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Auburn's administration and big boosters are watching the state of Tennessee closely. Since the Vols were first in the SEC to announce the ouster of a coach this season, Auburn was watching closely to see who might take the bait...

Tennessee's Coaching Saga May Force Auburn to Keep Tommy Tuberville

by Larry Burton (Senior Writer)

36

2,207 reads

Opinion

November 20, 2008


Auburn's administration and big boosters are watching the state of Tennessee closely.  Since the Vols were first in the SEC to announce the ouster of a coach this season, Auburn was watching closely to see who might take the bait.

Perhaps they are letting Tennessee do the legwork and then will try to counter with an Auburn job.  But with Tennessee struggling to find someone, anyone with a worthy name and a golden résumé, Auburn may wonder if they should give Tuberville another year.

With the money the buyout would cost them, and with big bucks booster Bobby Lowder seeing all his Colonial Bank stock portfolio taking the Acapulco cliff dive, money may be tight around Toomer's Corner these days.

People close to Lowder have asked him about the coaching change, and he simply responded, with my bank stock going from about $18.00 a share to $1.71, I've got my hands full trying to keep my business going.  Hmm, no skybox for Bobby next season...

Auburn fans want a big name, but they don't have the money for one with Tubby's buyout hanging over them.  They'd also have to pony up some smaller change for all the assistants.  And let's face it, they're too stupid to go after Bobby Johnson at Vanderbilt, who is a great coach at a bad football school.

The SEC has a lot of star power coaching on the sidelines.  Tennessee and Auburn fans may find money can't buy enough BC Powder for all the headaches they'd have at these schools right now.

Now some schools are doing their best to "tie up" their good assistants that may get head coaching jobs.  Fearing that Auburn may come calling for Muschamp to come back to the plains, the University of Texas raised his pay to over $900,000 and named him head coach in waiting.  This is a similar move to what Florida State did by tying up Jimbo Fisher.

Auburn feels it has time to let the Tuberville saga play out.  This season won't end pretty, and it remains to be seen just how long Auburn will wait to make a move.

Tuberville kidded with fans this week that at least he hasn't gotten the kiss of death.  That would be Auburn putting out a statement that they are backing him.

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36 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Keith Johnson 7 months ago

    Tennessee may be closer to hiring a new coach more than you think. Contrary to opinion, it is an excellent job and there are a lot of coaches with interest in the job. Just because Davis and Cutcliffe turned down the job doesn't mean no one wants it. There are others.

    And Auburn should keep Tuberville, he's a good coach.

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  2. Craig B. 7 months ago

    Larry, your assumptions crack me up. You don't know who is interested in the Tennessee job any more than my two-year-old does. So that also means that Keith has no idea either but at least he gives some kind of logic to explain what he thinks. You just put ideas like this out there for the sole purpose of stirring the pot and to satisfy your own pesimistic outlook. Tennessee is a good job. At least it is the best one out there right now. So if you feel otherwise thats fine. Just don't be suprised when the new coach in Knoxville is a big name.

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  3. Keith Johnson 7 months ago

    Mike Hamilton has been out of his office for almost two weeks now and I don't think he's been playing golf or shopping for Christmas. This tends to make me (in my opininon) believe he's been interviewing prospects for the job. So if you listen to the chatter in the immediate KNOX area, names like Lane Kiffin, Brian Kelly, and others, continue to pop up.

    I don't know who's going to be the next coach at UT. But then again, no one else does either. This is about as clandistine as you can get.

    I just find it humorous to read outsider's opinion on how no one wants the UT job.

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    • Larry Burton 7 months ago

      Someone in the SEC office said Hamilton is in fact trying to be discreet... He's afraid if people see the number of people who turn it down, NOBODY will want it... Would YOU want to be the 10th or 12 choice?

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  4. Matt Hartup 7 months ago

    i will bust out by other profile pic just for you Larry

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  5. Matt Hartup 7 months ago

    it was funny though, hahah i am just kidding around Larry. Nice article pal...You say Tenn is strugling with replacing Phil and you seem to infer that no one wants the job. where did you come up with that? you really shouldnt make statements like that because you didnt seem to have anything to back that up other than your own bassakwards BS opinion. i was just curious. its only been 2 and half weeks, there is still a season playing out. like a coach is going to say he is going to leave with games yet to play.

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  6. Larry Burton 7 months ago

    My source is in the SEC office... Did you not read my other response? Hamilton's having more, "Not Interested" than the fat gal with facial hair tying to get a date for the prom... Plus your own fan BB's confirm a lot of the no shows...

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  7. Matt Hartup 7 months ago

    who said that? I find that very hard to believe those words came directly from Mike Hamilton. What do you gain by putting your pasmestic BS about UT head coach search on this website?

