ESPN Rumor Central: Tuberville ready to move … to UGA?
File this one under Silly Season Speculation, but I present it in the interest of keeping you, dear readers, fully informed. And that’s why I’m here! To serve! To bring every noteworthy nugget to you who Need To Know!
OK, where was I?
Oh, yeah. From the Rumor Central of ESPN.com’s Insiders comes this: “TTU job a stepping stone for Tuberville?” (Link requires registration.) And you’ll never guess where those presumed stones are said to lead.
For your edification, I present the item in its entirety:
“Will Tommy Tuberville retire at Texas Tech? Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman sure doesn’t think so. Tuberville has yet to sign his contract, and the buyout he has to pay if he were to break his contract isn’t high enough — in Bohls’ opinion, anyway.
“[Writes Bohls:] ‘Personally, I would have had Tuberville agree to a larger buyout. After all, he probably would be the Tennessee coach if he had waited a week instead of saying yes to Texas Tech.’
“Tuberville seems very happy to be at Tech and to be coaching again. But you do have to wonder, if he has success in Lubbock and a lucrative SEC job were to open up in the next couple of seasons, whether he’d be able to turn that offer down. Disgruntled LSU and Georgia fans might have to start paying the Red Raiders a little more attention.”
Well, now. That’s a mighty big leap from a mighty small item in Mr. Bohls’ column, but it does illustrate … something. We all know that Tuberville enjoys being courted — ask Ole Miss fans, or Auburn fans, or Arkansas fans — but it wasn’t long ago that Georgia could never been included in any discussion of a school that might soon be seeking a new coach.
But I should stipulate that any disgruntlement with Mark Richt has eased. Most UGA fans are excited about Todd Grantham as defensive coordinator — some weren’t happy with the search, but they’ll get over that if Grantham delivers — and they’ll get excited again on Signing Day. The heat on Miles, who infamously blew the Ole Miss game, is much higher than on Richt. (LSU fans are going nuts over Nick Saban winning big at Alabama.)
No, this isn’t your father’s SEC, or even your uncle’s. Phillip Fulmer was gone from Tennessee a year after playing for the conference title. Tuberville himself was out at Auburn two seasons after going 11-2. Things can happen quickly, sure. That said …
I don’t see any way Georgia is looking for a coach next December. LSU, maybe. Not UGA.
(P.S. I do think Mr. Bohls — nice guy, good writer — has it right when he says Tuberville would be sitting in Knoxville today if he’d waited a week. Which would mean Tuberville would have coached three different SEC schools, which I don’t think anyone has ever done. Though Bobby Petrino will give it a go.)
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440 comments Add your comment
Will
January 25th, 2010
4:19 pm
All of these fair-weather UGA fans saying if we have another 8-5 season next year CMR might get fired are all drunk or high! I am the biggest UGA fan and an alum…but we need to concede that UGA is not going to be all that great in 2010. We will have a new qb and a totally new defensive scheme with new players to run it. UGA is going to struggle in 2010 but be awesome in 2011. So go take another Valium and a shot of Vodka and calm down about CMR. A national championship will be had in Athens by 2015 I predict.
Boca Baby
January 25th, 2010
4:19 pm
Get real. Mark Richt is not going anywhere anytime soon. Other than his first year this past season was his worst and he finished 8-5. I remember a lot of fan disgruntlement after Dooley finished 6-6. The next year he won the national championship. Fortunately all the whacked out bloggers on this site have absolutely nothing to do with Richt’s status. For crying out loud! The man has averaged winning 10 games a year, won two conference championships, finished in the top ten 5 times and is one of the top five active coaches over the past ten years. Get real.
BigDawg
January 25th, 2010
4:20 pm
Tuberville will never be HC at UGA! CMR is the man for many more years to come! Then one day bring home Dooley, Smart or Muschamp.
I AGREE
January 25th, 2010
4:21 pm
That was a mythical national championship that year UGA was HOSED big time.
59bulldawg
January 25th, 2010
4:22 pm
how2fish . . . don’t be messing with our Volunteer brothers in Knoxville. You know they’re already paranoid about that type of thing since Kiffin left and now you start throwing Dooley’s name around as a possible one-day replacement for Richt. Why it’s enough to make Old Smokey kill right over! LOL!
how2fish
January 25th, 2010
4:22 pm
If I was (and I thank God every night I’m not) at Tech,UT,UF,Bama or Auburn fan I’d talk down CMR too your best chance at success is if he leaves..
30 years and counting...............
January 25th, 2010
4:22 pm
“Richt will be at UGA for a few more years while we monitor the progress of Derek Dooley, Will Muschamp, and Kirby Smart and decide which one to bring home to Mama.”
