Tubby on Auburn: rumors are "just talk," and he's looking forward to returning to MN

Donate To GopherHole
nuggett said:
Perhaps not VERBATIM
I am paraphrasing but that is the gist of what was said.

I don't need to Goggle anything.
I live in Lexington and watched the show and watched Rob
talk later about how he was shocked even though he thought
Tubby seemed a little different than usual.

Again,
The point was not a criticism of Tubby, just pointing out
that coaches deny anything but their current job until
a contract is ready and a plane whisk them off to their
next job.
Click to expand...

Google it. You can hear Bromley say (paraphrasing) I Knew Something Was Up. I Thought It (His UK Tenure) Might Be Over.
 

Frankly, the fact that this hit the airwaves now suggests that it is bogus.
Tubby wants to win the right way, then I expect he would want to leave the right way as well - not amid rumors during a NCAA tournament.
There is NO reason Tubby would start negotiating here during the tournament.
There was a reason why he left UK as he did. The Heat was on and it was in his best interest to entertain offers. There isn't any reason he'd be entertaining offers while his team was entering the tournament.
BUT - If he leaves, it would indicate his hands were tied by the AD and then Maturi's days might be numbered.
But I don't think so.
And, rereading the comments made by Tubby, those who think he didn't squash rumors in a convincing way need to relax. There is nothing there in his response that makes me concerned. He may leave, but i don't think so.
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
No - Minnesotans aren't racists in large numbers like Kentuckians are.
Click to expand...

I wonder the same thing.

If Tubby decides to take the job at Auburn, will you come on here
and talk about how the racists Minn fans ran Tubby off ?

I have seen plenty of criticism of Tubby by Minn fans and Minn
sports writers. Are they racist because they criticize Tubby ?

Have you ever been to Kentucky or are you just Google ling and
repeating what you have heard ?

If Tubby had it so hard in Kentucky, why did he choose to stay 10 years ?
Seems like a long time to stay in a job when your so miserable.

I am not into celebrity worship so I guess I don't understand
the mindset that the minute someone makes a comment that is in any way
critical of a celebrity someone feels the need to jump up and start
accusing someone or a group of people about how they are racists.
Reminds me of the "Leave Brittany Alone" video.

I am going to tell you this once more.
I live in Lexington and can tell you that Tubby Smith would NOT condone or
appreciate your using the "race card" to defend him.
If you were really a "Friend of Tubby" you would know this.
 

Tubby's response

howeda7 said:
This is all true. That said, Tubby could easily be more forceful in putting down these rumors. Yet he has declined to so. Why? We can't know for sure. Maybe he is really interested in the jobs being offered. I buy that for UVa. I don't buy that for Auburn. I think he also feels compelled to keep Maturi's feet to the fire. The practice facility he's been promised is going slower then molasis when other schools would have it coming out of the ground by now. He's been here 3 years and never offered a hint of a contract extension even though the bumbling football coach got one, etc. For these things I blame our bumbling, well-meaning AD.
Click to expand...

It would be nice to see the pratice facility, but we are slow to build sports facilities around here.

What are you looking for, a firm denial like Sabin gave before going to Alabama? What would that prove, the same people still won't beleive it. It all boils down to trust, and Tubby dosen't owe anyone of us any more of a denial then he has already given.

Just get use to the rumor every year until Minnesota becomes a national heavyweight. There is a reason why we didn't have this problem with Monson. Taking potshots at Tubby on this issue is not only unfair, but could come across as Tubby not being appreciated here at Minnesota.
 

That said, Nuggett, i don't particularly appreciate your input. I've visited the UK boards and the level of hatred there for Tubby there is alarming. FOT is over the top in many ways, but so are the UK fans. I will speak for many when I say we'd be happy if ya'll left us alone here rather than bringing your squabble here.
Thank you.
 


So what's the problem between Maturi and Smith?

A couple of posts indicated that there are "issues" between Tubby and Joel. What's that all about?

I would think Joel is on pretty thin ice considering Brewster and Lucia have screwed up the only other two revenue sports (assuming Gopher football is a revenue sport).

If he loses Tubby he might as well hang it up as hiring Tubby is the only thing he got right (except for the NON Revenue Sports where the Gopher's ROCK).

Keeps Monson a year too long. (worked out because we got Tubby)
Renews Mason.
Fires Mason
Hires Brewster (a great recruiter who gets primarily 2 and three Star athletes)
Renews Borton (who proceeds to finish 11th in the Big Ten)
Expresses confidence in Lucia (who didn't even make the WCHA playoff. Gopher hockey is in the tank. Kind of like what happened to Gopher basketball under Monson)
 

Moonlight said:
That said, Nuggett, i don't particularly appreciate your input. I've visited the UK boards and the level of hatred there for Tubby there is alarming. FOT is over the top in many ways, but so are the UK fans. I will speak for many when I say we'd be happy if ya'll left us alone here rather than bringing your squabble here.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

Sorry but I simply state facts based on my personal experience. The racism in KY exists and >>> than in Minnesota.
 

nuggett said:
I wonder the same thing.

