The CheckerBoard

Gruden, Stoops, Fisher or Gundy in that order. Please no Franklin...

UT VOLS need Bobby Petrino. Go get him before Kentucky or Aubrun.
He could be going back to Arkansas.

Keep the updates coming Wes...great job as usual!! Happy Thanksgiving, hopefully you can take some time off and enjoy the holiday...

Thanks wes good as usual

Thanks for posting, rounder. I'll take care of the 34_ for you right now.

Down here in Miami we are glad that Golden is less desired. We need him to stay down here!!!
I see some of you like Charlie Strong, but the key to his success is Clint Hurtt's recruiting, and trust me you don't want any part of that mess with the NCAA. Gruden would be a great pick IMO, if you can get him. What I don't understand is why all the hard feeling towards James Franklin? I don't know that much about him, but I do know he is turning things around at Vandy and he has been making real progress with kids down here in South Florida. Which is a hot bed for recruiting. So he is smug and has an attitude problem, is that it? I thought all most fans cared about was Wins and Losses. Anyways, I'm not hear to start any trouble, I'm just looking for a better perspective on the whole situation.

I posted on govols, before Lane Kiffin came, that my choices were Brian Kelly and Charlie Strong. Kelly is surely not going anywhere, so - if there is no Gruden - then Strong is the man.

Great article, again!! At least Cuttliffe got a big extension on his contract. Considering history, facilities, etc it may be that Franklin has done the best job of any in building a program. We have to get over the fact that Vandy is a stronger FB program currently. Thanks again and keep the info coming.

Thanks for coming over to the board U fan. I think Golden is a very good coach, but he's much more steak than sizzle. He isn't flashy. He's not perceived as a "home run" hire.

One thing he does well is recruit - but I don't think some realize the mess he walked into ... and it actually got worse with the Nevin Shapiro stuff, etc.

IMO the reason most don't want Golden is that Vol fans are fresh off the whole "hire a coach with a bad record that walked into a bad situation" situation/excuse...hits too close to home. I agree Franklin is doing a great job at Vandy but as a UT graduate the whole pride thing gets in the way with him. He has made too many comments that have been perceived poorly by the big Orange nation (he is Gerry Dinardo with more wins IMO). The one thing we want to do now is beat the crap out of him and start another 20 + year streak against Vandy. As a Nashville native I now dread hearing Vandy fans talking about the beat down for the next year on sports talk radio and the voice I least want to hear talk about it is Franklin. He has gotten under too many people's skin and I don't think that would be overcome quickly. Of course if we did hire him and he won a ton of games eventually people would come around. I personally don't think he will be at Vandy much longer one way or the other. Any team that has a season as good as they did, by Vandy's standards and still only has half of a 40,000 seat stadium filled with black and gold while the other half is orange has a serious issue with fans showing up for games. Fan support is a huge issue for the Dores and Franklin has mentioned that all year long. IMO he will soon bolt for a team that has more fan support and the resources that follow.

Miami did announce that they were voluntarily imposing a bowl ban for 2012, meaning this weekend's game is their season finale (and it will be Ga Tech - FSU in the ACC title game). That also means that any potential discussions with Golden could occur sooner rather than later.