You can cross Muschamp off that list and most likely Smart too because he is too smart for that, Dooley is your best shot. When are you people going to realize that UGA is a second tier program.
lefty fielder
January 25th, 2010
4:23 pm
I’m edified.
I’m entertained.
I gotta go now . . . Andy Griffith’s coming on.
FLA DAWG
January 25th, 2010
4:26 pm
The individual responsible for the 8-5 season is Richt. He gets credit for great seasons – so he must take responsibility for the bad ones. Richt kept Martinez and Fabris on staff – when (at least Martinez) should never have been hired. Bobo should never have been given the OC job. Richt gave it to him and he remains OC.
Our schedule is not a tough one next season. If we do poorly – Richt owns it again – two in a row. He’ll be given one more shot after that. If no improvement, then he’s gone.
Mark Bradley
January 25th, 2010
4:26 pm
Sorry. Had to go to a parent-teacher conference. Did I miss anything other than y’all saying how much you enjoyed this particular post?
The Hotseat Dawgs Meet Led Zeppelin
January 25th, 2010
4:27 pm
Bradley,
If Mark Richt goes on to win 2 or 3 National Championships, jounralists will be known as the guys who missed it.
Sort of like that Decca guy who said “Groups with guitars are on the way out” when he first heard the Beatles.
Or like that guy who said “You will fall faster than a Led Zeppelin” upon hearing Jimmy Page’s band for the first time.
Jimmy liked that comment so much, he named his band after his critic.
Therefore, in light of the “Mark Richt is on the hotseat” theory, I now nominate the theme for the 2010 Georgia Bulldogs Season, inspired by Kimmy Page and Led Zeppelin, as:
“The Hotseat Dawgs”
Do you like that? I think it’s kind of catchy.
Will
January 25th, 2010
4:27 pm
And let me pose this question on this blog….. who is every one’s favorite right now to win the SEC East next year? UGA, UF and Tenn have new qb’s and major questions with new coaches etc. Could the USC Lamecocks actually get the majority of first place votes at the SEC meetings this summer???? What does everyone think? Could Kentucky be a major player??
Mark Bradley
January 25th, 2010
4:30 pm
Actually, I believe Keith Moon coined the phrase “Led Zeppelin.” And Jimmy Page borrowed it.
SOUTH GA DAWG FAN
January 25th, 2010
4:31 pm
the hotseat dawgs kinda catchy too bad James Brown isnt around to perform the song at halftime
jerry
January 25th, 2010
4:32 pm
Just damn Mark
Reality Check
January 25th, 2010
4:33 pm
This was really a dumb post Bradley. I hope CMR gives you the evil eye the next time he sees you. Why would you even discuss this?
ga gator
January 25th, 2010
4:33 pm
I don’t know about Tubbervilles overall record, but he had a considerably better record against Florida than does Richt, so I hope it doesn’t happen.
Just the facts
January 25th, 2010
4:33 pm
“That was a mythical national championship that year UGA was HOSED big time”
What year was that?
2002? UGA 1 loss to Florida – oops, National Title = 2 undefeated teams Miami vs. Ohio State
2005? UGA 2 losses – oops, National Title = 2 undefeated teams Texas vs. USC
2007? UGA 2 losses – double oops, no East Title, National Title = LSU(11-2) vs. Ohio State(11-1)
Bruce Mac
January 25th, 2010
4:34 pm
30 years, Yes, we are second tier if you consider the top five the first tier. So, since we are in the second tier, what tier is your progam in sir/madam?
Mark Bradley
January 25th, 2010
4:35 pm
Odd that you should bring that up, Will. Here’s another post everyone seemed to enjoy.
Bruce Mac
January 25th, 2010
4:37 pm
GaGator, Tubbs didn’t play Florida much so whatever he did is a hit or miss proposition. The Gators have owned the Dawgs, but they have owned alot of folks since Spurrier came. It ain’t like we got the market cornered although I guess you could say we have the market perfected..
Alabama Jack
January 25th, 2010
4:38 pm
dawgs are too irrelevant for TT
Dawg 1
January 25th, 2010
4:39 pm
“and hopefully the slaughters the last couple of years have been on Willie”
Here is an honest question, would the best D.C. in all of football kept the Gators below 10 points in 08 and under 17 in 09? Probably not.
Dorsey Hill
January 25th, 2010
4:40 pm
Rumor Central:
#1 When the NFL expands it will be to Birmingham, AL. Nick Saban will be named head coach.
#2 Coach Bobby Petrino will be named head coach of South Carolina, taking over for soon to be retired Steve Spurrier. Bobby has been quoted by friends as saying: “I’ve been a cock my whole life, so its the perfect place for me.”
