Comments by pcorange

Written on New football hires show importance of familiarity, trust:

in response to Orange_Beach:

I can't recall Butch Jones being a highly sought after coach. He wasn't even the first choice when a spiraling out of control UThug hired him away from powerhouse Cincy team.

Please, just shut up.

Written on David Climer: Titles can't erase SEC football's weaknesses:

I think it is pretty obvious that the SEC is top-heavy. However, it seems to me that most other conferences are, too. There are teams in our bottom half that wouldn't be bottom half in any other conference.

Written on Father of Trae Golden says reports of academic problems are 'totally inaccurate':

In this case, I tend to believe the "source" in the athletic department over Mr. Golden. It would be very unusual to play 3 years at one school, be a very important part of the starting lineup, and then just out of the blue decide you would rather play your final year somewhere else. That just doesn't add up. I'm sorry.

Written on Source: Trae Golden's departure 'based on academics' and 'repeated plagiarism':

If this is the case, it was handled appropriately. Most programs, and I'm sure UT is no different, offer all the help a player could ever want keeping their grades up. If he was too lazy to put in the minimal effort needed, he doesn't deserve to stay.

Written on Travon Landry's father on recruitment: 'It's just the nature of the beast':

in response to GerryOP:

But ... but... but ... what're we going to do now? Word is that Golden will not be back next year!

Things have a way of coming back to bite you.

Written on Trae Golden leaving Vols: 'We wish him well':

Wow. What next?

Written on Texas A&M's stadium to exceed Neyland:

We need to fill the seats we have before this will matter a whole lot. Didn't we cut from north of 107,000 to the 102,455 a few years ago to build some "luxury sky boxes"?

Written on UT athletic director Hart gets one-year extension, $50K bonus:

in response to ProfessionalHandicapper:

Nice contract for an AD who missed on Gruden, Strong, and 3 others before being forced to take a follower who lost badly to Dooley. Truth is UT has a worse staff than UK or Vandy. Time will prove me right once again just like the Dooley bashing TROLL I was called. Ill put Fulmer and Pearls credentials against Martins and Jones anytime anywhere and beg for a stupid argument. Nobody bashes UT worse than UT fans. The ONLY SEC school in 100 years to fire a coach who won them a National Championship for their school. . Idiots..

Actually, Auburn fired Gene Chizik in 2012 after he won them a national title in 2010. I agree that Fulmer should never have been fired, but he was. Butch Jones is now our coach, and he was a better hire than either Jon Gruden or Charlie Strong. I think time will prove me right.

Written on SEC's Mike Slive says new name for football playoff was built on simplicity:

Any kind of playoff will ruin college football. I like bowl games. More often than not, the best team wins the title. There are cases where a team has an argument that they should've been there, but that isn't all that often. Leave college football alone!

Written on UT athletic director Hart gets one-year extension, $50K bonus:

Congratulations to AD Hart on his contract extension. He is working hard to overcome the mess that his predecessor left him. His efforts have already brought us Butch Jones, who I believe will bring UT football back to the top, in due time. I used to subscribe to the Alabama conspiracy theories, but I have had a change of heart, no pun intended.

Written on Which UT player drafted will make the most impact his rookie season?:

I think Locker and Hunter will be special in the future.

Written on After draft, some former Vols know their destination, others still searching for homes:

I don't know about Teague. He never really got to play his position at UT. Maybe things will work out for him. I'm still surprised that Bray didn't get drafted.

Written on Tyler Bray shut out at NFL draft, but Mychal Rivera lands with home-state team:

Frankly, I'm pretty surprised that Bray went undrafted. I realize he has some maturity issues, but nothing he couldn't grow out of. He could definitely be a bargain for somebody as an undrafted free agent. I don't think he has what it takes upstairs to be a rookie starter, but with a couple of years under somebody like Peyton Manning he could definitely have a future.

Written on Vols tight end Mychal Rivera drafted by Oakland Raiders:

Seems like Rivera went kinda low. He's better than that.

Written on Jarnell Stokes staying for junior season at Tennessee:

Very wise decision by Jarnell Stokes. I am glad to hear he will be back. We should have a good team next year with Maymon back.

Written on Mike Vollmar hired as UT's new senior associate AD for football:

Looks to me like the guy has a decent resume. Some of our best years were with a Florida guy at the helm, so we need to just sit back and relax. Butch has it all under control and will rebuild this program, I am convinced of it. When we are back in the hunt, you will all think Dave Hart was brilliant.

Written on Tennesse's Cordarrelle Patterson picked 29th by Vikings:

I'm glad for Patterson. He deserved to be a first round pick. Very talented individual.

