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Even worse, if this had happened 2 hours north, Shay's wife would have had a new hairdoo and that Kitchen would have been remodeled in 24 hours time. Nothing to see here, move along.

Yeah, I don't buy that at all. If UT had kept Pearl, it would have been blasted. The NCAA just doesn't want to look like it's twisting arms.

As far as tracking that story down, one could certainly call the office of the chancellor and his counsel, but I'm guessing no answers would be forthcoming.

The bottom line is this: Pearl had recruits at his house when he shouldn't have (and he'd been punished for that same thing at UWM)… he told them and their parents that he knew it was a violation and that they shouldn't say anything… he never reported the violation to UT's compliance office or to the NCAA… then he claimed to not recognize a photo taken in his house… and he called the parent of a recruit to "remind" him to be quiet about the barbecue.

Whether he was shown the photo 6 hours or 6 days prior to his meeting or not, that's a lot of screw-ups. Pearl was good for Tennessee and good for the SEC. He was entertaining. In my dealings with him I always found him to be easy to deal with.

But at some point, the responsibility goes back to the guy who screwed up.

Again, just one man's opinion.

John

Is there any way one could find out if the NCAA told UT specifically not to discuss any of these matters with the AD or coaches? I could never see something so minor being blown up into the charge of the decade under Dickey's watch. This is a huge issue and should not be left to fall by the wayside.

We're mixing arguments here. I didn't say Cheek was a great leader for UT. I simply said people beating him up for firing a man over a bump rule are missing the bigger picture — that he had to fire Pearl to save the school. And he did and it worked. UT fans loved Pearl so it was a painful step… but again, it worked.

With regards to UT's counsel not showing the photo to Pearl and crew, it's quite possible the NCAA told them not to. At Georgia Tech, NCAA investigators told AD Dan Radakovich and the administration that an investigation was soon coming, but they also instructed them not to tell their coaches what was coming or what to expect. But Radakovich did tell his coaches. And his coaches were prepared for the NCAA's questions. As a result, the NCAA hit Tech with penalties and held the administration accountable for not protecting the integrity of the investigation.

Maybe that's what happened at Tennessee, maybe it's not, but it would certainly make sense. And it's much more likely than Cheek intentionally trying to tear down his most successful coach… who was bringing in millions of dollars for the university.

Just my take.

And just because someone defends someone in one area — firing Pearl — it doesn't mean that person is offering a blanket defense for everything that someone does or doesn't do.

Cheek may be a terrible chancellor. But he's not a sleeper agent; firing Pearl was his only option; and my sources tell me the Radakovich "hire" wasn't anywhere near as done a deal as many others have said.

Thanks for reading the site,
John

Can you explain why Pearl was not made aware of said photo in the first place? I mean, you know since there was a full 6 days that UT legal was aware of it?

One would think that if they'd have given Pearl knowledge of the photo there would be no need for him to panic and lie about it. Report it as a secondary violation and move along.

The whole thing stinks and Cheek is an abysmal representative of his employees and university.

I went out of my way to make sure I didn't paint all Vol fans with the same broad brush… because I knew that some would whine about my doing so. That's why I consistently used words like "some" and "many" and "those" to show that not all Tennessee fans hate their school's chancellor. And nowhere did I use "most" or the "majority" or "all."

You're reading what you want to read and not what I wrote. And that's some truth serum for you.

As for following my own advice, I don't see any obscenities here.

John

As we've noted before, please don't use obscenities in the comment area and please don't link to outside stories. We have folks who link to their own sites and blogs and we're not in the business of giving away free advertising.

Many thanks,
John

The UT administration did not know of the bump allegation until late in the process… at about the same time as the ticket mix-up and the Brian Williams drug issue. Read the quote from Tony Jones. He lived it. The bump violation was a major issue for the UT administration and, by all accounts, was one of the last straws to break the proverbial camel's back.

JOhn

John, that's not right. Pearl and his staff stayed on for months after the bump issue came to light. Months. That didn't get them fired. The final straw was some mishandling of Kentucky basketball tickets and some other issue.