#3 In a shocking turn of events, Bobby Bowden will hire an assasin to kill Joe Paterno and will then take a Division I job until his win total surpasses Paterno’s. At least one university president has assured Bowden that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure that he finishes with the all-time win total, including, but not limited too, cryogenic freezing of his corpse which will be installed with a tape player that says “dadgum” every five seconds or so. A doctor on the school’s payroll will insist that he is still alive until the record is broken, assuming that the “hit” is successful and not traced back to Bowden. A source close to one interested university president says that hiring Bowden wouldn’t be worth the bad press if the Paterno murder were tied to Bowden.
#4 The American Coaches Assocition will be announcing that Lane Kiffin has been awarded their annual “Sportsmanship Award.” The award is given annually to those coaches who excel in honoring the profession by their example.
#5 Urban Meyer has decided against taking a leave of absence because the University President at Iowa State hates quitters. He has been trying to get to Ames for some time and he is afraid that stepping aside will ruin his chances. Truth be told, Urban’s been using Florida to get to where he really wants to be: Iowa State.
30 years and counting...........
January 25th, 2010
4:41 pm
First tier, 2 National titles in 4 years, 3 total since 96′, and a 17-3 record against our “rival” the past twenty years.
Ray Barone
January 25th, 2010
4:44 pm
Keep it up Mark and maybe you’ll get a TV show like me.
ga gator
January 25th, 2010
4:45 pm
Will, good question. Never thought I would say this because I loved Spurrier when he was at UF and wanted him back when Meyer was hired, but he has become too mellow, not really into it or something so I wouldn’t pick SC; mainly because they have a head case at QB. I really think it comes down between UF and UGA and which QB’s workout the best and which DC installs the best defense. It should be a doosey this year in Jax. Kentucky also has pretty good talent coming back but they still don’t know how to win it all and may never. Tenn is just in a funk until Dooley can fix it, and I believe they made the right hire there.
Bruce Mac
January 25th, 2010
4:46 pm
30 years, that is first tier, matter of fact it might be tops of all. Point made. The Gators have been our Daddy for 20 years, no argument here.
All I'm Saying Is...
January 25th, 2010
4:47 pm
To bad for Tommy that Lane ‘Mush for Brains and Swiss Cheese for Ethics’ Kiffin didn’t tell him about his plans. Now he has to coach ‘em up in Texas where his school will always be third? fourth? fifth? in line behind the Longhorns and Texas A&M in football battling for scrubs along with TCU, SMU, Baylor, U of Houston, and, gosh, even little ole Rice.
Even if the UGA program falls completely apart, no way Damon Evans even interviews Tommy for anything. Tommy has too much stench on him for any of that nonsense.
And, by the way, what will legions of UGA fans do now that Willie is no longer around to blame. Oh, I know: they’ll blame next years defense on the fact that the kids had to learn another defensive scheme and that UGA doesn’t have the players to play it.
H.T.
January 25th, 2010
4:47 pm
this article is just here to make uga fans mad…and to have an article done because nothing is really going on right now except recruiting and players lifting weights. Sure recruitings big and everything but theres only so much u can say and it doesnt really matter until signing day so dawg fans just chill. its just a bunch of B.S.
Dorsey Hill
January 25th, 2010
4:49 pm
Keith Moon didn’t say “Led Zeppelin” he said “lead balloon” and it was not after hearing an unanmed band with Plant, Page, Jones and Bonham playing, it was in response to the idea that Page was putting together another “Supergroup,” a concept that had not fared very well to that point. A more apt comparison to the stupid yet constant meme that CMR is on a hotseat would be Mart Twain’s response upon hearing that he had died.
ga gator
January 25th, 2010
4:51 pm
Bruce Mac, I don’t think the Gators have been UGA’s daddy, they have just been in their heads. Prior to 1990 it was the reverse. That is the main thing Gator fans can think Spurrier for; instead of hoping, wishing, thinking, maybe winning, he made them believe they would win. All UGA needs is having the right person do the same. Many times between 90 and last year the team with the most talent lost.
Bruce Mac
January 25th, 2010
4:56 pm
Yea, it could be augued that Dawgs should have won a couple more in the rivalry but it is hard to get that 55 in Athens and the last two onslaughts out of our mind. It will turn some day but we can only hope we are still alive to see it. I do think this years game will be competitive but the Gators are reloading with recruits so we better hurry if we want to reestabish credibility.
DAWGNUTS
January 25th, 2010
4:59 pm
You are a total retard.
I bet you’re wearing a Kool Aid tee-shirt right now.
MORON!!
The Hotseat Dawgs
January 25th, 2010
5:03 pm
2010 will be the greatest runs in the history of college football for Coach Mark Richt’s Georgia Bulldogs.
It’s about to start. Now.
Get ready for the run.
It’s going to be one for the ages.
