Et Tu Bruce?

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Let's get the full disclosure issues out of the way:

1.) I am currently working on obtaining my second degree from the University of Tennessee; I love my school and all those who actively fly the flag to bring her pride and glory.

2.) In another life, I worked in sports media, specifically covering UT athletics. As such I am well versed in keeping my personal feelings separate from my objective analysis; so I'm going to write is going to be in that vain, or at least I'm going to try my best.

3.) Though this is an economics blog; there is a LOT of backstory that I need to set up my points to discuss the economics of this decision; as such you just have to wade through some history that is probably well known to most reading; but in the end I think the refresher of history will help make my arguments. Trust me, I'm making this monster as tangent free as I possibly can.
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Those who regularly listen to Knoxville sports talk radio know the roster of callers to the various shows; those who listen RELIGIOUSLY can hit the callers talking points before they even say a word. It's a very tight community. Given the path my life has taken over the last couple of years and my time away, I'm giving credit for glossing former University of Tennessee Men's Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl "The Total Package" to regular caller Hitch; because a more appropriate nickname there has never been.

For those not in the know; the University of Tennessee has always been a football school. Athletic Director Mike Hamilton's predecessor in that job was former Florida Quarterback and UF/UT football coach Doug Dickey. Like many "football coach" AD's of that generation; Dickey believed that the money was made on a gridiron between September and January and anything else that lined the coffers was just beer money. Outside of legendary coach Ray Mears in the 60's and 70's and Don DeVoe in the 80's, UT basketball had little fanfare and recognition. Here's a quick rundown of Men's basketball coaches UT has had on payroll since I moved to Knoxville in 1995.

Kevin O'Neill (3 seasons, 36-47) - Best finish was the NIT first round. Hard nosed defensive coach; swore like a sailor and put a product out on the court that was laughably dull and contrived. After looking over his career record; I'm amazed he keeps getting coaching jobs (including his current one at the University of Southern California; where I hear their football coach had some issues with UT as well. . . hmm); but in the mid 90's he was very much the next big thing. Became a pariah in Knoxville after he bolted for the Northwestern job; which was at best a lateral move, and really in the grand scheme of things; more than a few steps backward.

Jerry Green (4 seasons, 89-36) - Best finish was the sweet 16 in 1999. The Anti-Kevin O'Neill. Green ran an up-tempo hockey on the hardwood offense that was incredibly fun to watch; but something was never quite right but nobody really wanted to say anything about it because the wins were piling up. . . then Hall of Fame Knoxville News Sentinel Writer the late Gary Lundy said what everyone was thinking when he called star point guard Tony Harris a "punk" for sprinting down the court to join in a brawl that started up on the oppositions bench. Why is this a bad thing you may ask? Because Harris was in street clothes at the time, complete with baggy jeans and flashy jewelery, with an "injured ankle". Lundy rightly pointed out that Green had let a player dupe him into a night off when he clearly was fine to play. The wheels came off right then and there. Fan support dwindled as Vol fans realized that there was nothing more to see here and that while Green's style of play might get more Sportscenter highlights; his lack of leadership would mean it would only be a matter of time before the train derailed. The final nail in the coffin was Green responding that UT fans could "Go to K-Mart" for all he cared; when asked about dwindling support for the program. Green "resigned" via letter on March 21st, 2001 after a 22-11 season.

Buzz Peterson (4 Seasons, 61-59) - Best Finish NIT first round twice; though it could be argued that the best thing Buzz Peterson ever brought to Knoxville was his exit. After the PR nightmare that was Jerry Green; Coach Dickey went out yet again and found a coach that was the antithesis of his predecessor. Buzz Peterson was a gentlemen's gentleman. An openly devout Christian who required regular Sunday Church attendance from his players, Buzz was brought in with a promise to restore respectable behavior to a program in dire need of stability and control. Unfortunately, nobody stopped to think that the buzzer MIGHT just be in over his head. Peterson had two main selling points as a coach when Tennessee hired him. First, he had just taken Tulsa to the NIT Championship, beating two SEC teams in the process in Ole Miss and Alabama. Secondly, he was Michael Jordan's roommate at North Carolina. . . in other words, this hire was given about as much thought process as; well as an old football coach with one foot out the door could be bothered to make. Granted, Wikipedia wasn't around in 2001; as most of the free world was still on dial up; but I know that media guides and almanacs existed; and had Coach Dickey taken the two seconds to consider that the 2000 Tulsa Men's basketball team was an Elite 8 team (coached by current Kansas Head Coach Bill Self), so the NIT championship a year later was a bit of a downer. (While he was at it, Coach Dickey could have observed that the buzzer himself got waxed by Ohio State while coaching at Appalachian St. in that same 2000 tournament) Secondly, it really seems silly now to think back on it, but there were honest to God people who thought that Buzz was going to use the whole "I used to sleep in the same room as MJ" line to fill UT's roster with McDonald's All-Americans. Did I mention that UT has always been a football school? New Athletic Director Mike Hamilton finally put Buzz out of everyone's misery in 2005 after a 14-17 season. The consensus opinion throughout the Big Orange Nation was the same; Buzz was a great guy who had no business coaching on the SEC level (he's since bounced around mid majors through the southeast, and serves as a special advisor to the Charlotte Bobcats. . . he used to room with their owner you know!)