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  8. Craig B. 7 months ago

    haha, I'm sure Mike Hamilton is keeping the SEC office updated by the second. Since he won't even keep his own boosters informed. Keep speculating. I'm not trying to attack you personaly Larry. I am simply stating the fact that NO ONE KNOWS. Not your source, not the sources that everyone on the chat boards claim to have, not anyone. Its being kept under wraps because most of the coaches that are being interviewed currently have teams. It is so much easier for a coach to give an interview if he knows that his name will not be mentioned to the public, so if he doesn't get the job his team/school won't know that he may be interested in another job. The hush hush nature of this coaching search in meant to protect the cadidates, think about it. Why do you think that Clemson's interviews are more public? It is becuase they are looking at mostly coordinators that are ready to move to head coach, so the disloyalty factor with thier current team would not be nearly as much as a factor. Don't speculate. You don't know, your source doesn't know(unless he is Hamilton), I don't know, no one knows.

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    • Larry Burton 7 months ago

      It is absolutely amazing how uninformed you people are. To even talk to a coach you have to have formal permission to do so. Those have been done. Then there's tail number tracking. Some of your own fans have kept me informed on that one. Then there's Jimmy Sexton, (agent to the Coach's) who's also been seen on different campus'. (of course it helps that he's agent to so many coaches, it does give some question of who he's there for) You should actually be more informed before downplaying someone with years of connections. One of my sources has worked in the SEC office for over 12 years and has VERY good intel. I was the first to break the Phillip Fulmer Story being fired. I posted the story an hour before Fulmer had the meeting that fired him. I got that news from the same source that got it from Hamilton. If you REALLY understand how things REALLY work, then you could understand.

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  9. Matt Hartup 7 months ago

    It is still just hearsay to me and everyone else. I wont believe your article or the information in it until it comes from a credible source. I understand what I read thanks. You didn't piss me off Larry, so don't give yourself that much credit. I mean look at the source of the info, what a joke. However, I know that was your intention was just to piss off UT fans by writing what you did. I just think that you don't know what you are talking about. It's your opinion that TN is having a hard time finding a coach and I think you are just being pessimistic bout the situation and obviously do not like UT. You should post your lame article on a Bama site where it would be better appreciated by people with low IQ's.

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      Larry,

      Give it up. You can't talk sense to a hillbilly. You have your sources and you published what you know about it. They don't like the what your source said so they are going to rage and call you names in typical hillbilly fashion.

      Here's what I do know boys... good luck in finding someone that can compete with Saban, Richt, Miles, Meyer... etc, both on game day and on the recruiting trail. They ate up The Great Pumpkin in both areas. That signaled the beginning of the end for The Weasel. Other coaches may not want to deal with that when there are plenty of other good jobs out there with less day to day pressure. Plus... it's not going to be easy finding someone to come to a college where their fight song contains lines like:

      Once two strangers climbed ol' ROCKY TOP
      Lookin' for a moonshine still;
      Strangers ain't come down from ROCKY TOP
      Reckon they never will.
      Corn won't grow at all on ROCKY TOP
      Dirt's too rocky by far;
      That's why all the folks on ROCKY TOP
      Get their corn from a jar.

      YEEHAW! Where's my corn whiskey jug Maw? OHHH how proud you must be of that fight song! Nothing says "I'm a hillbilly and darn proud of it" more than Rocky Top!

      Yep. It's gonna be tough.

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    • Larry Burton 7 months ago

      God Ken, you owe me a computer screen cleaning... I just spit rum and coke all over it...

      Larry

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  10. Matt Hartup 7 months ago

    FLORIDA IS GOING TO POUND ALABAMA ASS LIKE A PORN STAR

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    • Larry Burton 7 months ago

      Yeah like we haven't heard that before.... Georgia and LSU said the same crap...

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      You mean like Wyoming did to Tennessee?

      By the way, where was that offensive juggernaut (11.7 pts per game) known as Wyoming ranked when they rolled into Nay-a-soul-in-the-Land stadium?

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      Or maybe you mean like UCLA did to Tennessee.

      Where is UCLA ranked? Oh... wait... they are 4-6 with ONLY ONE non-conference win. Sorry.

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      Or maybe you meant like Auburn did to Tennessee.

      Where is Auburn ranked? Oh... wait... they are 5-6 with ONLY TWO conference wins. You guys plus that edge of the seat 3-2 Miss. State victory.

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      Or maybe you meant like South Carolina did to Tennessee.

      Where is USC ranked?

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      Or maybe you meant how Georgia did to Tennessee.

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      OH! Or maybe you mean the same way that Florida beat you!

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      NAH! You must think it will be the same way the CRIMSON TIDE smacked your tails around the field!

      You know... it looks to me that you don't have a dog in this hunt my Criminal Defense Center orange wearing friend.

      Enjoy watching from the sidelines. I'll look you up December 10th.

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  11. Ken 7 months ago

    Larry,

    It's funny... I point out some reasons that I think the coaching search is going as you say it is and his best response is "my friends daddy can beat up your daddy!"... if you call Florida his friend... LOL! If you can't smack with your own team, I wouldn't think you would want to comment.