The Hotseat Dawgs will start it all.
Jethro
January 25th, 2010
5:05 pm
Mark “Mr Turnaround” Richt
January 25th, 2010
3:21 pm
In 2002, and 2006, Richt had bad seasons.
Both times, he won the SEC the next year, 2002 & 2007.
2010 will be no different–we’ll beat Florida with defense, we’ll beat Bama with offense, and play in the Natl Champ.
Good God, either this a troll or another really dumb UGA fan. 2007 SEC Title? Nope, didn’t even play in the game. 2010? You are reaching big time, who knows maybe you do beat Florida but National Champions? Dream on, how about you see who your QB is and how he performs in an actual game………..against SEC competition and then start making those claims. There will probably be two or more undefeated teams next year, will Georgia be one of them? Probably not, they will slip up somewhere even before they get to Jacksonville.
Staff-Dawg
January 25th, 2010
5:08 pm
“2010 will be the greatest runs in the history of college football for Coach Mark Richt’s Georgia Bulldogs”
Sounds like January 2008 when the Dawgs had a QB who was proven and one of the best in College Football if not the best.
anotherdawg
January 25th, 2010
5:09 pm
Hi Mark, I heard Terrence Moore is eying AJC, just waiting for you or Shultzie to leave.
stewart
January 25th, 2010
5:09 pm
I never blog…but HAVE to on this one. You indeed are an idiot, sir! I read all the time where people bash you and I try to give the benefit of the doubt to folks. But, I have come to the conclusion that you write this childish felderdash to get people to read your articles. THis is so ridiculous. You are the apitamy of a terrible journalist! i am ashaned that you write for my hometown newspaper.
rob
January 25th, 2010
5:15 pm
Man, you Georgia fans are something else. Delusional.
You guys think of your program as one of the greats – which is fall down funny, really.
It’s a first rate, second rate program!!
anotherdawg
January 25th, 2010
5:17 pm
Sorry Mark, I actually went a little too far with that one. I actually enjoy most of yours.
Bruce Mac
January 25th, 2010
5:19 pm
Rob, we are what we are, #9 last decade and #11 all time, #4 all time bowl wins. 12 SEC Championships and 2 NC. We aren’t Bama and we aren’t Southern Cal but we are better than 90% and those are the facts.
Ken Stallings
January 25th, 2010
5:22 pm
Mark,
It’s the same thing as I wrote regarding Kiffin leaving for Southern Cal. Any coach who has a better offer put before him has to give it serious consideration. He may elect to decline. He may elect to accept. Either way, it is entirely his right. And I do not believe the media is being honest by pre-emptively sullying the landscape in speculation, nor condemning the move after it happens.
When the day comes when each time a reporter changes jobs, the rest in his industry condemn him as they do coaches is the day I’ll change my tone. Until then, regardless of the situation, the media is being conveniently two-faced.
And I have also taken note at the lack of response to this point I’ve made consistently. This tells me you recognize what I’m saying and you understand the clear double standard it represents.
Joe
January 25th, 2010
5:23 pm
I heard a great rumor- but I present it in the interest of keeping you, dear readers, fully informed. And that’s why I’m here! To serve! To bring every noteworthy nugget to you who Need To Know! The AJC Sports writers (Mark, Jeff and Tony) are going to be replaced by the end of the 2010 season by 3 sixth graders at a local elementary school. The AJC is reasoning that they can do just as good of job as the current writers- actually maybe a bit better.
AltamahaDawg
January 25th, 2010
5:24 pm
“some weren’t happy with the search”……..hmmm…….that came out of left field didn’t it?
Beck
January 25th, 2010
5:25 pm
“We aren’t Bama and we aren’t Southern Cal but we are better than 90% and those are the facts”
We aren’t Bama, Southern Cal, and we aren’t Florida but we are better than 90% and those are the facts.
browndog
January 25th, 2010
5:26 pm
CMR is a good man and a great coach. I hope he stays at UGA until HE wants to leave. UGA will be just fine. Will be a better team, but will have some growing pains. They will be fun to watch on O and D.
The Hotseat Dawgs
January 25th, 2010
5:29 pm
The Georgia Bulldogs football team will not lose a game in 2010 or 2011. They will break the college football record for consecutive wins.
It’s gonna happen. Get ready.
Some people can see it. Some are blind.
Some Sense
January 25th, 2010
5:29 pm
This is trollin’, Mark.
Bruce Mac
January 25th, 2010
5:30 pm
In the last 20 years we aren’t Florida but depends on the what you are referencing. UGA owns the overall record by 8 games versus Florida and has more SEC Championships by far. If you mean now, no doubt we are not Florida and now Florida has one more NC. I was referencing the all time records when I was speaking of Bama. They are the measuring stick in the South over time.