"They really want him; (Nike chairman) Phil Knight wants to get him there pretty bad," the person said about Smith. "There's a lot of pressure with that job, but the program has the backing he wants."
Why doesn't Marcus put in his article that Mark Few is pretty much the front runner for the job?
That's a relevant point here. Another relevant point: Phil Knight is not the AD or the president at Oregon. In other words, while his word will carry some weight, he won't make the final decision, regardless of how high and mighty Mr. Nike is. And at this point, I'm not concerned about Oregon. Why? Because everything I've heard and read indicates they've already had four interviews and I doubt that Tubby was one of them, unless it was a phone interview. On top of that, the Oregon press seems to be indicating that the leaders for the job are Mark Turgeon, Jamie Dixon and Mark Few with more than a few passing references to Knight also speaking with Billy Donovan. In fact, very few of them even mention Tubby at all.
In other words, until something is proven otherwise, this is another case of media speculation running wild.
It certainly seems that somone 'close to Smith' is putting it out there how much Oregon wants Tubby. They're doing this for a reason, especially since both 'leaks' occured shortly after the GT job disappeared. The only question is why? Because he's going to go to Oregon? Probably not, they'd just keep it quiet until he was gone. Because he's NOT the front-runner there, but wants to be? Maybe. To spur action of some form from Maturi? More likely.
According to someone in another thread, Tubby and Borton sat down with Maturi just this week and finalized locations and plans for it, it's a matter of fund-raising now, and they've begun to explore that.
However, I'm pretty sure I recall almost a year ago that a significant portion of the private donations necessary had already been agreed to if not made, so I'm not sure what to think of that. I do know that the Dunkers are a great booster though, so hopefully we see more visible movement on this soon.
Tubby and Donna'a family ALL live in mid-Atlantic or Southern states.
They have no connections whatsoever to Oregon.
He has no recruiting connections there.
He has 4 to 7 years until retirement.
Oregon makes no sense at all.
Tubby would only leave for Oregon if he was unhappy here (meaning unhappy due to Joel Maturi). This Gopher job has more potential, but the question is whether Tubby can reach his goals without more support.
A basketball coaches goals are to collect a check and not get fired. If he wins just enough to not get fired he has reached his goal, anything beyond that is gravy.
A basketball coaches goals are to collect a check and not get fired. If he wins just enough to not get fired he has reached his goal, anything beyond that is gravy.
I can't envision any scenario that Tubby and Donna Smith move to Eugene, OR.
Tubby and Donna'a family ALL live in mid-Atlantic or Southern states.
They have no connections whatsoever to Oregon.
He has no recruiting connections there.
He has 4 to 7 years until retirement.
Oregon makes no sense at all.
Actually Tubby's recruited California pretty well over the years.
That said, I have to agree with FOT on this one. I could see Ga Tech. I can't envision any scenario that Tubby and Donna Smith move to Eugene, OR. That makes almost as little sense as Auburn, Florida or any of the other ridiculous teams that come up.