    But then again... he is from Tennessee. He's another sufferer of the dreaded Rockytopitis. I've got just the thing to cure you of that Matt. Take one cup of this - http://www.tide.com/en_US/2xultratide/index.jsp - and call me in the morning.

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  12. Craig B. 7 months ago

    Thanks for the insite Larry, wasn't aware that the booster plane was hiring coaches, I thought it was Hamilton and the company he hired. See the reason he hired this company was so he could use a third party, therefore that third party can contact coaches unofficialy. And even more discrete is that company contacting the agents of these coaches. Truth is you don't know. Don't worry, I will let you hear it when UT does make that big hire.

    And Ken must still be on high from all of those great seasons this past decade in which Bama dominated UT.
    Oh I know, he's just really happy that Bama won't be subject to anoher 7 game losing streak to that good-for-nothin snake-in-the grass Fulmer

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    • Larry Burton 7 months ago

      Uh Craig, even before a third party can speak to a coach, they have to have permission to do from the school he is working for. For example, Texas said NO...

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  13. Matt Hartup 7 months ago

    THANKS CRAIG. LET THEM ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS FOR SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME UNTIL THEY PLAY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA. THEY ENJOY INSULTING US AND TRYING TO BEAT DOWN OUR ORGANIZATION WHILE WE ARE REBUILDING BECAUSE THEY LACK IN CLASS, THEY ARE LOW-CLASS ALABAMA FANS WHAT ELSE CAN YOU SAY?. ALABAMA WILL NOT WIN A NATIONAL CHAMP OR THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP, MARK MY WORDS!!!! THEY SHOULD NOT BE RANKED #1!!! I AM GOING TO SAY ALABAMA 28 FLA 45....IF THEY CAN HOLD FLA TO 45 POINTS. HAHAH

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  14. Matt Hartup 7 months ago

    IN RESPONSE TO KEN, I APPRECIATE YOUR DETAILED LISTING OF UT LOSSES. HOWEVER YOU TOTALLY MISSED WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY AND YOUR RESPONSES WERE JUST A JAB. I AM NOT ARGUING THAT UT SUCKS THIS YEAR AND HAS LOOKED AWFUL AND WE HAVE LOST SOME GAMES WE SHOULD'VE WON. IMO WE WOULD HAVE WON 3 OR 4 OF THOSE IF WE HAD A DEVELOPED, DECENT QB, AN OC OTHER THAN DAVE CLAWSEN, AND A BETTER HEAD COACH THAN FULMER. I AM NOT A PHIL FULMER ADVOCATE AND I THINK IT IS HIS TIME TO GO.

    I WAS COMMENTING ON HOW I THINK THAT FLORIDA IS A SUPERIOR TEAM AND IS DEFINITELY FAVORED TO WIN IN THE SEC CHAMP GAME ON. DEC. 6.

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    • Larry Burton 7 months ago

      Matt, I agree about Florida... They will be favored by the betting lines you can bet... That may play into Alabama's hands... We do better as an underdog. I also agree that you would have won more without Fulmer... Tennessee has had more NFL talent than most, and he just never got it all out of them, or let a "ME FIRST" and not a team mentality exist...

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    • Ken 7 months ago

      I just enjoy watching you make a fool of yourself Matt.

      BTW... nice CAPS LOCK.

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  15. Ken 7 months ago

    Funny - I point out facts... I guess that makes me a classless Bama fan. They call names and use curse words... and because I respond in defense with facts, somehow that makes me a classless Bama fan.

    Your school has the hillbilly song for a fight song. Your school employed a weasel for a coach (ask Johnny Majors how he feels about Phat Phil, P.I.).

    Yep... it's fun to watch them respond with such nonsense.

    One thing I don't think you guys have figured out. If we lose to Florida, it's not the end of the world. We were supposed to be 8-4 at best in the regular season. I think it is safe to say we will beat that prediction. TN on the other hand was supposed to defend it's SEC west crown. Well, we see how that turned out.

    And to think we played the second most freshmen of any school this year. Wow. What's next year and better yet, 2010 looking like? Man... the future is so bright for Bama fans... I gotta wear SPF 50 everyday! So go ahead... spew the smack Matt and Craig. I'm sure you guys will either be hard to find if Bama beats Floria or make excuses and call names.

    Happy Thanksgiving Larry...

    and yes to you too Matt... and Craig.

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  1. Matt Hartup 7 months ago

    Ken chill out... its just trash talking, dont get your panties all in a wad. I agree Larry, that might just be in Bama's favor.

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  2. Ken 7 months ago

    Matt, you are misreading my posts if you think there is any anger or venom. It is quite the opposite, I'm not ticked in the least. I have fun pointing out facts to discredit your trash talking. Actually, I look forward to it.

    Hey... I live "amongst 'em" here in the Memphis area. I'm used to it.

    Enjoy what remains of the Thanksgiving Holiday.

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