Bruce Pearl - (6 seasons, 145-61) - Best Finish - Elite 8. And that brings us to today. "The Total Package" earned his nickname because he is a master salesmen. He immediately indoctrinated himself to the Tennessee family and let it be known this was his destination job. Off the court he could be found in standing on tables in the cafeteria firing up the student body or at a Lady Vols tournament game with his shirt off with a giant letter V painted on his chest. On the court; he took what little talent was left in the cupboard by the Peterson regime and turned them into winners. Talented players C.J. Watson and Chris Lofton played with the intensity to match their talents; and long standing BGWG (Big Goofy White Guy) Dane Bradshaw suddenly became the basketball equivalent of a utility player showing incredibly hustle, work ethic and teamwork. When the Volunteer faithful saw largely the same group of players that went 14-17 the year before finish 22-8 and win their division; the rout was on. Before anyone knew it; Thompson Bowling Arena (long criticized as being cavernous, over-sized, and sterile) was undergoing renovations that made it into one of the best home court advantages in the nation. The Pratt Paviliion Basketball practice facility was built from the ground up; and is one of the more impressive structures on campus. With unusually bad seasons in Football and the Lane Kiffin debacle; Tennessee fans pushed themselves even more into what was becoming incredibly easy; accepting the fact that the University of Tennessee was now a basketball school; nobody was even thinking about the other shoe that had not even begun to drop.

In September, 2010 an impromptu basketball press conference was called. Bruce Pearl had admitted to not only hosting a backyard BBQ for players and parents he was recruiting at the time (none of which came to Tennessee), but lying to NCAA officials when asked directly about it. There were also incidents of contact via telephone during dead periods; again which Pearl and his staff lied about. Tennessee penalized the coaching staff by salary reductions and limitations on recruiting. The southeastern conference later added an 8 conference game suspension for Pearl, effectively barring him from team activities on gamedays. Most Tennessee fans were unconcerned to begin with. The pay cut was a little light probably (not to mention beneficial to the Tennessee's bottom line) but the 8 game SEC suspension surely would settle the bill; if not be a little excessive in hindsight. How wrong we would be. As more and more time went on the mysterious "Letter of Allegation" that was constantly en route from the NCAA investigative officers. As it turns out, the longer the wait, the more nervous everyone involved became. We all got unnerved last week when Jimmy Hyams asked Mike Hamilton "will Bruce Pearl be the coach next year" and Mike's response wasn't "He's our basketball coach." No elaboration, no explanation; just plain and simple we're with him and that's it. Instead Mike hemmed and hawed and went on about how he'd be evaluated after the season; which as it turned out was less than 48 hours later when the team got blown out by 30 points by Michigan. The weekend was filled with Facebook groups and Twitter bombs flying all over of the Volunteer fans swearing allegiance; and vowing that whatever sanctions came from the NCAA we'd deal with them together as a family. However, in the end it wasn't enough as University Chancellor Jimmy Cheek let word leak to key boosters that Bruce was out.

The Economics of the Decision
The SEC - Let's go ahead and get the conspiracy theories out of the way. The speculation is that the SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has had a bulls-eye on Hamilton's back for the way the Lane Kiffin fiasco STARTED. Slive was delighted to see Ed Orgeron out of the league when Ole Miss dismissed him as head coach; and didn't really want him back in an SEC program. It didn't help matters when Kiffin and his staff all turned out to be walking secondary violations. Considering Hamilton was on extremely thin ice after the Kiffin hire and replacing respected but under-performing Baseball coach Rod DelMonico with Todd Raleigh, who has shown no signs of building anything of substance in his time here, Slive could easily force the powers that be at Tennessee to make a change by taking out the only leg Hamilton had to stand on during his time as Athletic Director. . . Bruce Pearl. (Side Note, if you buy into this theory, there is strong evidence of success, as many of the Volunteer fans are calling for Hamilton's ouster, and rumor has it that Cheek has wheels in motion) 

The NCAA - Conspiracy theory number two. Every sporting league has it's breadwinner franchise. Baseball is better when the Yankees and Red Sox are good (and the Cubs are bad); David Stern would LOVE for the Lakers to play either the Knicks or Celtics every year; and though we all hate it, the Dallas Cowboys are America's team for a reason (I reluctantly admit, I kind of miss the 49er's being the dominant franchise in the NFC). Anyway, in NCAA basketball; the breadwinner programs are Duke (Durham, NC), the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC), the University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY), and Indiana University (Bloomington, IN). IU is already mired deep in a quagmire of irrelevance. Kentucky has made a deal with the devil to delay the same inevitable fate (ask UMASS and Memphis fans how well they like life post Calipari). As for the Tar Heels, five words: Bill Guthridge then Matt Doherty. All of these schools are close enough to have realistic border wars with a nationally prominent Tennessee program with first class facilities and a track record of success. These factors combined with the above issues from the SEC and Bruce's enemies within the power structure of the NCAA over ratting out Jimmy Collins years back (an incident which lead to him being blackballed from Division I and toiling at Southern Indiana before getting the opportunity at UW-Milwaukee).


