#Grumors Friday. Been here 25 years and I've never and I mean NEVER seen anything like this Gruden thing. Either a bunch of hopeless Vol fans have talked themselves into believing something that's not there or Jon Gruden is REALLY in play with Tennessee. I'm inclined the truth lies somewhere in the middle. On one side of the aisle you have Jimmy Hyams who believes there's nothing. On the other side you have John Brice & Stephen Hargis and Trey Wallace saying this thing is alive and kicking heading into the weekend. Again, I'm somewhere in the middle because I know Gruden has talked to potential coaches. Plus the Gruden trolling of Vol fans. Why is he doing that? Doesn't he realize that his son attends school here? Why would he want make life miserable for his son? People are going to turn on the Grudens if he's doing this to us again. But is he doing this to us? I mean, what if Jimmy Hyams is right and this is all a Big Orange Mirage? I'll tell you this, Hyams has a direct pipeline into the HOH. Are we seeing a real booster coup here? That's the only possible explanation. Are these guys going to hire this guy over the objection/blind eye of the Haslams? We could have some Tennessee history here. A revolution. Big Orange Blood will spill all over Phillip Fulmer Way.
Random musings as we look to a very tough game with LSU tomorrow night.
WE WERE PROBABLY OVERLY NEGATIVE in this space on Monday about UT's head coaching search. We have become convinced over the course of the week that John Currie has the green light to be aggressive on the compensation side of his search.
HOWEVER, we still don't believe the rumors that Jon Gruden is seriously interested in our job. We also think Currie should figure out how to put the Gruden situation to rest, if this is not real. We do think Tennessee has contacted Gruden's agent and put a strong offer on the table but the former UT grad assistant won't pull the trigger and say yes.
GRUDEN HAS LONG BEEN INTRIGUED by the Vol job, but has heard many horror stories from coaching friends with collegiate experience about recruiting, booster obligations and the trials and tribulations of complying with the thick NCAA rulebook.
ASSUMING WE'RE RIGHT ON GRUDEN, the trick for Currie then is how to lure a sitting head coach who is a proven winner at the Power Five conference level. It is extremely difficult. The list of schools who weren't able to do it with their last hire reads like LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Missouri, to name a few. Georgia may have struck gold with Kirby Smart, a defensive coordinator from Alabama. The reincarnation of Will Muschamp, who failed at Florida, looks promising at South Carolina.
FLORIDA'S SEARCH LOOKS bizarre with rumors of #1 target Scott Frost going to Nebraska and Steve Spurrier putting the kibosh on Chip Kelly. Arkansas just fired their AD and may be about to fire Bret Bielema. Texas A&M looks poised to can Kevin Sumlin if the Aggies lose at Ole Miss tomorrow.
WE THINK CURRIE'S BEST SHOT at landing an established coach is Dan Mullen. We're less than 50% optimistic but we think that one is the most promising. If Mullen is open to a face-to-face interview, it can probably happen as soon as a week from today. Mullen's State Bulldogs host Ole Miss Thanksgiving night, so a meeting the next day is plausible. That would create a scenario of introducing Mullen as UT's 24th head coach on Monday, Nov. 27, unless things really fast-tracked and they did it on Friday before the Vandy game.
OTHERWISE, we're talking about head coaches from lower Power Five (D.J. Durkin of Maryland, Jeff Brohm of Purdue, Mike MacIntyre of Colorado are a few) and Group of Five schools (Scott Frost of Central Florida who appears headed Nebraska, Mike Norvell of Memphis, Chad Morris of SMU, etc.), or coordinators from prestige programs (Brent Venables - Clemson, Jeremy Pruitt-Alabama, Kevin Steele-Auburn).
FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY (22--33 ATS Season, 1-3 Last Week): Another poor week of picks. Tennessee's turnovers and Bob Shoop's typical November defensive fade produced an Over in the Missouri game.
MISSISSIPPI STATE -12 at Arkansas (59): The Bullies gave as good as they got against Alabama but might be a bit bruised as a result. We don't think the Hog offense will do much so we'll go with the Under.
Kentucky (50.5) at GEORGIA -21.5: We'll probably regret this but Georgia got beat up by Auburn and may still have a hangover. We'll pick the Cats and the points.
Texas A&M (69.5) at OLE MISS -2.5: Who would have thought the Aggies would be underdogs at Ole Miss before the season began and with the Black Bear Rebels playing a backup QB? Still, we'll go with the Aggies as a road dog and save Sumlin's job for a week.
LSU -15.5 at Tennessee (46): Weather may keep Vol fans from taking in the debut of interim coach Brady Hoke. Hard to know if Jarrett Guarantano will be able to go at QB but we look for Bob Shoop's shizzling drit run defense to continue to be shizzling, so we'll take the Bayou Bengals and the Over.
Orange Throat
IGYSD'
Throaty...The thing that really gets me about this deal is that if Tennessee doesn't land Gruden, this has been absurd waste of time. This needs to end today!!! Period. This fanbase can't take this going into next week. Don't get me wrong, #Grumors are fun but we can't have Christmas every day.
Not to mention the deleterious impact on the search the shadow of Jon Gruden will cast. If it's not him, how is the hire seen as anything but a downer? If Jimmy Hyams is right and Gruden has never been in this then John Currie needs his head examined!!! How do you not knock this down almost immediately? I'm talking Sunday afternoon.
Slow Down Vols: The Vols are going to slow things down tomorrow night and run that clock. Though they won't admit it, don't be surprised to see the QB under center. Guarantano is going to go as long as he can with McBride gimpy. Kendrick hopes to return but Tennessee will still be without the services of Richmond.
If Not Gruden: Next on the MIC will be Dan Mullen. I think Tennessee will interview him a week from today as Throaty said. Mullen would be a wonderful hire here if Tennessee could get him. If not Mullen, watch Norvell who I find unproven but possesses a high upside. He could be pretty good but who knows? He was left a pretty cupboard at Memphis.
Fountain City Ramblers: Play live tonight at Clancy's on Gay Street at 7pm. If you're in the neighborhood come on out and enjoy some great times.
WHAT IN THE NAME OF JIMMY SECTION? A FEW NON-SEARCH RELATED ITEMS...WHY, I DON'T KNOW
FREE THOUGHT FRIDAY
WHO’S OUR NEXTUN, JIMMY SECTION? As the all-important search for the next football coach for our beloved Vols progresses I will peg this segment in the leadoff spot until its conclusion....
LIVING IN MY HOPES:
LIVING IN MY FEARS:
WHAT WE WILL SEE IN WEEK 12:
WILL THE BADGERS BE BOTHERED?
YOUNG GUN SHOOTOUT:
WILL JIM GET ONE MORA?
THE BIG GAME:
WHAT VOL FANS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LSU:
Eerie, Surreal 4 ½ Stars for
‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’
‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ will probably creep some movie-goers out. But it’s definitely a great movie. The characters seem to be in a surreal world of their own.
Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman are the marquee names in the cast, but it’s young Irish actor Barry Keoghan that steals the show.
Keoghan plays a 16-year old whose father died tragically during surgery performed by Dr. Steven Murphy (Farrell).
Keoghan’s character (Martin) comes to blame Dr. Murphy for his Dad’s death, but strikes up a strange friendship with the doctor. Martin then begins to get close with Dr. Murphy’s wife and two kids and makes an attempt to get the doctor to have an affair with Martin’s own mother.
What follows are a series of mysterious and sinister events that I won’t give away the details here and spoil the movie for anyone. I was intensely focused and on edge for the entire two hours of ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’. The ending is equally unsettling. This film may make some people uneasy. When the closing credits began to roll, an elderly lady in the back of the theater loudly asked “Can anyone explain to me what just happened?” I’m not sure if her husband or their friends explained it to her or not.
I can see the possibility of an Oscar nomination for Barry Keoghan’s portrayal of Martin in this movie. The performance will definitely move him high on many directors’ lists for future movies. Keoghan’s most successful film credit to date was the role of George in last summer’s blockbuster ‘Dunkirk’.
Jack. You get me more excited to revisit cinema with every entry here at Tonybasilio.com
I joined Brian Edwards (@vegasbedwards) on his show (Wednesday) to talk about the Tennessee coaching search. You can listen here!
Final Thought: Get out and support the Vols tomorrow. They flat out deserve a YUGE crowd with everything they've been there.
Tony Basilio
A New Direction At TonyBasilio.com: Here at Tonybasilio.com we’re creating a series of programming with little to mostly zero commercial sponsorship. In other words, you will be digesting the following programs in coming days with almost no interruption. This is unprecedented in the history of my business. Nobody has ever done this. Here are the offerings coming your way.
Our Family Of Offerings:
‘X-Cast: A Recruiting Podcast’: Featuring Tony Basilio & ‘X’ where we discuss the latest moves, behind the scenes machinations and all the intrigue from the world of recruiting. This will hopefully be offered twice monthly with lengths varying. If this takes off perhaps we can even do some live offerings of this show. THIS IS BEING OFFERED COMMERCIAL FREE!!!
Fifth Quarter Fan Reaction: Back for season 4. Sponsored by Marcos Garza. This year with NO OTHER SPONSORS. This will be pure content for you. I’m taking a chance here but I know you will reward me for not bombarding you with messages Vol Network style. This program will run for at least 3 hours following Tennessee Football Games. We will have new visual presentation of this feature as well that we’re investing in. Thanks to Jayson Swain for helping me with the technical side of our visual presentation.
Southeastern Sunday Night: 7p to 9p on Sunday Nights airing on Periscope/Facebook Live and other platforms including your Tony Basilio Show App. This will be a regional program that aims to keep it real. We will tell the truth on us, them and all with you. This could be a lot of fun if you help me spread the word across the region. This hopefully will turn into a free for all that is free for all. ZERO SPONSORS. COMMERCIAL FREE OFFERING.
Vol-Scars: A podcast featuring Vol Historian Tom Mattingly and Eric S where we go back in time and commemorate the painful losses in UT football history that left a mark. These shows are extremely time intensive to put together. I’ve worked all summer on these offerings and am really proud of what we’ve compiled thus far. I think you’ll really enjoy this. COMMERCIAL FREE.
Gate Twenty Won: A podcast Featuring Vol Historian Tom Mattingly where we celebrate the greatest wins in UT history in time capsule form. These are a breath of fresh air and the type of programming I’m aiming to bring to you . COMMERCIAL FREE
Chill Cast: Tell Me A Story: A podcast where I grab folks from the sports world and our community and allow them to share their stories with us. This will be done in the spirit of the recent re-launch programs that I did. We’ll aim to go deeper here. Stay tuned. COMMERCIAL FREE.
Tennessee Basketball Overtime: Back for year 5! Immediately following Tennessee Basketball Games. A Tennessee Basketball Call-In show featuring ONLY ONE SPONSOR…GARZA LAW FIRM. Therefore we keep the conversation going without bombarding you Vol Network style. What a concept!!!!
Garza On The Law: A Podcast dealing with the legal issues that invade the sports world featuring the great Marcos Garza. We will go deeper here. I promise that you will find this interesting. Presented by Garza Law Firm.
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FAQ's Asked Of Tony Per Our Relaunch Announcement:
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A: Absolutely. I'm looking forward to year #24 with you.
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A: We will scale back our online offerings accordingly. The blog itself could even disappear. I really don't want this to happen but will be forced to spend my time in the most profitable way necessary. That's why we're having the conversation. All my cards are on the table here.
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Friday night’s Iowa-UConn Final Four game had 14.2 million viewers. That’s more than any women’s college basketball game, ever. More than every 2023 NBA Finals game and more than every 2023 World Series game. ESPN has had the rights to NBA games since 2002. But the Final Four game between Iowa and UConn was the networks most-watched basketball game, men’s or women’s, pro or collegiate EVER.... [more]
Friday night’s Iowa-UConn Final Four game had 14.2 million viewers. That’s more than any women’s college basketball game, ever. More than every 2023 NBA Finals game and more than every 2023 World Series game. ESPN has had the rights to NBA games since 2002. But the Final Four game between Iowa and UConn was the networks most-watched basketball game, men’s or women’s, pro or collegiate EVER.... [more]
The Vols did what they were expected to do against UConn. There's not really much to say about that game. The game this Saturday in Columbia, Missouri will decide whether or not this season is a failure in my opinion. If they Vols lose, they are staring at 8-4 and probably the Gator Bowl. Maybe Reliaquest..... [more]
The Vols are coming back to Neyland Stadium and I am returning after a discretionary bye week. I'll be honest with you. This year it seems like I've been writing the same preview over and over because the formula to win has been the same pretty much every SEC game. I didn't want to sound like a broken record so I needed a bit of a break from that.
I'll start with some general observations..... [more]
FISH Hospitality Pantries (a.k.a. Hospitality Pantries, Inc.) operates four pantries
in East, South, Northwest and West Knoxville. They currently provide food to approximately 8,000 families every month.
FISH focuses on what more can be done to help ensure that everyone gets enough to eat.
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