5-at-10: Friday mailbag

Great week gang. Have a safe and fun weekend.

Fun the "Talks too much" studios, stupid BYU.

From Buschleaguer -

photo Russ Huesman

Mailbag: At what point do you start to gather your vulchers over Russ Huesman. What you always said about Cuonzo Martin in Knoxville was his team grossly underachieved. He couldn't recruit and you didn't like his in-game decisions and adjustments. I'm not certain if you signed any petition but you certainly were out front beating the drum for his ouster.

In year 6 Russ is the poster child for this profile.

Buschleaguer -

Interesting question. Our biggest complaint for The Conz was his team as a whole was not as good as its parts. Are the Mocs there? Not really, so we can see the comparison.

That said, there are a couple things that need to be clarified. One, Russ and this current staff recruit their clipboards off. The talent coming in is staggering for UTC at this level.

Two, Russ replaced Rodney and had the chance to take over a program that had nowhere to go but up; The Conz replaced the uber-popular Bruce Pearl when the program was at a historical peak and had nowhere to go but down. That's not a pro or a con for either of the coaches; that's the reality of timing.

Now, to answer you question, there is no timetable on when we decide to "gather our vulchers." It's difficult to say if these Mocs have "underachieved" considering they lost to a pretty decent FCS program by four and to a top-five FBS team in overtime. Were those losses disappointing? Absolutely. And the way they lost is more troubling in a lot of ways than the losses themselves.

But UTC has been rebuilt, and Russ deserves credit for that. Now if Russ and this staff can't make the next step this year, well, that's a question for after Thanksgiving.

The bigger question in the moment for these Mocs, though, is when will they break through in a close game? UTC should pummel Austin Peay this weekend on talent alone, and like Weeds wrote this week, any win will be a nice tonic for this bunch's confidence.

Still, it's hard not to notice the level of intensity that becomes a level of negativity that reaches a level of almost fear during close games for these Mocs. From the outside looking in for the last few years, they seem to be so afraid to make a mistake that they become so vanilla and so conservative in tight situations that they limit their chances of success by half.

It seems to be a negative environment that severely inhibits UTC's chances from the start. And that culture will seldom work when talent is equal.

That said, try the veal - it's great with vulcher.

---

photo Tennessee head coach Butch Jones

From Big Orange Fan

I believe we (finally) got the right guy in HC Butch Jones. He's going to lead us back to where we belong.

That got me wondering about all the other coaches in the SEC and how long will they be where they are. Will you go around the SEC and answer whether each guy is going be there in three years?

Thanks, and maybe you could ask Paschall this on your ESPN radio show -- you guys are really great.

Thanks.

BOF -

You bet. And we will ask co-host David Paschall on Press Row (Monday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. on ESPN 105.1 and at timesfreepress.com).

Alabama - Nick Saban will still be there in three years.

Arkansas - Bret Bielema will not be there in three years. (Fired.)

Auburn - Gus Malzahn will not be there in three years. (NFL.)

Florida - Will Muschamp will not be there in three years. (Mutual parting of the ways.)

Georgia - Mark Richt will be there in three years. (But this one was harder than we thought. Dude has to retire at some point right?)

Kentucky - Mark Stoops will be there in three years.

LSU - Les Miles will not be there in three years. (We have a strong feeling he may be in play for Michigan this time around when Brady Hoke gets canned later this year.)

Ole Miss - Hugh Freeze will be there in three years.

photo Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn

Mississippi State - Dan Mullen will be there in three years.

Missouri - Gary Pinkel will be there in three years.

South Carolina - Steve Spurrier will not be there in three years. (Retired - sadly.)

Tennessee - Butch Jones will be there in three years.

Texas A&M - Kevin Sumlin will not be there in three years. (NFL - and maybe with the Dallas Cowboys sooner rather than later.)

Vandy - Derek Mason will not be there in three years; heck he will be lucky to still be there in three months.

---

From Greg T.

What would you do to remake the Braves?

Thanks.

Greg T. -

photo Fredi Gonzalez

First thing we'd do is cut ties with Fredi Gonzalez. We mentioned this earlier, but the sum of the Braves' parts are not as good as the individual pieces, and that's on coaching. You look at the seasons Heyward, The Good Upton, Freeman and Gattis are having and the offense should be better than 29th (out of 30) in baseball in runs.