The University of Tennessee - Normally when a head coach is fired; the benefit to the program is in the long run; especially in Basketball where one or two players have an immediate impact (hence the reason the NBA is the only major sports league that uses a draft lottery to avoid teams throwing games). The logic is that the players have either tuned out the coach and their assistants; so the new coaches are expected to re-energize the inherited players. Recruits are largely considered a wash, as those committed to the old program/school are probably about as likely to follow the new coach to the new school as those committed to the old program are to stick around or follow suit, and even if the team making the change ends up totally out in the cold; the optimism of a change in leadership usually boils over into a mentality along the lines of "Hey, that's just more scholarships for next year!" However, as we've discussed in depth; this is not your ordinary firing; as really the only logical reason to keep Bruce is long run (more on this when I discuss the economics of the fan below). The biggest concern was that the NCAA was going to administer a penalty of "with cause" to Bruce; which essentially is a one man death penalty. While the NCAA doesn't have the jurisdiction to fire the employee of a member institution; they can force the institution to explain themselves at every opportunity as to why they feel justified in employing someone whose presence is believed to be detrimental to the sport. In short, they can make it to where it's just not worth it to keep the employee on. Anytime the words "with cause" are even hinted at, the member institution has balked; because the NCAA is the mother of all monopolies. Without the infrastructure the NCAA provides; your program ceases to exist; as any fan of the SMU Mustangs who is old enough to remember 1989 will happily tell you. The other factors are inconsequential by comparison; but in the short term there will be some monetary gain; as the University will regain compensation packages previously allocated to contracts that are no longer in place, plus years of prosperity will give them some cushion on the potential fan blowback. Their costs however, are going to be huge; as Tennessee will now have some major PR work to do after shoving Coach Pearl under the bus in this incident. The likely replacement candidates will be some hot shot young guy who is taking care of business in the tournament. It's nice to remember that's how Bruce got hired at UT; but for every Bruce Pearl that works out; there is a Stan Heath, a John Pelfrey, a Jeff Lebo or a Buzz Peterson. . .


Bruce Pearl - Ironically, for the guy being fired; he's actually the one who comes out with the most upside. He'll end up with a nice cash settlement and if it turns out he by some chance doesn't end up with a "with cause" tag attached (God help UT if that happens); he'll be one of the hottest commodities in college basketball at any level. If he IS saddled with the label then he gets a two year vacation to see how his assistant coaching tree develops (how Tony Jones isn't already hired somewhere is a mystery, and if things hadn't gone down at Tennessee the way they had, I'd say he'd be ideal here; but he'd never betray Bruce like that) and see how things play out. He reportedly has good connections with the Haslam family (one of which currently resides in the governor's mansion) and has worked long and hard to restore the university's relationship with Ernie Grunfeld (former Vol and current general manager of the NBA's Washington Wizards), so much so that he was rumored to be a candidate for their recently open head coaching job the last time around. In short, while Bruce may not be UT's basketball coach anymore, he can still be a coach somewhere if he wants to, and if he doesn't he can be a father and husband for a while until he figures something out. His old transgressions are ancient history; and at the end of the day these transgressions aren't that big a deal. He had a BBQ, made some extra phone calls, and then lied about it to people who don't like being lied to. He's already come back from worse.

The University of Tennessee Basketball Fans - I said while commenting on a friends Facebook status that this didn't feel like a coach was being fired; it felt like a family member died. 4 hours and 40,000 characters later; I still feel that way, probably more so. This seems so unfair to us. All of the factors above don't mean anything to us. Bruce Pearl did the unthinkable; he made us buy in all the way. Those who have been screaming to the heavens that Tennessee has everything it needs to be a real player in basketball have had their faith rewarded while those who just love their university have had another reason to proudly proclaim our love and support for the school on a hallowed hill in Tennessee. Jerry Green taught us that there was more to the game than wins and losses while Buzz Peterson reminded us that nice guys finish last; what will the next guy teach us? What lesson can be worth this feeling of loss permeating throughout the community; and from an economic standpoint; who can the powers that be bring in here that will make us forget that being a perfect fit sometimes isn't even good enough? Who can make us put ourselves out there again?

Godspeed Coach Pearl. I wish you the best of blessings, and I feel safe in speaking for everyone who has made it this far down in this monstrosity of a writing, that wherever you go and whatever you do from here we'll be cheering and hoping for the best. You made mistakes, you've owned up to them; and no matter where you go; you are leaving as one of us, and no matter what, we are proud of you.

And that's what the Tank says. . .