Written on Heather Mason relieved of duties as UT's associate strength and conditioning coach:

It never pays to sue your employer, if you wish to remain employed.

Written on Butch Jones' finding of No. 1 pick in NFL Draft profiled by Yahoo :

And some on here still think he can't recruit.

Written on Mike Strange: Lane Kiffin's Tennessee recruiting haul not reflected in draft:

in response to nocleats:

"Lane Kiffin is a flat out liar" Al Davis

Al Davis spoke the truth.

Written on Mike Strange: Lane Kiffin's Tennessee recruiting haul not reflected in draft:

The Dooley debacle probably ruined a lot of NFL dreams.

Written on Grilled by Jon Gruden, UT's Tyler Bray says he needs to improve preparation in NFL:

I think the article sums Bray up really well. More than likely, he won't be a rookie starter. He has the talent to be, but he isn't there mentally yet. He will be a starter eventually if he stays healthy. He reminds me a lot of Jay Cutler, and he has done a decent job at Chicago.

Written on RB Marlin Lane 'absolutely' on track for return to Vols, Butch Jones says:

Good news for sure. Hope it works out for him and he is back in orange this fall.

Written on Order of protection was taken out against Yemi Makanjuola:

Looks like he got off pretty easy to me. If the allegations are true, he should be looking at prison time.

Written on Defense dominates Jones' first Orange & White Game:

It is nice to see Coach reaching out to our former players like he is. I know that doesn't mean much on the field, but recruits seeing all the faces that have come through here and gone on to shine in the NFL is a positive thing. I am especially glad to see UT reach out to Arian Foster. He left here with a bad taste in his mouth for UT football, and it is good to see him welcomed back.

Written on Tennessee football's spring answers some questions for season, raises others:

Realistically, the offense is going to take a step back this year. All you Bray haters are going to see that he really was that good. That said, if they can improve over the summer and we see good improvement on the defensive side of the ball, the light may start shining at the end of the tunnel. Nobody needs to have any delusions of winning the east this year, but we should win some SEC games and hopefully go bowling. Not what UT fans were accustomed to in days of old, but if we will be patient with this coach, I believe he will get us back there.

Written on Vols quarterbacks must lead:

Hopefully one of the two freshmen coming in will show some promise.

Written on Rawane Ndiaye, Darius Thompson to visit UT:

in response to volthrunthru#658770:

Martin owes a LOT of favors to a lot of people, perhaps.

All over the Vol Nation, people are beginning to say Martin is in over his head. From almost Day 1, some who knew have been saying he was not up to the task of succeeding Pearl & company.

Martin is major league a typical Mike Hamilton hire.

I am tired of UT's being such a bad place in the eyes of the coaching community that we hire bush league coaches, who do not make NCAA tournaments, get to Bowl Games, apologize for baseball teams that can't win, or in news conferences announce they are bringing in the "Best Coaching Staff in America," then bring in small school coaching staffs, one of whom was so rude to a respected UT Vol alumnus coach, that the coach left his alma mater to work at a former opponent.

That's what you get when trustees hire presidents, chancellors and athletics directors from places that have been and are enemical to UT.

Bush league coaches. Bad administrators. Athletics Directors who have no clue how to get a top tier coach to come to UT, and are so close to retirement, with contracts that prevent them from being fired, that they don't care. Anybody who would have given a coach from the University of Cincinnati a no-cut contract for $18-MILLION DOLLARS if the guys breathes, is not fit to be on a UT payroll.

But, of course, all those great minds wanted to fire Fulmer. (Uh can you say $40-million dollars that move cost you, and we downgraded coaches. And we are on the hook for another 18Million+ for Jones & his assistants.)

Seems to me that since the ONLY reason UT is having the recruiting success now being enjoyed in football is because of getting UT legacy prospects, due to the lettermen's having realized the Athletics Department could tank if Football does not turn around this year...

so lettermen are calling on their fellow lettermen to send their kids to UT...

If the lettermen are doing that, then the Lettermen ought to be coaching UT. All have played better football and more than a few have coached at higher levels than all but one of Jones's staff including Jones.

And nobody is going to be able to convince me that Martin---who is a better coach in BB than Jones or his minions are in Football---is able to handle this position.

Remember...Martin recruits a strength and conditioning coach who reportedly poses half nude on a website...and hires him anyway; guy had worked at Purdue, where Martin had gone to school---before the guy was unemployed.

Sooooo...Martin pays him 6figures to put his shirt on and come to UT, where he sits courtside at games, wearing suits that glow in the dark.

