Rocky Top Beatdown - The Tennessee Game Thread

[Son of Spam]

I think some coaches are fed up with all the BS NIL has done to college football. So, they offer to come here and get paid without having to actually win. Then they retire into the sunset, laughing all the way to the bank.

[Barton Fink]

Getting pulled into a room in the hallway and told to pack your bags is close enough.

But yes, Bert wasn't terrible on paper but was a complete 180 from Petrino. Which echos your point on identity.

[Barton Fink]

:TIW:

I was there in the rain. Picked up a classic razorback foam seat left in the north endzone. Saw Peoples walking across the field too.

Hopefully that foam seat wasn't "used" by Bert.

[HogOfWar]

Hopefully that foam seat wasn't "used" by Bert.

Unused like our tight ends.

[DirkPiggler]

Getting pulled into a room in the hallway and told to pack your bags is close enough.

But yes, Bert wasn't terrible on paper but was a complete 180 from Petrino. Which echos your point on identity.

Hindsight is 20/20 but we probably should have given Bert another year, provided he would do an offseason rehab program to get off the sauce and get rid of his OL coach Anderson.  He definitely deserved to be fired, but again doing it at the same time as we were looking for an AD probably guaranteed us terrible hires in each position. 

Which is why I agree that Silverfield will get at least another year and probably should in spite of earning the shame of being fired over the loudspeaker in the 4th quarter Saturday. No competent coach with options is taking a job where he doesn't know his boss.  Unless the next AD has a competent coach ready to come with him you have to get rid of the more immediate problem which is the AD.  The fundraising problem may not be solved with Hunter being fired,  but it definitely isn't getting fixed if we keep him.   

[HogOfWar]

Hindsight is 20/20 but we probably should have given Bert another year, provided he would do an offseason rehab program to get off the sauce and get rid of his OL coach Anderson.  He definitely deserved to be fired, but again doing it at the same time as we were looking for an AD probably guaranteed us terrible hires in each position. 

Which is why I agree that Silverfield will get at least another year and probably should in spite of earning the shame of being fired over the loudspeaker in the 4th quarter Saturday. No competent coach with options is taking a job where he doesn't know his boss.  Unless the next AD has a competent coach ready to come with him you have to get rid of the more immediate problem which is the AD.  The fundraising problem may not be solved with Hunter being fired,  but it definitely isn't getting fixed if we keep him.   

Fuck no. We shouldn't give Bert another year even if it was to reduce his buyout. He got lazy and it would have been as bad as it was under Morris.

I read on Twitter or Facebook that Long was let go when he was, was because Malazahn hated him and it was to entice him to be the coach. I am beginning to believe that and why Peoples rushed the field to let Bert know he was gone.

[Barton Fink]

The fundraising problem may not be solved with Hunter being fired,  but it definitely isn't getting fixed if we keep him.   

Boy it sure didn't sound like it in the Tyson interview. We have one of our largest boosters, who's a billionaire, encouraging anyone with $10M to donate to step forward.

Hell, if $25M only gets us 2 wins. Why not offer $0 next year and double up the second year.

[animal]

I'm just going to keep telling myself what someone says to the public and what they actually think aren't always the same thing. 

[Barton Fink]

Stellar

https://x.com/colecubelic/status/2109727839717347618

[buff2.0]

We're so weak I miss Sowders

[Barton Fink]

Another

https://x.com/colecubelic/status/2109727520279163009

[buff2.0]

That was the play when I decided #5 doesn't get to have a name and he needs to change jersey numbers to anything else

[Ray Zorback]

What about #52? He couldn't even slow him down while holding.

[animal]

That was the play when I decided #5 doesn't get to have a name and he needs to change jersey numbers to anything else

The collective IQ on that play from the entire offense was sub 100. 

[DirkPiggler]

Fuck no. We shouldn't give Bert another year even if it was to reduce his buyout. He got lazy and it would have been as bad as it was under Morris.

I read on Twitter or Facebook that Long was let go when he was, was because Malazahn hated him and it was to entice him to be the coach. I am beginning to believe that and why Peoples rushed the field to let Bert know he was gone.

I wasn't for keeping him at the time for sure. 

Firing Long at essentially the same time was the biggest problem.   Hopefully we never try that again. 

[The Whyte Boar]

This guy struck a chord with his little write up.

https://x.com/dshi12/status/2109668418311872703?s=46

[jdcatty]

That was me mentioning.  But it can always be mentioned again. 

I missed it.  Sorry.

[Olhickoryhog]

I vehemently disagree that RS would win 9 games with UGA roster.  Nothing he has shown to date indicates that he would be above .500 with any roster in the SEC. 

But that doesn't matter because even if we had a billion dollar NIL fund we wouldn't ever have a Georgia roster.  Obviously we want as much money as possible, but giving it to someone like Silverfield would be flushing it down the toilet after wiping your ass with it. 

Bielema was the kind of coach where adding that kind of talent would move the needle.  Nutt was to a degree.  Give either of those guys a significantly better roster and they would get some kind of results.  Give them average and they finished .500ish.  If we had a coach like that giving money would be a difference maker.  Obviously if you have a BP-caliber coach giving more money can take you even further.  Until we get a coach who can do something with the money given to him we're spinning our wheels and wasting future resources to throw more money at the problem.  Unless you consider going from 2-10 to 4-8 worth the investment, which I don't. 

Honestly if we had an extra $20MM per year in future marginal revenue we'd be better off to buy out Hunter, hire his replacement then repeat the process with the coaching position once a new AD was in place.  Take one more year of being shitty to set up future success, then give the better coach that extra money in year two. 

I agree 100% with these points.  I'd add that in today's game, talent evaluation and roster construction are just as important if not more important than being a brilliant gameday X's and O's coach.  It always bothers me when some of our fans (and for that matter our Athletics Director) make it seem like the only reason are roster is awful is because fans are not giving enough money.  I might be in the minority, but I absolutely believe if you gave Curt Cignetti or for that matter Bob Chesney, Will Stein, Eric Morris, Morgan Scalley, or Willie Fritz the exact same amount of money that Silverfield got this year, they could assemble a roster that could win 6-7 games.  In fact, to drive home the point of how important roster construction is, I give you the most expensive football roster in the world today- Your Dallas Cowboys.

[Lurk]

Before I heard about the punt, I was willing to cut him some slack. Replacing 80 of 85 players would be tough if you were a good coach, which he's not.

[DrMongoose]

Silverpunt keeps doubling down on his decision and he is just making it worse.

He would have gone for it on 4th and 8 but an additional 2 yards is a bridge too far.


https://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2026/oct/12/arkansas-football-notebook-ryan-silverfield-stands-behind-punt-decision/