John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo)

Check out the Herald-Leader fans gallery from the UK-Florida game.

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Players stepping up as Cats are clicking, writes Aaron Smith of Kernel.
• Kidd-Gilchrist a virtuoso again, writes Matt May of Cats Pause.
• MKG excelling in all areas, writes Jordan Schultz of Huffington Post.
• Davis making case to be nation’s No. 1, says Jake Curtis of Chronicle.
• This is Calipari’s best team, says my notes column.
• After flattening Florida, UK looks for challenge, writes Jerry Tipton of H-L.
• Basketball stats to get ready for Vandy, from Herald-Leader.
• Kidd-Gilchrist gives Davis a soothing feeling, says Sun’s Keith Taylor.
• Teague now knows UK is “my” team, writes Larry Vaught of A-M.
• Teague keeps improving, writes Jon Hale of KyForward.

CBS Sports’ Garry Parrish has shed some light on a largely ignored byproduct of head coach firings.

What happens to the assistant coaches?

The head coach usually is provided a rather large buyout. What about the assistant coaches? Sorry for your luck. Almost all are sent scrambling for other jobs, hoping to catch on somewhere with staffs.

Parrish uses Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl and his assistants to illustrate what happens.

An excerpt:

“My family is split up for the first time ever,” said Steve Forbes, a former Pearl assistant who is now the head coach at Northwest Florida State. “My daughter is a senior at Tennessee. She lived at home with us. But now we don’t have her because we don’t live there anymore.”

The whys and whats and whens of the demise of Pearl and his staff can be spun 100 different ways, and they have been. The assistants feel like they are mostly just guilty of protecting their head coach, and their head coach believes he lied to the NCAA only to protect his assistants, who were already on record claiming they couldn’t recall where the now infamous picture of Pearl and Aaron Craft was snapped.

Either way, the truth is this: Had Pearl not been photographed doing what he did, Forbes wouldn’t be the head coach at a junior college here in the panhandle. And Shay wouldn’t be his assistant. And Shay’s two young children wouldn’t be sharing bunk beds in a two-bedroom apartment. And they wouldn’t have had to leave the family dog with relatives because dogs aren’t allowed in the complex.

It’s a very good story, be sure and check it out.

One day after he received a three-year show cause penalty from the NCAA, Bruce Pearl returned to the scene of the crime.

The former Tennessee basketball coach played host to a Bar-B-Q for the media at his up-for-sale house, the same house that got him into trouble with the NCAA in the first place.

As you remember, Pearl lied to the NCAA about the location of a picture of himself with a recruit. Pearl said he didn’t know where the picture was taken. Turns out, the picture was taken at his own house.

Said Pearl today, ““I was in control of that situation, and I didn’t handle things right at my house. Had I been more forthcoming in my interview with the NCAA, we wouldn’t be here.”

Pearl said he will not appeal the NCAA ruling.

ESPN is reporting that Bruce Pearl will receive a multiple-year show-cause ruling by the NCAA when penalties are officially announced tomorrow.

The World Wide Leader is reporting that Pearl’s assistants will receive a one-year show-cause ruling.

A show-cause ruling means that prospective employers would have to go before the NCAA and explain why a coach should be allowed to coach at that institution.

Pearl admitted lying to NCAA investigators about a picture taken at his home with recruits during an impermissible period. The NCAA also alleged other violations by the basketball program. The coach was fired after Tennessee’s first-round loss in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

He may not recognize it in an NCAA photo, but Bruce Pearl is asking $2.69 million for the house that ultimately got him fired as Tennessee basketball coach.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Pearl’s 10,200-square foot home is up for sale in Knoxville.

The coach is apparently going to keep a residence in Knoxville, just not this one.

As you remember, Pearl’s problems with the NCAA began when NCAA investigators showed the then Tennessee coach of himself with several recruits at a Bar-B-Q. Pearl told the investigators he did not know where the picture was taken. Turned out, it was at Pearl’s home, which was an NCAA violation.

By the time Pearl confessed, it was too late. Not for him to be coach at Tennessee. He remained with the Vols until Tennessee was trounced in the NCAA Tournament. Then, Pearl was fired.

Back in 2008, when Knoxville Magazine did a feature on Pearl’s house, the coach said, “He said: “I’m 48 years old. I was poor for about 45 years and have been rich for about three. And it feels great.”

Click on the Knoxville blog for pics of the Pearl palace.

