The CheckerBoard

Nice summary, Kevin. We needed a road map to keep us from getting lost in all this.

Fulmer?

Listen, I was ready for him to go. Ready for a change. And we sure as h*ll got plenty of change!

But why is he not consdiered? Just because he is part of our tragic, recent past and nobody can stomach it again?

I'm not advocating it, but curious for your thoughts Kevin.

My second favorite college team is UC, and I have friends in Cincinnati. At this point, I am hoping we do not hire Butch Jones. There are a few subjective reasons, such as people I trust telling me he does not have a lot of personal charisma or presence in a room (the anti-Brian Kelly). There is an interesting story, though, involving the departure from UC of associate head coach Kerry Coombs to OSU to join Urban's staff that bears scrutiny. Coombs went up to Columbus & talked to the OSU staff & came back to Cincinnati. He told Butch Jones that he had an offer and was thinking about it. Jones told Coombs something to the effect of "you can't go-you'll be the head coach when I leave" while telling UC fans that UC was a destination job and that he would be staying for a long time. Coombs told Jones he wasn't sure what he was going to do, as Coombs had strong ties to the Cincinnati community by virtue of having been a long time high school coach in the area (& a successful one). Jones then apparently fired Coombs, making the decision easy. Here is a link to what people who were trying to read the tea leaves were concluding at the time: http://bearcatsnation.com/2012/03/01/coach-kerry-coombs-appears-to-be-headed-to-ohio-state/ Maybe there isn't anything wrong with what Jones did here, but it feels wrong to me. Coaches are usually supportive of their assistants moving up and succeeding. It makes me suspicious of Jones, both in terms of how he treats people and whether you can believe anything he says. Pass.

Great job guys. I am thankful for your insight and consistancy. Keep up the good work. Oh yeah,please tell Coach Gruden (if u can) come to Tennessee. We would greatly appreciate it. I believe he and his staff could do great things in Big Orange Country. Go Vols!!!!

I heard that the Auburn 247 guys said that Gruden is our #1 target and Bill O'Brien is our backup plan. I know Wes said that hadn't heard O'Briens name come up in any conversations he's had... Any possible truth to what the Auburn guys are saying?

According to an article from Rucker last night O'Brien's buyout is 18 million so I am pretty sure that is not going to happen!

Thanks for all the great info you guys are providing.

I'm one of those who feels like it's a major longshot for Gruden, so I've pretty much scratched him off my own list at this time. However, I'm envisioning this fan base going absolutely ape **** if we were to hire Butch Jones. The biggest detractor is, obviously, Dooley beat him. Soundly. Other than that, he's not really done anything else impressive and plays in a weak league. I'm wanting to give Hart benefit of the doubt here because this hire will essentially establish his legacy here at UT, and I don't think he can afford to pull the trigger for Jones. At least--I hope not.

I had the same thought and looked up what he is making with the Rams. From what I could find, he is making in the $7 million range.

I think Fisher makes over $6 million a year..., and if he went anywhere in college it'd be USCw IMO.