Second thing we'd look to do is package the surplus of starting pitching for a legit outfield hitter.

Third, we'd look to spend some serious coin on a young star - maybe find out what it would take to pry Giancarlo Stanton from Miami - because the Braves breakground on the new stadium next week, and when 2017 comes rolling around, this team needs to be Braves circa 1995 not Braves circa 1988.

---

From PW -

Do you believe Roger Goodell saw the video, because I sure do? If he he gets caught lying about this, what happens and where would that rank on your Rushmore of sports lies?

Thanks for the 5-at-10, I read it every morning at timesfreepress.com and have now started listening to you and Paschall every day on the way home on Press Row. You guys are really good.

and

From Sportsfan -

Jay - mailbag follow up. I'm sick, just sick about this. The Ray Rice situation didn't just happen. This has been a pattern of behavior in society (not just professional sports) for a long time. Whether Ray Lewis committed two murders or not (for the record the legal system said there wasn't enough evidence to convict), the issue is the league (and not just the NFL) didn't take a strong stand. Society didn't take a strong stand. Ray Lewis is a hero in Bawlmer. If there was a video of me striking Mrs Sportsfan, I'd be fired from my firm, my retired Marine brother in law would kick my hiney, and my Dad would take a chunk out of whatever was left over. The NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, and high school sports associations have to set the example. Even if it means letting a premiere athlete go. The NFL's delayed moral indignation is just sickening.

Gang -

These are but two of the bunches of Goodell, Rice, NFL questions we got this week. It has been the dominant story line this week and understandably so.

photo Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has been cut by the team over a domestic dispute.

If Goodell saw the video and lied about it, he's done. Period.

(Love the question about the Rushmore of sports lies: If Goodell did lie, then this is certainly on there. Far left is Pete Rose's "I did not bet on baseball," then we'd go a couple of steroid goodies - Rafael Palmeiro lying directly to Congress and Lance Armstrong's entire professional career and multiple books - and everything about O.J. after the second Naked Gun movie.)

You can make a hard argument that if the league had the video and Goodell didn't see it (apparently, when the DVD was sent to the NFL office, Goodell was at the Masters... nice timing and appearances, huh) he should be done. In college sports, that would be termed a "lack of institutional control" and when we are quoting the NCAA as the proper way to lead and punish, well, that's a pretty stern indictment right there.

We have written plenty about this week, and still there seems to be more questions than answers.

Is Rice's action worse than the NFL's inaction?

Why are we focused on the fluff when this discussion should be about how the NFL players treat women and how that discussion can't begin while Greg Hardy (who was found guilty by a judge of domestic assault but is appealing) and Ray McDonald play on while charges of them hitting women linger?

Can and will this incident lead to a meaningful discussion about domestic abuse? (Here's hoping so.)

That said, Goodell has some things to answer for:

Did he see the tape and then issue a two-game suspension? If so, someone's got some splainin' to do. And yes, Rice reportedly described the events in the elevator to the NFL and the Ravens, and there's nothing anyone can say about his actions, even his now-wife/victim. But the one thing the tape shows that no testimony can reveal was Rice's complete indifference to Janay Rice after he knocked her out with a left jab. Dude did not even bend over and check on her.

Plus, this is only the most recent in a long line of question calls and shoddy leadership from Goodell and his cronies, who have been a the wheel during the NFL's rise to pop culture monolith, but that arc seems to be more in spite of Goodell than because of him.

As for leagues and allowances, Sportsfan, the supremely talent among us get multiple chances, rightly or wrongly. And it's poetic that you mention the lower levels of sports, because that's where a lot of this starts.

Guys like Ray Rice get chance after chance and people look the other way at indiscretions because of their gifts. This is not an excuse or an explanation; this is fact.

Eventually the talented ones believe that their gifts will get them out of almost any sticky situation.

If someone deems that Rice deserves another chance in the NFL, that's their decision, and whom among us does not deserve a second chance?

Still, we'll be interested to see what that owner/GM/coach has to say about why they think Rice is ready.

And to end this unsolved riddle of an enigma with another question for the group: Who will be involved in the NFL next year:

a) Ray Rice

b) Roger Goodell

c) Neither

d) Both

Selah.

Upcoming Events