Comments on: Hogs’ Bielema Compares SEC To Big Ten (And Forces UW To Change Contract Language In Future)

By: DavidTrussell

DavidTrussell — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 05:10:23 +0000

@Southern Gentleman Coach Bielema’s note of encouragement to Jeff Long said nothing about interest in the job. The handwritten note is readily available on the internet.. Coach Bielema’s sends handwritten notes to old colleagues all the time.

By: DanHogan

DanHogan — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 01:30:12 +0000

From the other side of this, the B1G needs to start paying its coordinators more. (I’m a B1G guy..) That seems to have been problem #1 at Wisconsin. I’m sick of seeing B1G coordinators take a head coaching job at an ACC school and see it as a step up. That needs to be seen as a lateral move.

By: Southern Gentleman

Southern Gentleman — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:43:26 +0000

@SEC fan @Southern Gentleman
I am NOT going to get in a contest with you over this issue. However, I’ll take Jeff Long any day over what Tennessee has experienced with their AD these past few years.

By: SEC fan

SEC fan — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:21:52 +0000

@Southern Gentleman
Glad Tennessee is in the “honorable 20%” guess we know where Long, Petrino, etc.. were even before this episode.

By: Southern Gentleman

Southern Gentleman — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:11:04 +0000

@SEC fan @Southern Gentleman
”No fewer than 5 BCS schools” Ok. Let’s leave it at 5 but probably more. So, only 20% of the AD’s attempted to contact Babcock. Again, my point is still valid.

By: SEC fan

SEC fan — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:16:51 +0000

@Southern Gentleman
Well, actually no it’s not always that way. This is what Cincy AD, Whit Babcock had to say about Tennessee’s AD, Dave Hart, after Butch Jones’s hire:

Babcock laid out the details of Tennessee’s rapid courtship of Jones in a candid press conference this morning in Cincinnati. Jones will be introduced as Tennessee’s head coach later today.
Babcock said no fewer than five BCS schools attempted to talk to Jones. But Tennessee’s approach was different.
“Dave Hart called me in advance, and he was the only AD to do that,” Babcock said. “That is a lost etiquette…Dave Hart is a gentleman. He was first class.”

By: Southern Gentleman

Southern Gentleman — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:57:53 +0000

I believe that it was reported somewhere that in his letter to Jeff Long back in September, Coach B indicated his interest in coaching the Razorbacks. That being said, there is no loyalty anymore. Gus Malzahn said he was not going to be a “one and done” when he came to arkansas state. Butch jones at cincy to the Vols, how many more? How about barry alvarez saying that he had spoken to another coach within 5 minutes of Coach B telling him he was going to Arkansas. Barry alvarez didn’t follow his protocol by talking with that coach without contacting that coach’s AD then. It is a “dog eat dog” world out there. It appears college coaching is just part of it.

By: SEC fan

SEC fan — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:39:54 +0000

Actually it is also customary and honorable for an AD interested in a coach first contacting the AD at that coach’s institution to ask permission to speak with that employee. However, obviously Long did not feel the need to take the high road with this hire. Guess Petrino’s ethics “rubbed off” on him too.

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:21:49 +0000

@WNCVol

Actually most coaches let their present boss know if they’re contacted by another school. That’s why the Bielema and Tuberville stories are getting such play in the national media… because they didn’t follow traditional “protocol.”

Thanks for reading the site,
John

By: GeoffDawg

GeoffDawg — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:54:57 +0000

@WNCVol True but I think the point here is that he’d already accepted the Arkansas gig when he gave his initial notification to Alvarez. Normally, I would think that if you have 2 or 3 days to mull over an offer, that’d be sufficient time to contact your current AD and give them a chance to respond.

By: WNCVol

WNCVol — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:34:48 +0000

Who tells their current boss that ”I’m looking at other options” without a firm offer of another job in hand? No one I know.