16 years of the crazy world of Austin, Texas, can do a number on many people. In the past decade and a half, we have seen Rick Barnes' hair slowly change to salt and pepper, the gray starting to become prevalent. With the massive continuous pressure of the job Barnes had, and with it continuing to grow due to no deep runs in the NCAA tournament since 2008, a change of scenery was in order for the 60-year-old.
Tennessee also fired their coach, Donnie Tyndall, after one season, however for a totally different reason than why Barnes was let go from Texas. Tyndall had committed countless NCAA violations while at his previous job, Southern Mississippi. Those violations just recently came to light, and the Vols immediately dispatched.
After making the mistake of letting Cuanzo Martin walk to California two seasons ago, and dealing with the Tyndall debacle, AD Dave Hart knew that the school needed a solid rock to lead the program, a proven winner that will work hard without making a ruckus.
And thus the perfect match was made, as this morning, Rick Barnes officially agreed to a deal to make him head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers.
"Rick Barnes is an elite basketball coach in every respect," Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said in a statement. "Rick brings an extremely impressive track record of excellence, as well as much-needed stability, to our men's basketball program. This is an exciting day for our Tennessee family."
Hart wasn't kidding when he talked about Barnes' impressive track record, a winner at George Mason, Providence, Clemson, and then Texas. He had had a stellar coaching tree as well, as Wyoming head coach Larry Shyatt, Tulsa head coach Frank Haith, and NBA D-League head coach Ken McDonald have all been under Barnes as assistants. Barnes has also coached numerous great players, such as Kevin Durant, TJ Ford, and DJ Augustin.
Tennessee has a long way to go to return to the glory days of the 'Bernie and Ernie Show' of the 70's, and the years of Chris Lofton and Bruce Pearl, now nearing ten years ago. The Vols are losing their best player, Josh Richardson, and are relying on Barnes to build the team back up from scratch. However, we must remember when Barnes first came to Texas in 1998. The team played with just 7 scholarship players during the season, and although it took a while to get the gears turning, Barnes and the team from Austin shocked the world by winning the Big 12 regular season championship.
The fans on Rocky Top have been in hiding, but expect a reawakening of quality basketball in Knoxville very soon after this's brilliant hire by the Vols.