You gotta be kidding me. The Athletics Department is a half-BILLION dollars per decade operation...and all we can hire is buffoons??????? (Except for women's basketball---which the Athletics Director disrespects.)

GoVols!

Butch Jones has yet to coach one down of football at UT against an opponent. What makes you think a big name coach would want to walk into UT after a three-peat of losing seasons and a fan base that wants to fire everybody including their national championship winning football coach? I wouldn't coach here either as ignorant and impatient as this fan base is. Coach Dooley was given time to show improvement, and should have been fired when he was. However, this fan base would have fired him after the first season. Coach Jones may be a major flop. Then again, he may get us back in contention. I don't know, and neither do you.

Written on Rawane Ndiaye commits to Tennessee basketball; Vols now two scholarships over limit:

in response to KevDVol:

All of you clammoring for Bruce Pearl's triumphant return should consider a few things about Bruce.

Yes, he injected a much needed dose of enthusiam and swagger to the downtrodden B-ball program. But the Bruce Pearl we hired was not the same Bruce Pearl that we fired. We hired an enthusiastic coach who ran a clean program and was a family man. We fired a coach who lied to the NCAA and also conspired to have his coaches and recruits lie. In the K-NS, Bruce called his new wife Brandy "the love of my life"...while all of his children, from his previous (barely cold) marriage, still lived in Knoxville. There was an arrogance and an ego that the "fired Bruce" probably should have reigned in.

In the NCAA, Pearl went 1 game farther than Jerry Green. And, then he killed what he built. Cuonzo exceeded expectations in his first year and I expect him to turn the corner next season. Get over Bruce...he has reached his expiration date at UTK.

Good post. I couldn't agree more.

Written on Tennessee leaves door open for Marlin Lane's possible return:

Here we go with the idiotic comments. We don't know why Lane is off the team, but it sounds like a door is open if he wants to do what he needs to do. Dooley's record had nothing to do with the talent on the field. He had no idea how to make halftime or gametime adjustments, that is why he had a losing record.

Written on Sports Illustrated: Bray has physical ability to play in NFL, but mental questions remain:

He just needs to work on keeping his chin up when he or a team mate makes a mistake. I think he has a chance to be a good NFL QB, but he may not be a rookie starter.

Written on Rawane Ndiaye commits to Tennessee basketball; Vols now two scholarships over limit:

in response to chipmurphy461:

Read on another site he had an injured foot for most of last season. He initially committed to Western Carolina, but chose a community college so he's only got 2 years of eligibility remaining. Maybe Cuonzo can share his insight and logic on this guy. We've seen the consistent recruiting and talent Bruce brought in on the court and statistic wise, as of now Cuonzo is miles behind. Cuonzo seems like a good guy, but being a good guy doesn't always translate to winning basketball games. If this upcoming year isn't better than the previous years Cuonzo's gotta go and we've gotta rehire Bruce. We can't allow our program to decline any more than it already has and Cuonzo's recruits are apparently, more often than not, looking like they're in the wrong conference. Not to mention we're now starting towards a reputation of over signing, in turn somebody's gotta go and that can't look too enticing to recruits seeing as how we're not competing for the national championship every year. All that being said welcome aboard Rawane, I hope you and Cuonzo prove me wrong. Go Vols

I am in agreement with most of what you are saying here, but I don't see UT ever re-hiring Bruce Pearl. I know he's a good coach, but he is damaged goods. He'll coach again somewhere, but it won't be at UT. I do think that this coming season needs to show improvement or CCM needs to have a very good reason why it didn't. Not being able to get his team up to beat Mercer in the NIT after running his yap about the NCAA selection committee was a huge indictment against him as a coach. I hope he proves me wrong as well and wins the SEC this year, but I am skeptical.

Written on John Adams: For Butch Jones, it's been access supplied during his time at Tennessee:

For the first time in a long time, it looks like the future is bright. We haven't had a decent coach since 2008, but it looks like we've got one now. Go Coach Jones, and Go Big Orange!

BTW, good article, John Adams.

Written on Alabama's Smart gets $3.85 million, 3-year deal:

Thought this was a UT board?

Written on Kamiko Williams picked in second round of WNBA draft:

in response to Geno_is_a_dbag07:

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

So what have you got against rednecks? Hate is hate, friend.

Written on Tennessee still looking for 'playmakers' on offense:

Realistically, I think we all know that this team is not going to compete for any kind of championship this fall. They need to find a way to get enough wins to go to a bowl this year, but that will be a challenge with this very young offense. Recruiting seems to be on the upswing, so let's be positive and stand behind our coach until he gives us a reason not to. Remember, he took over after back to back to back losing seasons, so we don't need to expect a miracle in his first season.