SEC links for Friday:

• Kragthorpe taking smaller role at LSU, reports Les East of The Advocate.
• LSU’s new leader knows passing game, writes Glenn Guilbeau of Times.
• Video of Les Miles’ announcement, from Times-Picayune.
• Georgia starts new era under clouds, writes Seth Emerson of Telegraph.
• Georgia submits report on Jarvis Jones, reports Emerson.
• Gators’ corner was facing marijuana charge, reports Sentinel’s Rachel George.
• Richt sees similarities between 2011 and 2002, reports Chip Towers of AJC.
• Bulldogs know they have depth issues, says Marc Weiszer of ABH.
• Jeffery back at practice for South Carolina, reports Travis Haney of P-C.
• Florida’s tower has safety in mind, reports Kevin Brockway of Gainesville Sun.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Kragthorpe will still have role with LSU offense’

Some late afternoon notes:

• There is a media opportunity at 5 p.m. with the Dominican Republic National Team. We are being told that players and coaches will be available at UK. Check back for video, etc.
• I’ll be on Larry Glover Live at 7:05 tonight. That’s WVLK-590 in Lexington. Larry’s show is now being simulcast by the Wazoo Sports Network.
• It has been a terrific Tuesday for Joker Phillips as Kentucky football has picked up a pair of football commitments, one from Jeffersontown defensive end Daniel Ross, another from T.J. Jones, an offensive tackle from Mrytle Beach, South Carolina.
• Looks like Seneca defensive tackle Tyrone Pearson, who has gone back and forth on U of L, has committed to the Cats.

Continue reading ‘Some afternoon notes on a good day for Joker Phillips’

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Alabama has its own version of oversigning, writes Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News.
• Joe Medley of the Anniston Star on OVC coaches telling Mike Slive and reformers that it’s not that easy.
• Bruce Pearl’s attorney says Tennessee delayed information on photo in NCAA investigation, reports Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Lane Kiffin was charged with failure to monitor by Tennessee, reports Patrick Brown of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• Mark Richt plans on having “a helluva year,” reports Mark Bradley of the AJC.
• It’s the last shot for a pair of Florida’s fifth-year seniors, writes Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun.
• Houston Nutt is breaking in more transfer quarterbacks at Ole Miss, reports Ivan Maisel of espn.com.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Bama’s oversigning; OVC differs with SEC on reform’

When questioned by NCAA investigators, Tennessee’s basketball coaching staff acted like a group of middle schoolers trying to keep from getting punished. They lied. They schemed. They conspired. They avoided answering questions. They tried to come up with anything they could think of to keep from admitting that yes it was Bruce Pearl’s house in the picture that included recruits Aaron Craft, Josh Selby and Jordan McRae at a Bar-B-Q.

Andrew Gribble of the Knoxville News-Sentinel detailed the NCAA interview in Sunday’s Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Sad is the fact that Pearl claimed to not even recognize a picture of his own assistant coach Jason Shay’s wife, Jana, in Pearl’s home.

But downright hilarious was UT assistant Steve Forbes, who kept telling the NCAA that he couldn’t rule out that the picture was Photoshopped. To bolster his case, Forbes told the NCAA investigator about internet pictures of Pearl with bikini-clad young women. Forbes said the pictures were actually of Pearl with family members, but that someone had Photoshopped in the young ladies.

Continue reading ‘Tennessee’s strategy: It was just like those bikini girls’

Alshon Jeffery (AP photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

SEC links for Sunday:

• Documents lay out how it was Bruce Pearl’s lie that dunked the Tennessee coaching staff, reports Andrew Gribble of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. One of Pearl’s lies came when the former head coach said he could not identify a picture of the wife of one of his assistant coaches.
• When it comes to Alabama-Auburn, not all hate is created equally, writes Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News. SEC rivalries are one thing, Tide-Tigers is quite another.
• Joe Medley of the Anniston Star writes that Mike Slive has a leg up on SEC coaches. The commissioner proved that in the spring meetings when he coaxed the presidents into voting down the coaches’ proposal to keep oversigning.
• SEC Media Days may be over, but the discussion is not, says Seth Emerson of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Then again, college football is a 365-day season in the south.
• Alshon Jeffery might be the SEC’s best player, writes Jordan Conn of SI.com. The success especially sweet considering Jeffery is playing for his home-state school in South Carolina.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Pearl’s lies doomed Tennessee; Slive tops coaches’