Bruce Pearl's Job Not Likely to Survive NCAA Probe
by Year2 on Feb 23, 2011 2:15 PM EST
in SEC Basketball
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PrintBruce Pearl came to Tennessee from Wisconsin-Milwaukee and revitalized its men's basketball organization. It got better on the court, and his off court energy and personality gave a previously nondescript program a recognizable and marketable face.
I believe that is why UT has stood by Pearl so far through his NCAA troubles. It heavily penalized him instead of firing him when the scandal broke. AD Mike Hamilton, who hired Pearl, has not indicated as of yet that his coach's job might be on the line.
After reading through the Notice of Allegations though, it's hard to see how Pearl keeps his job for the long term.
For one thing, the NCAA has very meticulous records of the impermissible phone calls. They didn't happen at one time when the record keeping got lax. They happened over a period of several years, and they involved several members of the coaching staff. Pearl and his assistants were out of control at best and deliberately breaking rules at worst.
Furthermore, three assistant coaches (Steve Forbes, Jason Shay, and Tony Jones) are accused of lying to NCAA investigators and otherwise not participating appropriately in the probe. It's unlikely that had Pearl been running his program properly that they would have done something so stupid.
The worst of it all is that after being caught, Pearl didn't stop breaking rules. His press conference where he tearfully apologized for his transgressions happened on September 10, 2010. The Notice of Allegations documents that Pearl and Jones made improper contact with a recruit on September 14, 2010. Just four days after getting formally busted and having a heap of sanctions put on his program, Pearl was back out there violating bylaws again.
Given that fact, I can't see how Pearl will make it through this whole process and still be employed by Tennessee. He's not just a rule breaker, but a committed rule breaker who kept doing it after being caught. If Pearl can survive this, how can anyone take any kind of ethics code at UT seriously?
It's also likely that Hamilton's job is in jeopardy as well. He hired both Pearl and Lane Kiffin, the two head coaches cited in the Notice of Allegations. His athletics department overall was hit with a Failure to Monitor charge, and he still hasn't fired Pearl despite all the damning evidence against him. With so much scandal going on in two of Tennessee's three most visible sports, can the guy in charge really make it through this?
Regardless of what happens with Hamilton, Pearl has to go for Tennessee men's basketball to regain any semblance of respect. If he's still in Knoxville next year, what exactly does a coach need to do to get fired there?
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I see no reason to not fire the AD
Hamilton hired Kiffin (bad enough) then refused to fire Pearl (worse).
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, is just a freight train coming your way...
@btcoop71
Agreed
I can’t see how Hamilton keeps his job as well.
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Maybe because...
…everything in the Notice of Allegations is old news and he still has his job. That could be one reason why he would keep his job. Real brainbuster, that was.
“Pearl has to go for Tennessee men’s basketball to regain any semblance of respect”.
Respect from who? From you? Okay….well please pretty please forgive me if I’m not overly concerned.
Cheating is so rampant in the SEC in both football and basketball that for any fan of a particular school to attempt to take the high road and get all sanctimonious when a rival school gets hit with some NCAA trouble is unadulterated hypocrisy. As an example, does UK basketball, in your estimation, deserve any semblance of respect? If so, is it because they aren’t presently subject to NCAA violations? Does anyone who isn’t a complete moron and doesn’t presently have their heads buried in the sand think Coach Cal is consistently landing 2 of the top 5 players in the country year after year based on his good looks and charm?
So nice try with your “high road” angle here, but remember that this is the SEC where, if we didn’t invent cheating, we certainly raised the bar. Thus…epic epic fail.
...just apologize for not thanking me.
We'll see if Pearl gets a show-cause penalty
Even Cal doesn’t have one of those…just saying.
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, is just a freight train coming your way...
@btcoop71
That is not a really good analogy there kidbourbon
That’s like saying everyone else was jumping off the cliff, so I decided to do it, and it’s not my fault if my arm gets broken. Saying that Hamilton is not to blame here is extremely shortsighted. And ANYTIME that allegations cross over multiple programs in one athletic department, then by default one can assume that the AD is in jeopardy. Just ask USC.
I am now and shall forever be the Cat in The Hat, The Artist Formerly Known As ABC!!!
by Greg Alan Edwards on Feb 23, 2011 4:09 PM EST up reply actions
I see
The old “everybody’s doing it, so it’s okay” argument is in play here. Didn’t you know that defense is soley reserved for Auburn fans?
Regarding the “respect” discussion, I agree with your points. Being an alum of the school in the SEC that seemingly reports even the slightest secondary violations that the Lane Kiffins and Nick Sabans of the world laugh at like a fart in the wind is nice when it comes to the moral superiority argument, but not so much when you allow yourself to be railroaded by the NCAA and the SEC like UGA has over the last few years. I’d be okay if we gave up some of the moral superiority argument if that would prevent us from pre-emptively restricting ourselves competitively.
