an outside view

The good news is Tennessee’s men’s basketball team is the number one team in the land. The bad news is Tennessee’s men’s basketball team is number one in the land.

What can be bad about being the top ranked team in the country? Two things come to mind.

First, the expectations for the postseason just went way up. If you are good enough to beat the #1 team on its home floor, you are good enough to go deep into the NCAA Tournament. Anything short of a Final Four appearance will be seen as a failure. Forget the fact the Vols have never advanced past the Sweet 16. This group of Vols is expected to do more and with those expectations comes even more pressure.

Secondly, the Vols’ run has put their coach front and center in the national media. ESPN can’t get enough of the affable coach. USA Today is doing feature stories. Pearl is the darling of the press and he is taking full advantage of it.

But isn’t this a good thing? Well, the exposure can be a real boost to the basketball program. Potential recruits pay attention. The danger is the exposure Pearl is getting. How many athletic directors out there are asking themselves what it would take to steal this guy away from Knoxville? How bad would Indiana like to have Pearl to make them forget their woes? In short, Pearl is becoming a hot commodity and UT may face a challenge keeping him. 

You can bet UT athletic director Mike Hamilton is monitoring the situation. His career hinges on keeping Pearl on Rocky Top. Hamilton wasn’t exactly a popular hire when he was selected to replace retiring Dough Dickey. But he quickly won the fans over when he went out and hired Pearl who added a dose of excitement to a program stuck in mediocrity. Pearl has built a winner and has a reputation of running a clean program. He has created unprecedented excitement about UT hoops and is putting rear ends in the seats at Thompson Boling Arena. He has been more than Hamilton could have hoped for three years ago when he lured him away from Milwaukee-Wisconsin.

He may face a bigger challenge keeping him. Pearl agreed to a contract after last season that paid him less than he could earn on the open market. His salary is around $1.5 million with a $1 million bonus if he stays 5 years making the contract actually worth closer to $1.7 million. Iowa came calling last year offering $1.75 million. If Indiana is serious, they can offer much more. If they do, will UT ante up?

Hamilton’s dilemma is paying the men’s coach more than the women’s coach who happens to have 7 national titles to Pearl’s zero and more than the longtime football coach who also has a national championship ring. If Pearl comes back for a fourth season, UT will no doubt have to pay him more than both. It’s not that he’s more valuable than Summitt and Fulmer; it is just what the market is dictating. The bottom line is neither Summitt or Fulmer could leave UT and make more money. Pearl can and therein lies the problem for Hamilton.

Fans will not understand if another school outbids UT for Pearl’s services. According to figures recently released, UT has the fourth richest athletic program in the country. Only Ohio State, Florida, and Texas can boast of greater athletic revenues than UT. And for the record, all three pay both their football and basketball coaches more than UT.  So, he can’t claim the school can’t afford Pearl.

Pearl is the most popular coach in UT athletic history. No one else comes close. Hamilton must find a way to keep him in Knoxville for the long haul. If he’s unsuccessful, he might want to start putting together his resume. He won’t want to show his face anywhere in the 865 area code. Do you think he remembers those empty seats when that Buzz guy was here? He’ll have to dig deep to keep those seats filled.