Dave Hart has gone and done it again! You have to love it! The guy is living right! Dave Hart is rolling!!! He tries his best to screw it up but he keeps right on winning with these hires!!!!
Hart wanted to keep Derek Dooley around in his final year when 99.99% of those involved in the situation had already moved on. From that nearly fatal mistake of lobbying to rehab Dooley, Hart led a search that ended up on Charlie Strong by way of Mike Gundy. Both guys would've been horrible fits here. They're already grumbling about how prickly Strong is toward boosters.
His eventual hire? Butch Jones!!! A PR giant and more importantly a recruiting machine!!! Couldn't have designed a better coach for UT at this point in time!!
And Donnie Tyndall? What a great fit over Michael White! Hart wanted White but he got the right guy! Michael White is private-school, silver-spooned arrogant. Guys like that don't mix in these parts.
Donnie Basketball Tyndall.... He literally couldn't have made a better hire!!!
Tyndall wasn't anointed by anyone in the coaching profession like Michael White. There were no Coach's K's calling on Tyndall's behalf.
Tyndall played his college ball at Morehead State and has been in the SEC before. I'll bet his staff reflects just that!
He runs and presses. This style of play appeals to folks here. He lets guys shoot it on the move.
He's going to remind folks of Gregg Marshall in his approach. This guy is a man. He's had very little help or push along the way. UT fans will identify with him right from the jump.
While Michael White was going to look at getting out for Ole Miss down the line, Donnie Basketball has already gotten above his alma mater in his profession.
Tennessee will be the BEST JOB Donnie Tyndall has ever had! Love this in any hire!
This!!!
Tyndall can recruit....He had a great class at Idaho as an assistant that was top 15! @ LSU he was on a staff that hat had 3 straight top 25 classes. In that span was a class some ranked #1 in 1998 at LSU.
He's been a great recruiter everywhere he's been.
Tyndall's family coaching tree includes Tim Floyd/Larry Eustachy disciple Leonard Perry who he coached with @ Idaho.
Current MTSU Head Coach Kermit Davis called Tyndall 'the best assistant he ever had and a guy who could do it all in the coaching profession.' More on this below.
The personnel that Tyndall inherits will be a better fit for his system than Cuonzo Martin's. Can you imagine that? Another lucky facet of this hire by Dave Hart.
This guy will generally excite people! He will eventually fill Thompson Boling Arena before it's over.
He will get a little dirty in recruiting!!! This is the SEC. Playing in margins is entirely encouraged in my NCAA. You don't get points for being playing nice and clean. Pure coaches are fired coaches.
Here's Dave Hart's favorite song after backing his way into this one!
Vol Colonel likes the hire!
Vol Colonel
'Once again, Dave Hart proves that it's better to be lucky, than to have a level of expertise and information that nobody else has. Much like the football search where Hart tunneled his vision into Charlie Strong and Butch Jones fell into his lap. Lightening strikes twice, as Michael White left Hart at the alter and Donnie Tyndall has fallen into Dave's lap. This is a much better fit and a much better hire for Tennessee.
Tyndall has a very outgoing personality and will engage the fans. He also has a better resume and more experience than Michael White. This move was a no brainer for Dave Hart and Tennessee. They had to move in quickly and get this done. Thank goodness Hart had the sense not to screw around and try to play hardball with Donnie Tyndall over things such as the buyout money. There's just no way he could afford to have the La.Tech and Southern Miss coach both turn him down. Tennessee is a destination job for Tyndall, as soon as the job opened up, he let it be known through back channels that he really wanted the job. Tyndall knows the lay of the land in the southeast and will put together a staff of guys who will go out and get the job done in recruiting.
I think this is a really good hire for us and I believe it's an upgrade over Michael White and is certainly an upgrade over a guy who didn't want to be here and was never a good fit in Cuonzo Martin. I think Donnie Tyndall will bring excitement back to Thompson Boling Arena and will be the right coach at the right time for us. There's no Bruce Pearl hanging over his shoulder and there's no reason for this fan base not to come together and embrace our new coach. Way to get lucky again, Dave!
Have a Great Day and Go Big Orange!
Your Vol Colonel'
Tee Mail Time:
'WSMV in Nashville just had Kermit Davis on the sports.
Kermit was really high on Donnie. He said DT was one of
the best assistants he has ever had. Kermit said DT has
a super work ethic, is a relentless recruiter, is a
great guy, and he ended it up saying Donnie is humble.
Thanks
Doug In Nashville'
Congratulations to Keith Hatfield who absolutely nailed it back in the fall when he randomly predicted that Donnie Tyndall would be the next head hoops coach here. He then backed that up on TN Saturday Night when I asked for a prediction on Easter Eve for his prediction and he said the following. 'Very seldom does the first guy identified take the job. Therefore, I believe something will fall through with Michael White and Donnie Tyndall will end up with the job.' Jeez Keith. You need to hit Cherokee Casino before the week ends.
We took calls for 90 straight minutes last night commercial free on the App. When news breaks out, you'll click in. And that's an order. Download the App today here at www.tonybasilio.com.
Today we will be live from 11 to 2 here at Tonybasilio.com and we will take the press conference live too. Going to be a long and worthwhile day! Looking forward to it very much. Hope you'll join us live today! Should be a great time!
Go Vols!
Good Luck to Donnie Basketball!
Tony
Map of Recent Visitors @TonyBasilio.com