Orange Throat has the floor this and EVERY Friday. Here he is!!!






Throaty: Here are my non-award winning thoughts....


The unpredictable Dave Hart struck again yesterday. An excellent source told me about 90 minutes before that press conference that the belief was that Dave Hart called Thursday's press conference to announce the termination of Dave Serrano as baseball coach. Then Hart went before the cameras and announced that Serrano will be retained but not rolled over. Curious stuff right there. Later in the day I talked with somebody else who used the term fishy as to what transpired at Tennessee. Before we proceed, let's lay out the facts as we believe them.

1) New Leadership Is Coming: Tennessee is hiring a new chancellor. Jimmie Cheek's deal runs out at the end of June and it is expected that a new chancellor will be assuming the duties on July 1st. Noland from ETSU is the odds on favorite to land this job.

2) Dave Hart has tried for months unsuccessfully to lobby for an extension to his contract. He's up in 2017. It's our belief that Dave Hart has less than 12 months as UT's AD.

3) Tennessee's big $$$ boosters don't care about Vol Baseball. It's a complete add on. It's an off-the-radar sport.

4) Dave Serrano is as well liked on campus and in the community as any baseball coach that's held the job in the past 30 years. Serrano is a solid citizen.

I believe these moving parts all combined to make yesterday a very interesting one in the annals of UT sports. Only at Tennessee would an AD call a press conference to announce that he's bringing back a coach on a one year deal that has a 10-40 series record in SEC play.


I believe my source when he said yesterday morning that Hart was getting ready to fire Serrano and something intervened. One of two scenarios are in play here as far as I'm concerned.

A) Hart said screw this. I'm a short termer here and I've had a change of heart; therefore, I'm going to allow the next guy to hire the next baseball coach.

B) Somebody got to Hart and said you're not going to do this. Leave the baseball hire to the next guy.

I'm inclined to believe it's the first scenario that played out Thursday. Dave Hart's main objective from the time the new Chancellor hits the ground in Knoxville is going to be to get some more time put on his deal. Look at this from Hart's end. He was a guy playing out the string at Bama. He was parked there. Tennessee has made him an instant millionaire. Would you want a gig like that to end? Of course not.


Why would Dave Hart, who cares very little about Tennessee sports and especially baseball, want to bother with hiring a baseball coach?


So, I guess you could say that what happened on Thursday is a surprise, but it's not.

Cody Underwood had a great line on Twitter yesterday when he said that Serrano getting another year against the backdrop of the health of his baseball program is akin to a condemned criminal getting a stay of execution due to a power failure. Bottom line, old sparky still calls and it's only a matter of when.


I've maintained through all this that rather than have Dave Hart involved in selecting the next baseball coach, it would be better to let the next AD make this hire as his or her first hire. That's exactly what appears will happen.


Does this turnabout in the baseball situation mean that Tennessee is throwing up its hand and resigned to being a loser in baseball? I don't believe so. If that was the case, Serrano would've seen his contract rolled over or would’ve gotten a new four year deal. Neither of these things happened.


If anything the events of yesterday scream to me that Tennessee is getting ready to enter a time of transition at the top. I say bring it on...






Lessons Learned From Baylor:

1. Don't play footsie with the po po and get caught.
2. Stay off Twitter.
3. Winning big isn't always enough.
4. Big $$$ wants to win at all costs until it gets embarrassing.
5. Everybody has his price.
6. Your friends aren't really your friends in major college sports.
7. Alleged sexual assaults are a major issue in 2016.
8. It's better to take out the trash then end up in it.
9. You better report and document what you report in admin.



O/U on months Art Briles will be unemployed as a HC in college Fball:

I'm installing the # at 6.

Are you taking the over or under?

By my estimation. June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov. We're dealing with a guy that will be employed somewhere by the end of November. Think about it, the silly season will begin probably in mid October when that first coach is fired. Now, Baylor is going to heap burning coals on Briles and try to blame him for everything. Still, Briles is a GREAT coach. And I mean a GREAT coach. Put it this way, if I'm Vandy or Kentucky at year's end, I would hire him in a nano second. I know you're saying, "But Tony, Briles is a horrible guy." Yeah and Petrino and Pitino are what???? Choir boys???







What should be the goal for each team to be ranked in the SEC? As an AD at UT what should you shoot for as a goal? I'm talking about benchmarks. What should be the benchmarks for each program? Should Tennessee be in the top 25% in the league? Dave Hart seemed awfully giddy about the success of spring sports yesterday. Interesting food for thought.












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I would add white jump suits, bunny ears and chest to belly button bumping with Butch Jones.

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