Written on Vanderbilt coach James Franklin says 'people are offended' that he stands up for his school:

Love him or hate him, he has done a really good job at Vandy. I bleed orange, but you have to give credit where credit is due.

Written on Tennessee contends with dropped passes, injury in Thursday practice:

They'll get the hammys straightened out. No need for excitement just yet.

Written on Vols beating ETSU in baseball 'was what the doctor ordered':

I'm not sure a win over ETSU is any indication this team is turned around. It is nice to have the losing skid broken, but reality will set back in next game.

Written on A.J. Johnson, UT linebackers tackling new goals :

I don't see how this team can go anywhere but up. Go Butch, Go Big Orange!

Written on John Adams: Butch Jones turns up volume at scrimmage:

in response to spvol:

I believe we have a COACH.

Me, too. Dooley was a mouthpiece, Jones is football coach. Glad we got him.

Written on Poll: Which unit will be stronger on UT's football team next season?:

I think our coach has the team headed in the right direction. For the first time in a long time, there is some reason for hope. Will that translate into a successful on the field campaign in 2013? If judged against teams from 10 to 15 years ago, probably not. If judged against the past three years, probably so. Jones has the right attitude, a strong work ethic, and he is recruiting very well. I think that will mean great things for the future. Which unit will be better this season, offense or defense? Who really knows? The defense can't go anywhere but up after last season's travesty. The offense probably won't be as good after losing Bray, Hunter, and Patterson. Maybe together they can be one decent football team.

Written on Tennessee baseball gets pounded again; Dave Serrano apologizes:

No use getting in a political discussion on a sports site. Hopefully Serrano can right the ship. At least he fully realizes what a mess he has, unlike our former football coach.

Written on Louisville stops Lady Vols' run to Final Four, 86-78:

After watching this game, two things come to mind:

1. RGIII was right in that Louisville plays dirty and rough. I saw several shoves into the gut of UT players last night that didn't get a call.

2. Tennessee abandoned the strategy that had allowed them to pull within three over the last three or four minutes, pretty much taking themselves out of contention. I didn't understand after being cold on threes all night why we went back to them. It took away any hope for taking the lead late.

Otherwise, great season for the ladies. Hope to build on that next year and see a run for #9.

Written on Tennessee the next giant up for Louisville to slay :

Good article. I believe these Lady Vols can get it done. No way Louisville has that kind of 3 point shooting two games in a row.

Written on Offseason could be time to evaluate Cuonzo Martin's contract:

in response to RickyVols:

Renegotiate, modify or do whatever tweaking might be appropriate, but for God's sake, do not add additional buyouts. Do not make it harder financially for UT to let Cuonzo go if needed. I think he's done an OK job up to this point, but next year is make or break. Let's see how the team does before we try and lock Cuonzo up long term. He still has a lot to prove and I think needs his job at UT more than we need him.

Well stated. I don't think it is time for him to be cut loose, but we sure don't need to tie ourselves down to him at this point. I was kind of in his court until he ran his mouth about not being selected for the NCAA tournament to the press and then turned around and got spanked at home by Mercer in the first round of the NIT. A coach worthy of a contract extension would have done two things in that situation: 1)kept his mouth shut about the NCAA non-selection. 2)done his talking on the sidelines as he coached his team to an NIT championship. He did neither of those things, so I say give him another year but no more money and no more time.

Written on Vols believe they can have elite offensive line:

Sounds like Mahoney has the right attitude. Stats of one group don't mean much coming off a third consecutive losing season. Wins are all that matters, and we are in sore need of 'em.

Written on Time was needed for Vols to build chemistry without Jeronne Maymon:

I don't even know what to say. Should not have been beaten by Mercer after making a big deal about the NCAA dis. Maybe Maymon will make all the difference. I hope so.

Written on Mike Strange: In many ways, things seem same after Cunozo Martin's second season :

I supported CCM throughout this season. However, I was really disappointed in him focusing his energy toward blasting the NCAA in the media for not selecting Tennessee to the big dance. What he should have done is to have kept his mouth shut and got his team ready to make a statement on the floor in the NIT. So now he has put a big spotlight on Tennessee as the team that cried about being "dissed" by the NCAA, then got their butts spanked by Mercer at home in the first round of the NIT. I am definitely NOT in favor of firing him this year, but I hope he does a better job coaching next year.

Written on Govols247: Bajakian sticking to basics at QB :

He probably won't name a starter before mid to late summer anyway. Why would he?

Features