much money from the Tennessee fans as possible.
Much of the blame has to go on Jimmy Cheek, he made it harder for top players to be admitted, he took away the support system for student athletes, did away with athletic dorms, got his grubby paws in the athletic departments money.
As Phillip Fulmer said, "recruiting is the lifeblood", of a winning college football team. I think Butch Jones knows that, and will spend 365 days a year doing it. Rome wasn't built in a day and it will take coach Jones some time to get this thing going. Go Big Orange!

Well Well Well Glory Days.

Mike Hamilton was the "Answer" not the "Problem" and "The Dream Team" of myself and Dad and Ed was a massive upgrade from the old ways of running a run down SEC has-been. So much so, that the legendary program at 'SC made us an offer that allowed us to keep our UT pay, and get paid in L.A. too!

Hammy fired the home-grown crew afer proving they couldn't do it any longer. Try to recruit only in-state and the really talented coaches would never come your way again.

How talented are we? This year we will have two #1 QB draft picks -- Tyler B, and the supremely talented Matt here at 'SC. AND, AND , AND we beat Both UK and Vandy everytime we played them AND also blew out UGA and called out the cheating Gamecocks.

Jimmy Cheek is only second to the other famous leader of people with the initials "J.C." I mean he's awesome!

CLK, Monte and Ed!

Written on John Adams: Another area SEC has edge — recruiting juco players :

We took Kid Simms instead of Cam Newton... Ed and Monte still regret it. Me, I'm look for the next Cam to take M. Barkely's place.
CLK, Monte and Ed

Go Mike Hamilton!

Written on Dave Hart: Tennessee's brand remains strong :

The cost of the silly decisions, made by the previous AD, Chancelor, and others is continuing to climb.

Now $18MM to the university and its students, plus old and new contracts to coaches. Mike Hamilton, Cheek and crew...what a shame.

The Brand has been damaged...and will take many years to repair.

What is the lesson? And have we learned anything yet?

Written on Phillip Fulmer feels good about new Vols coach:

in response to underthehill:

In my opinion..Dave Hart's resume' clearly indicates to me he was not qualified to be hired as AD at UT..his actions thus far have indicated to me this was by far the worst thing that could have happened in the UT ath dept..I believe the Sunseri hiring and his contract alone is enough to justify UT firing Hart w/o a buyout..add to that the way the merger was handled and the lawsuits..Fulmer is right..

Yikes! We couldn't agree more! Fire the Best AD in America (Hammy we love you still); Who hired the best football combo in the business (college and pro) - USC bought it too!?!

When you get rid of someone like Hammy, the whole thing falls apart. Just on the basis of having to foresight to put together the triple threat package in football, you know that Hammy would have done the job in the end! Just had to give the man time and space to work through it.!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on John Adams: Coaching (not Christmas) lists, the buzz this holiday season :

in response to BigOrangeRock:

Fulmer is the better pick over every name in that list.

Bobby P is the second best coach in the nation...We like his style. Arthur Blank and the U of Ak, are terrible people to work for...they care too much about the off-the-field stuff and character!

I'd take him if I were Mike Hamilton!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on John Adams: Tennessee still a top-20 job ... especially if the price is right :

in response to 9willbesofine:

ut might be the 7th best job in the SEC. Not a good time to be starting over in the SEC. The conference is stronger than ever. Hope for mediocrity. That's the best you can hope for at this point.

When Hammy brought us in, we recruited the #1 player in the U.S., and beat UGA (our major focus)...and clearly positioned the team to compete with 'Bama, Fla, SC and appear in the Conf. Championship games and New Year's Day games. Haslem and Dooley messed it up.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Third quarter: Vanderbilt 34, Tennessee 10 :

Monte, Ed and I would be interested in a return engagement. We're a bit worried, seems Hammy phone number has changed!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on John Adams: If not a big name, how about a familiar one in David Cutcliffe? :

in response to TucsonVol:

Quit living in the past!!!

Your best coaches are behind you! When Hammy hired us, he upgraded the coaching talent, (and we upgraded the players...remember Bryce Brown #1 US prospect) and when we left for 'SC it has been more of the same Fulmer Failures of the past.

Hammy was like OBAMA, "Forward" ... you won't be easy to find talented coaches like us. Gruden is Good, Cutcliff is good too, but they are no Monte or Ed!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on John Adams: If not Jon Gruden, how about Bobby Petrino or Tommy Tuberville? :

I think our buddy Mike H. wrote this article! We would endorse Bobby P! second only to the coaches at 'SC.

We might be willing to make the trip back...seems Pat H, doesn't love Monte as much as he used to after the 60+ point performance with the Ducks.

CLK, Monte and Ed.

Written on Report card: Glimpses of strong play, but no consistency :

In SoCal they are saying CLK = Obama. In Knoxville, CDD= Obama. "Stay the course, it could be worse"

we think they are right , it is easy to see the better future that is just ahead.

CLK, Monte and Ed.

Written on Athletic department lost almost $4 million in 2011-12 :

in response to Ichabod:

Congratulations Hammy - you succeeded in totally ruining a once proud program. It will take a decade to recover......

We agree, Hammy remains the brightest AD we've ever known, and we still appreciate the extra paychecks. Knox, Monte and Ed have had a bunch of very big holiday gifts lately!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on How will the Vols fare in the SEC East?:

in response to Rumblefish:

I voted 2nd. They have the tools for sure to win the East....but those tools haven't been in place on offense and defense for even a year together.

So...I voted 2nd b/c of attricion. USCeast, UGA, and FL will all beat one another. Tenn will beat 1 or 2 of those teams and fall into place. Bout as realistic as I can see the Vols right now.

The "Tools" to finish second in the SEC East reside in SoCal at 'SC. (minus Hammy).

Good Luck Vols.

CLK, Ed and Monte
Pre-Season #1

Written on Pat Summitt on Arthur Ashe award: 'I'm going to be a fighter' :

Along with so many other outstanding decisions by former AD Mike Hamilton, keeping Pat Summitt as head coach during our era at the university was a decision we considered carefully and then 2 out of 3 of us strongly endorsed.

It was great to see her in our backyard again.

CLK, Monte and Ed.

Written on Poll: Air conditioning, or a 9-win season this fall?:

AT USC we get both! And we have the best trio of football coaches ever to grace the sidelines of any football field.

And AD Hamilton is still the best in the land, and if he hired CDD, then we have to believe that 9 wins will be pretty easy. While we don't expect to see you in the 4 team playoff, it wouldn't shock anyone here that you'd be in the running.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Chiefs' Eric Berry wonders about hit that left him hurt:

in response to lemme_axya_this:

I'llI second that motion if you include "at the end of the day"

We will also agree with both these suggestions if everyone will include "Monte is a genius", we all know that CLK is the "genius" among modern football coaches...

"Urban, Steve, Mark, Nick and Monte...all get in line behind CLK"....a direct quote from many made by visionary AD M. Hamilton.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Bruce Pearl vehemently denies Ohio player's claim :

...and I never called Tyler B. when I was leaving for 'SC. Both Bruce and I have a line we will not cross!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Derek Dooley defends decision to sign ex-UGA target Deion Bonner:

in response to Bubba_Knows:

Any kid this stupid to have stolen stuff on a recruiting trip from his future team-mates is not smart enough to get a 2nd chance. Boo Dooley!

Bubba:

Knowing the kids who are deserving of a second change....This is a really tough thing to do, and only the best coaches do this well.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Tee Martin going to Southern Cal as an assistant coach, 'never got a call' from UT:

in response to Clad_In_Big_Orange:

Broken Heart, I now despise USC even more. But none the less I am happy for Tee.

Imagine how broken it will be when Peyton joins us next year. Welcome Tee.

CLK, Monte and Ed.

Written on Makeup of Vols' recruiting class more stable than coaching staff :

in response to westknoxvol24:

If we go 9-3 next year and win a bowl,imagine the recruits talking about Tennessee. Go Dooley go.

At 'SC 9-3 would get us fired!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Derek Dooley says worst is over, progress ahead; DeAnthony Arnett granted release :

The new AD has a tough act to follow. Firing CPF, John Chavis, Hiring our crew and moving quickly to plug that massive hole with CDD. Now that is genius.

CLK, Monte and Ed
Go 'SC, and Matt is Back!

Written on David Climer: Dooley can't ignore his own role in Vols' collapse:

We are stong believers in the Father / Son coaching heritage concept. It has worked well for us. Which means it's working well for 'SC, ...and it's working out great for the Harbaugh's and the Holtz families too...unfortunately some schools have choosen the wrong son...Exhibit a. ALABAMA and M. Shula. When they replaced Mike with Nick the program turned around the next season. And were national champs within a few years.

Mike Hamilton got this right the first time, he went back to the well one more time and, well, the jury is still out. But as we have said many times, Mike Hamilton is a great judge of coaching talent, and we will never forget the impressive paychecks and total support from him.

Just on Mike's reputation alone, we'd endorse CDD and look for a very big year next year from the team.

CLK, Monte and Ed.

Written on Tennessee-Vanderbilt Report Card :

Can you imagine the coaching grade for beating Oregon on national tv in primetime?

I'd say that's a coaching job worth an "A"!

Good game CDD. CLK, Monte and Ed!

Written on Tennessee-Arkansas: Report Card :

As we remember, the new staff in '09 should have been given many more "A's". And more love. Only Mike H, and Mike G. (our USC AD) truely got the superior Thinking of our approach.

If you really want to stabilize the program hire Ed and Hammy.

CLK, Monte, Ed

Written on John Adams: Non-divisional schedule went to 'Dogs :

in response to VolzsFan:

Hey John, its basketball season. Who cares about football? UT football died in November 2008 and you and Hamilton killed it. Move on.

First of all J. Adams had nothing to do with the hiring of the best football coaching staff on the planet! Give all the credit to Mike H., proving that he was way ahead of his time!

Vol fans will remember 2008-2009 as the golden era!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Former coaches praise Lane Kiffin's maturity :

in response to acworthdave:

I am not going to compare their acheivements as players. They played different positions in different eras. I think Majors' accomplishments as a player for UT takes a back seat to very few. Fulmer was also great player. However, this has nothing to do with coaching.

Majors won or shared 3 SEC Titles in his last 7 years ('85,'89,'90). Not 2 as you mentioned above.

His '77 team (his first season) was not the worst:
The 1906 Team went 1-5-1
The 1909 Team went 1-6-2
The 1924 Team went 3-5
Many other teams only won 4 games in a season.
1977 was certainly a bad season but he inherited a mess of a program.
The 1988 team did lose 6 in a row....then went 25-3-1 over the next 2+ seasons with 2 SEC Championships.

Winning % can be deceiving. SImply look at the first of their careers aginst the last few years. The last 4 full years for each coach:

Majors: 74%
Fulmer: 56%

Herein lies the main point of any argument about Majors vs Fulmer. How did Majors leave the program vs what he inherited compared to Fulmer. You could not find more opposite situations.

I do agree that Fulmer does get the big prize with the National Championship in 1998. For that, he does deserve the respect and fame as one of the best UT coaches of all time. He did get us to the next level...he just could not keep us there.

Here ended the lesson!

IMO...they are both great players and coaches. They both deserved better from their University.

Yikes: Johnny Majors?! Loved that guy, I met him when I was 5 on the way to Green Bay with Dad.

Seriously he did a nice job. He should have begged dad instead of Donahue. I could have helped with the offense..."Boy Wonder" is what they called me in Green Bay.

Your a little tough on Philip. The University actually created a "Decade of Dominance" DVD, that pretty clearly recounted Phil's very good record. Top (one or two) in the NCAA right? You will be very hard pressed to have that happen again.

When Phil lost Mike Hamilton's confidence (and the Pilot Oil guy) the program began to struggle. Yet top talent was developed there (Foster, Mecham, Moore, Ainge, Berry, Allen, Colquitt, Mayo) just to name a few. And he had top coaching talent too (Chief is proving that at LSU...almost as good as dad, and Cutcliff)

I think you will come to appreciate Philip over time, just as you have with Johnny (and his best friend Jack...now that was funny!)

Philip will be harder for Vol fans to appreciate because Mike made such an excellent hire : )

CLK, Monted and Ed
(Mike Hamilton and Vol fans often said "you're great!" and we agree!Watch what we are doing at USC with 63 scholarships.)

Written on Former coaches praise Lane Kiffin's maturity :

...And Monte is the best defensive mind in the history of football, and Ed can recruit like nobody else....and don't forget we recruited the most sought after recruit "in the history" of Tennessee Football (B. Brown)...we did the program there many favors.

Only Mike Hamilton and Mike Garrett really understood us, and now top PAC 12 legends are climbing on the bandwagon. Hard to take isn't Steve, Nick, Mark, Urban, Les?

We look forward to meeting on the field and demonstrating our great abilities!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Tennessee-South Carolina Report Card :

Monte would be happy with defense. The head coach continually gave the ball back with short fields, instead of punting and sending the defense out to get the ball back. Forth and inches at the 50 usually results in a punt inside the 20. Especially when it is a one-score game. Even the greatest defensive coach in the world wouldn't be able stop Carolina,'LSU 'and Bama with such a reckless approach in close games.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on QB Justin Worley debuts with late relief role :

in response to MothershipChip:

I do not understand why they wasted Worley's redshirt. Easily the most puzzling decision of the Dooley era. Unless Worley starts in our next game and plays out the season this was a serious mistake. The quote from Dooley about it makes me wonder if he thinks Bray is going to stay after next season. Only time will tell, but I really feel like this was a bad move.

Go Big Orange

The most puzzling was not putting Worley into the game...the most puzzling was going for it at the UT 39 when the score was 13-6.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on UT-Alabama Report Card :

Monte always told me "son, when you're down by 6 early in the second half, and your D is playing well, you punt the ball on 4th down from you own 39!"

We talked about it last night and I think we all agree...That may have been the worst call in a close game all year.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on No. 2 Alabama heavily favored over rival Tennessee:

"Heavily Favored"...now that is an understatement.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on John Adams: For Mark Richt lightning has to strike twice at Neyland :

As we recall, the Vols were one half of footbsll from a National Championship Game this year. GA played well, David green had the game of his life.

John, its a little unfair to remember this year in the way you've described...Although, as you and all VOl fans know, we never lost to GA : ))

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Final: Florida 33, Tennessee 23 :

When a team has a talented QB, the road back is much shorter. With a little recruiting the Vols will be challenging to all teams (except USC). for the next 20 Tyler B. Games the Vols fans will have plenty of "W's" over many good teams.

It would be perfect if we met for the BCS championship in Tyler's senior year. I would once again prove that the superior coaches reside in L.A.

CLK, Monte, Ed

Written on Georgia State, Akron, Troy to play Vols in 2012 :

Wow! Three of the worst teams in the NCAA. Look at how things have fallen apart since Hammy was booted!

So sorry Vols fans...

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Bruce Pearl taking marketing job with H.T. Hackney :

The "H" in H.T. is for "Hamilton" right?

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on John Adams: Hey, Tennessee, give free tickets to kids:

Amazing what a difference good coaches can make and a top A.D.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on John Adams: Off-the-field adjustments now crucial :

in response to Navalorange:

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

We would agree you completely! The
NCAA is focused on the big programs that really have great resources to keep everyone in line that the small programs really don't get the same supervision. It is the NCAA 's weird way of trying to level the playing field. USC, Tenn, Ohio state, And now poor chip Kelly and the Ducks are all part of the NCAA 's focus. You can only imagine what is going on at Cal, Vandy, illinois, Boston U, central Fla., And the others.

Still we succeed!

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on C.J. Watson says NBA hasn't changed him :

We saw CJ in Chicago Nightly, he did a great job and represented himself and the Bulls and UT well, on the court and off the court.

Nice Job CJ

Written on 26 months later, UT goes before NCAA’s Committee on Infractions:

We are so thankful Mike took the heat off us this week and resigned. In every situation he took the lead and allowed us to do the very best job we could for the University! And now he's done it again...thanks Mike we continue to admire and appreicate your dedication to the best football coaches in America.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Joan Cronan named interim vice chancellor; will oversee entire athletics department:

Now that's a decision even the LaneBrains could like for a very long time. : ) After many silly decisions from the leadership at UT, and the administration running sports, we see Joan as a really pleasent surprise. WOW...if we could only have this kind of change at 'SC

Go Joan.

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Was it time for Mike Hamilton to go?:

Monte, Ed and I will do all we can to support Mike! Since he hired me and the other two best coaches in the history of football, we've done well.

We've had a little bad luck, but Hammy was always good for the bank account.

Knox will remember him fondly : )

CLK, Monte and Ed

Written on Andrew Gribble: UT hearing with NCAA figures to be intense :

We've been preparing as well. It's a simple defense. "Monte Did it!" Monte has gotten on in years and his mental capacity had slipped so much that we were all trying to cover for him and his innocent mistakes...AND, it had been decades since he had coached college kids and he just made some simple mistakes that we all had to cover for him... He did take a huge pay cut, he did move to Knoxville to help his family...

AD Hayden bought it, seems to us the NCAA will as well.

Written on John Adams: Phillip Fulmer could get by as athletic director:

Mike Hamilton is the best AD in America (second only to Pat Hayden). We are still getting paychecks every two weeks with Hammy's signature : ))

CLK, Monte & Ed

Written on What if UT football went from Fulmer to Dooley? :

Well Vols fans, you would have missed the top defensive mind in the history of football, the top recruiter and the top yound head coaching talent ever to walk on campus. All the things Hammy promised, we delivered.

CLK, Monte and Ed

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