If Tubby decides to take the job at Auburn, will you come on here
and talk about how the racists Minn fans ran Tubby off ?

I have seen plenty of criticism of Tubby by Minn fans and Minn
sports writers. Are they racist because they criticize Tubby ?

Have you ever been to Kentucky or are you just Google ling and
repeating what you have heard ?

If Tubby had it so hard in Kentucky, why did he choose to stay 10 years ?
Seems like a long time to stay in a job when your so miserable.

I am not into celebrity worship so I guess I don't understand
the mindset that the minute someone makes a comment that is in any way
critical of a celebrity someone feels the need to jump up and start
accusing someone or a group of people about how they are racists.
Reminds me of the "Leave Brittany Alone" video.

I am going to tell you this once more.
I live in Lexington and can tell you that Tubby Smith would NOT condone or
appreciate your using the "race card" to defend him.
If you were really a "Friend of Tubby" you would know this.
Click to expand...

In order:

Nope. Far fewer racists in MN than KY.

Nope. MN fans criticize results, not race.

Born in KY and lived there almost 25 years.

Never said Tubby had it hard in KY. Said that some (not all but many) KY fans are racists.

I know Tubby personally. I know of windows broken at his house in Lexington (by rocks) and other (similar) stories. If you were an honest KY-ian, you would, too.

I defend Tubby's RECORD with FACTS. The some (not all but many) KY racists ignore BOTH.
 

sec105 said:
A couple of posts indicated that there are "issues" between Tubby and Joel. What's that all about?

I would think Joel is on pretty thin ice considering Brewster and Lucia have screwed up the only other two revenue sports (assuming Gopher football is a revenue sport).

If he loses Tubby he might as well hang it up as hiring Tubby is the only thing he got right (except for the NON Revenue Sports where the Gopher's ROCK).

Keeps Monson a year too long. (worked out because we got Tubby)
Renews Mason.
Fires Mason
Hires Brewster (a great recruiter who gets primarily 2 and three Star athletes)
Renews Borton (who proceeds to finish 11th in the Big Ten)
Expresses confidence in Lucia (who didn't even make the WCHA playoff. Gopher hockey is in the tank. Kind of like what happened to Gopher basketball under Monson)
Click to expand...

I'm with ya on most of these, that's for sure. Maturi better hope that Tubby doesn't leave because with the mess that other programs are in (men's hockey, women's basketball) and the decidedly mediocre standing of football (a situation where Maturi has openly admitted that Brewster is still "learning" how to coach (WTF?)), he'll be (and should be) on the chopping block.
 




alchemy2u said:
It would be nice to see the pratice facility, but we are slow to build sports facilities around here.

What are you looking for, a firm denial like Sabin gave before going to Alabama? What would that prove, the same people still won't beleive it. It all boils down to trust, and Tubby dosen't owe anyone of us any more of a denial then he has already given.

Just get use to the rumor every year until Minnesota becomes a national heavyweight. There is a reason why we didn't have this problem with Monson. Taking potshots at Tubby on this issue is not only unfair, but could come across as Tubby not being appreciated here at Minnesota.
Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong with what Tubby said, and he certainly doesn't owe us any more then that. But he could be more definative in his denials if he wanted to. In any case it was more the obvious shot he took at Maturi that made me think of this then the firmness of his denials. The 'we can improve in recruiting and facilities' was not even remotely veiled. He's clearly unhappy with the delay in the practice facility.

Make no mistake, my annoyance here is with Dithering Joel Maturi and not Tubby. I think Tubby feels he needs to keep Maturi's feet to the fire and his relatively soft denials are one way of doing it. I wish it were not necessary.
 


Anyone who wants a hard and fast denial from Tubby, by the way, should check out some previous coach-speak:

“They’ll have to carry me out of here in a pine box,” - Tommy Tubberville, regarding the Auburn football coaching job while at Ole Miss. Two days after he made that statement, it was announced that he was leaving to go to Auburn, leaving some upset fans at Ole Miss.

"I guess I have to say it. I'm not going to be the Alabama coach. ... I don't control what people say. I don't control what people put on dot-com or anything else. So I'm just telling you there's no significance, in my opinion, about this, about me, about any interest that I have in anything other than being the coach here." - Nick Saban, days before taking the Alabama football coaching position.
 



Okay, the consensus here is:

1) Tubby says he's happy here and sounds like he's staying
2) No coach in his/her right mind would say anything different if there's talks underway

I think I can throw a third item out there over which there would be general agreement: No matter how much we parse what Tubby says, no matter how much we want Tubby to stay, no matter what we write or think about it we have no control over his decision. We can't even influence it in any substantial manner.

So, I'm just going to sit back and see how it unfolds.

But I join my friend, Moonlight, and would ask that the seemingly interminable feuds that emanate from when Tubby was at UK go somewhere else. Even the off-topic forum would be better than here. Especiallly since there's no warning in the title that a thread has been perverted to become yet another discussion of how things were (or weren't) when Tubby was at UK.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom