Bruce is Loose

From Rockstar to sidewalk musician; that would be a fitting way to describe the last six months of Bruce Pearl's life. Earlier this week, after six years as the headcoach of the University of Tennessee Men's Basketball team, Pearl was abruptly fired. The crime? Well that's the most frustruating part of the situation if you're a UT fan; the alleged violations would have been secondary and already forgotten. The cover-up? Well as always that's where it all lies (no pun intented). What does this all mean for the program going forward? Well that all remains to be seen.

In his brief tenure with Tennessee, there's one thing we can all agree on, Bruce Pearl proved to be both a marketing genius and a master of the x's and o's. His accomplishments include improving the average attendance at the often cavernous Thompson-Boling arena from an average of 14,869 to an average of 19,507 during his six years. From those numbers you could deduce the impact of Bruce Pearl was an additional 25% to the attending fanbase. He brought the program to #1, reached the NCAA tournament each year and got to the Elite 8 for the first time in school history. Pretty impressive right? And I didn't even begin to discuss his philanthropic impact off of the court or facility upgrades. He was the total package, which makes the firing extremely tough to swallow.

So how did we get to this point? I've often held the philosophy that celebrities, star-athletes, famous musicians, etc think they can get away with so much because that is what society has enabled them to think. In this case, I'm not sure we are very far removed from a similar situation. The timing of Bruce Pearl's cover-up and lying to the infraction committee was not soon after he wrapped up arguably the most successful season in Tennesee Basketball history. In April of last year, Pearl was a media darling, could do not wrong, larger than life version of himself. He was close to the pinnacle of his basketball career. That's when the bottom fell out. He started playing by his own rules and coloring outside the NCAA lines and in the end could not quite cover his mistakes with the equity he had built up. I really think that the administration was being honest over this period when they publicly supported Pearl; that's how talented this guy was/is. The last straw came when Pearl was accused of a Bump violation and did not self-report to local compliance. I guess he figured I can do no wrong; I lied to the NCAA and I'm still here so no big deal. That aggressive attitude is attributable to Pearl's celebrated success and ultimate demise.

So where does the University go from here? Obviously a new coach is order, but may prove difficult given the mess left from the Pearl Era. You also have an athletic director in place who is willing to throw their coach under the bus at inopportune times. While most people are calling for Mike Hamilton's job; it may require more careful consideration than an emotional reaction. What the program needs right now is stability. The likely punishment even without Pearl, could mean recruiting restrictions, scholarship reductions and possibly a post-season ban. Keeping Hamilton employed until the next hire is in place may be the only thing that holds the glue of this situation together. And tell me as a Tennessee fan if the hiring of Lane Kiffin and Bruce Pearl were bad hires at the time; we all know that hindsight is 20/20. The argument can be made that Hamilton is great businessman, but lacks the proper PR accumen.

So how does this story end? For Pearl, it means starting over. Probably a Division II job somewhere in cornfield USA. In the meantime maybe he's a talking head at ESPN while he is serving his 2 year ban from the game for unethical conduct. Either way Pearl can get back to the mountaintop if he is contrite, continues to work hard, and puts his mistakes behind him. The future for TN, however, is a little more bleak. Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and his minions will be busy rebuilding the program and honestly may never restore it to the heights of the Pearl Era. I always like to end my entries with a lyric and due to my ever growing fascination with the Beatles lately I will leave you with this: "I have to admit it's getting better, getting better all the time. It can't get no worse."