However, I have to strongly disagree with the “everybody’s doing it argument”. Just because everybody is breaking the rules and Tennessee is the school that got caught doesn’t make Tennessee any less of a rule breaker. It just means it was the one that got caught. No more, no less.
http://hobnailboot.wordpress.com/
It's better than the more honest (and typical) Tennessee reaction:
“We only regret that we got caught.”
They are one of the dirtiest AD’s in the nation, and have been for twenty years. Do you honestly think there is any other school where an off-duty cop could be beaten into a coma, and no one step forward for fear of weakening the football team? There’s a reason all those Rocky Top products end up killing people and killing teams after they get into the real world where their actions have consequences. Fans like this poster are the reason that program is a embarrassment to college athletics and has been for years.
"They've just discovered a new use for sheep over there at Clemson... wool." - Lewis Grizzard
by GwinnettGamecock on Feb 24, 2011 7:08 PM EST up reply actions
Dude, I got nothing against Bruce Pearl personally. His Wisconsin-Milwaukee teams were some of my favorite underdogs of the last ten years of March Madness. I think the guy is a hoot and a heck of a coach.
But even if everyone else cheats, Pearl is an exceptionally bad cheater. Calipari, if he is indeed knowingly doing wrong, at least maintains plausible deniability. It doesn’t get dumber than getting caught cheating four days after being hammered by your own school and making a tearful apology for it.
It’s not about Tennessee or Pearl; it’s about the principle of the thing. If someone can break the rules this brazenly and still not get fired, then what kind of standards is the school actually maintaining?
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Plausible deniability
Everybody maintains plausible deniability until they can no longer maintain plausible deniability. Why do you think Coach Cal left UMass and Memphis to deal with the consequences of the violations he was responsible for. If Cal was that great a cheater he wouldn’t have had two final fours vacated. It is only a matter of time before he gets caught again. And it won’t be long.
But this isn’t about UK and Cal; it’s about the principle of the ting. If someone repeatedly breaks the rules at every school he’s coached at and then dipped out when things got sticky, then what kind of standards is a school actually maintaining by hiring that individual?
...just apologize for not thanking me.
Oh please!
This isn’t about high roads, but it is about maintaining at least some semblance of pretending to care about integrity. Rules exist for a reason, and when breaking the rules this blatantly something HAS to be done.
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
So I assume you are appalled that John Calipari is presently a college basketball coach?
I mean, if you really wanna talk integrity and take it seriously. Let’s talk Coach Cal.
...just apologize for not thanking me.
Hey, I think Calipari is a scumbag.
I’m all for tarring and feathering him. Cal is not the issue. Again, you are resorting to the “other people do it too” defense.
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
You can't be appalled at John Calipari and then stand up for Pearl
That would make you a hypocrite.
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, is just a freight train coming your way...
@btcoop71
And, to be fair
You’re post was pretty much a textbook example of high roads.
...just apologize for not thanking me.
I don't think
that Tennessee fans have any desire to see him fired. He makes money for the administration. Considering this, I think he still has a chance. They’re going to do everything in their power to keep him, until it becomes absolutely untenable (which you may think is the case now).
"I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops...depending on the breaks." - Buck Turgidson
I wouldn’t want to fire him, because he’s a great coach. But, this ain’t the NBA where being a great coach is all that matters.
He’s likely to get a show-cause ruling against him, in which case Tennessee will be able to fire him without paying a buyout. Just guessing here, but I’ll be the president gets rid of both Pearl and Hamilton and the new AD hires a new coach. Pearl will finish out the season while this goes on, and the two of them will be gone shortly after show-cause comes in.
Dana O’Neil has a great explanation of show-cause and its effects here.
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If you're so inclined, follow me @Year2
I read the O'Neil article
I don’t think Pearl will get a show cause penalty because (a) he fessed up, (b) the rece penalties from UT, and © he served the 8 game suspension from the conference. If I’m wrong and he does get a show cause penalty…well that changes everything. But I don’t think he will.
The fairest article I’ve read on the situation was from Eamonn Brennan of ESPN here: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/24015/so-what-now-will-bruce-pearl-survive
The paragraph in my initial post where I rant for a couple sentences about how everybody cheats was really just a rant, and probably detracted from my main point. My main point, and where I take issue with your post, is that the allegations from the NCAA have told us essentially nothing that we haven’t already known for months and months. Pearl is still our coach despite all the things we’ve known for months and months. So what has changed? If he wasn’t fired in September or whenever this all came out, why would he be fired now?
...just apologize for not thanking me.
Pearl can already be fired without a buyout;
As a matter of fact, his contract was terminated the day of his “tearful apology.” He’s working without a contract, currently, likely because UT wants to wait and see if he gets show-cause. Or, at least, I would imagine that is the case. Mike Hamilton could walk into Bruce Pearl’s office today and fire him and it wouldn’t cost the administration a dime.
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