The CheckerBoard

I may be very wrong but I think not getting Gruden might be a blessing in the long run .We would be constantly worrying about him bolting off to the NFL and he would be constanly demanding raises to stay .Im trying to stay positive because I think whoever we hire will be an immediate upgrade ..

I still don't think Gruden is completely out if the picture

Anyone know if OMGJonGruden changed his name?

Just gonna lay my position out there so people stop thinking I am the most negative person ever.

Here's what we know. There are a lot of people, including big money people, who were telling people for months that Jon Gruden to UT was a legitimate possibility. Everyone downplayed this rumor and most of us as fans accepted this as us being unsure if Gruden really wanted it or not. Legitimate members of the media have been told some outlandish things that the people closer to UT(here, VQ, Hyams, etc) would not confirm, but there was a lot of smoke about Gruden putting together a staff, sending out feelers about the UT job, talking to boosters,etc. Then, last week, we get word he canceled the meeting, and one probably wasn't going to be rescheduled, followed by Hargis' story about them being close and finally by Gruden's agent coming out and calling it fantasy-land and everyone reporting it was pretty much dead.

The important things to remember here are as follows:

A) Gruden to UT was legitimized by literally every media guy covering to one degree or another. It was out there and our guys didn't shut it down immediately like the legitimate guys at Arkansas did.
B) All the paysites and Hyams admitted there was either going to be a meeting or Hart tried to set up a meeting and it was canceled or turned down last Wednesday.
C) Gruden's agent saying there was never anything there is almost universally accepted as agent speak, and simply a way to shut the door.

Now, what we didn't know until recently is that the major stumbling block was Dave Hart. The guy that started the Grumors in the first place, Tenacious D on 8th Maxim, pressed both John Brice and Brent Hubbs on Volquest about Gruden and his chances last week. Eventually he got Brice to essentially say if Gruden was hired it would be over Hart's dead body, and that it was against his wishes. The following day Hubbs essentially confirmed this fact while trying to put it to bed. Since then Brice has not posted a single time on Volquest, and refuses to respond to anything else on the subject. There are multiple threads on the front page of that site as of twenty minutes ago trying to get him to say anything and he won't do it.

Now draw your own conclusions as to what happened. Was this never a possibility? Maybe. I don't know. But I do think it's safe to say that our athletic director never did what Mal Moore did with Saban and went all out to make him say no. I personally think he wanted to go after Jimbo the whole time and Gruden caught on pretty quick he wasn't going to get what he wanted so he blew us off, but that's just my opinion.

Maybe you don't see Gruden as a major upgrade over the other guys on the list, but I do. I also feel that getting him at UT would have been more than just a coaching hire, it would have sent a message nationally that we won't settle for being a second rate member of this conference. We are in a similar situation to what Bama was in before Saban, and they went all in and got their man. We chose not to pursue that route.

So that's why I say that if we had gone all out for Gruden and been turned down I would have been fine with it, but we really didn't try. I don't have any sources other than the preponderance of evidence in front of me, but that's my opinion. If one of the guys here who are plugged in wants to dispute something or clarify, I'd love to hear it. But I honestly think we had a major opportunity to do exactly what Bama did, reaffirm our place among the football powers, and reignite this fan base.

We didn't. And now no matter who we hire there are going to be people dissatisfied it because we didn't make every effort to go get Gruden and even see if it was possible.

Here is what I have been told about Jon Gruden. Don't call me a troll, but I got a call from a friend in Knoxville. He works on the OBGYN floor at UTK medical center. He was telling me about a Dr he was friends with down in radiology knowing a thing or two about the Gruden situation. Then all of the sudden I hear loud noises coming through as background noise on the phone. I said "what is up with that." He said "This gruden stuff is over...The fat lady is singing" and hung up the phone as he ran down the hallway.. It was odd, but as I thought about it I was glad to know that the Gruden thing was over. I have slept peacefully since.

Obviously I am poking fun for those who can't read between the lines.
Gruden is over. We are Tennessee and We are going to Hire a good football coach.
Go Vols!