1/2 of ya'll are going to read this, and say the following after you read this sordid tale: "yeah, but this time, we'll do it right." This time. This time when we have a lame duck AD, no Chancellor, unrest at the President position. And for all of you who think that Blackburn is going to save us (Blackburn being the AD at UT-Chatt) then please pass me over the orange kool-aid spiked with top shelf vodka, because I want a swig of that.
Here it goes:
When we decided to kick Dooley to the curb, we had several candidates in mind. We really liked Mike Gundy at Okie State. In a now infamous event, we flew out to Oklahoma clandestinely (everyone found out), and Gundy thought about the offer just long enough to get himself a raise, and then told us "no."
My understanding is that we were interested in Calhoun at Air Force. Through intermediaries, he told us "no" as well. He had the decency to give us a quick "no" so we didn't get kicked in the teeth.
While all this was going on, we put out feelers to see if Gruden was interested in leaving his posh ESPN gig, take less money for something he's never done (coach college ball as a head coach), and have tons of public scrutiny over every move. He said "no thanks." Apparently, his short stint as a GA at UT wasn't enough to sway him.
And when it couldn't get any better, we flew to Kentucky and met with Charlie Strong, the coach that Texas is currently considering getting rid of. After 48 hours of negotiations, Strong said "yes" but then he changed his mind said "no." For all you press conference drama queens obsessed with Coach Jones's PR skills, please do me a favor and YouTube Coach Strong's pressers. It'll make you appreciate what you got.
This is precisely when Coach Jones became our target. Looking back at all the candidates I just mentioned, it's not surprising that Jones said "yes." Not only was UT a huge step up for him, but he was a good culture fit even if his accent was midwestern instead of Southern. He could see the potential and wanted the job bad.
Looking back at the clown show that was the UT football coaching search, it's honestly a miracle that we landed a coach good enough to get us back sniffing at the top 10 again.
While I'm at it, let me say this. For all you guys thinking we're going to get some mystery 'big fish' candidate for $10 million a year because "some booster will cut a check", you're absolutely dreaming. After years of being in the red in our athletic dept, my understanding is we just finally became profitable again. Our money men don't want to mess with that. And which booster do you think is waiting in the wings to lure in your dream candidate X? Haslam? I'd say he's got his hands full with an NFL team he bought that so far, hasn't won a game this year. And who would you 'buy' anyway? Petrino? Look, that's not going to happen at UT. It was never going to happen historically after the infamous moped incident, but now after the title 9 lawsuit and the Kiffin fiasco? Never times 2.
For all the boo birds and message board drama queens and we've got our fair share on this board, be very careful what you wish for. Because in this case, I would bet any amount of money, that if we are forced to make a change, it'll be a change for the worse, not the better.
If you don't like all this, don't kill the messenger.
GBO
Here it goes:
When we decided to kick Dooley to the curb, we had several candidates in mind. We really liked Mike Gundy at Okie State. In a now infamous event, we flew out to Oklahoma clandestinely (everyone found out), and Gundy thought about the offer just long enough to get himself a raise, and then told us "no."
My understanding is that we were interested in Calhoun at Air Force. Through intermediaries, he told us "no" as well. He had the decency to give us a quick "no" so we didn't get kicked in the teeth.
While all this was going on, we put out feelers to see if Gruden was interested in leaving his posh ESPN gig, take less money for something he's never done (coach college ball as a head coach), and have tons of public scrutiny over every move. He said "no thanks." Apparently, his short stint as a GA at UT wasn't enough to sway him.
And when it couldn't get any better, we flew to Kentucky and met with Charlie Strong, the coach that Texas is currently considering getting rid of. After 48 hours of negotiations, Strong said "yes" but then he changed his mind said "no." For all you press conference drama queens obsessed with Coach Jones's PR skills, please do me a favor and YouTube Coach Strong's pressers. It'll make you appreciate what you got.
This is precisely when Coach Jones became our target. Looking back at all the candidates I just mentioned, it's not surprising that Jones said "yes." Not only was UT a huge step up for him, but he was a good culture fit even if his accent was midwestern instead of Southern. He could see the potential and wanted the job bad.
Looking back at the clown show that was the UT football coaching search, it's honestly a miracle that we landed a coach good enough to get us back sniffing at the top 10 again.
While I'm at it, let me say this. For all you guys thinking we're going to get some mystery 'big fish' candidate for $10 million a year because "some booster will cut a check", you're absolutely dreaming. After years of being in the red in our athletic dept, my understanding is we just finally became profitable again. Our money men don't want to mess with that. And which booster do you think is waiting in the wings to lure in your dream candidate X? Haslam? I'd say he's got his hands full with an NFL team he bought that so far, hasn't won a game this year. And who would you 'buy' anyway? Petrino? Look, that's not going to happen at UT. It was never going to happen historically after the infamous moped incident, but now after the title 9 lawsuit and the Kiffin fiasco? Never times 2.
For all the boo birds and message board drama queens and we've got our fair share on this board, be very careful what you wish for. Because in this case, I would bet any amount of money, that if we are forced to make a change, it'll be a change for the worse, not the better.
If you don't like all this, don't kill the messenger.
GBO
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