Love him or hate him, this underdog's on top
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</TD><TD noWrap>Jan. 25, 2006
By Gregg Doyel
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Gregg your opinion!
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- T9188058 --><!-- Sesame Modified: 01/27/2006 10:10:41 --><!-- sversion: 4 $Updated: lylec$ -->Bruce Pearl doesn't want you to like him. Not really. Because he knows what it would take.
For one thing he'd have to shut up, and Pearl isn't about to shut up. It's possible he can't shut up. He's a born-again basketball coach, unwilling and probably unable to stop proselytizing about the SEC school that gave him this national pulpit.
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</TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR><TR><TD width=200>'I'm pretty passionate, pretty extreme, pretty intense,' Pearl says. (Getty Images) </TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>For another, he'd have to start losing for you to like him. But check out his resume. Pearl went 231-46 with a Division II championship at Southern Indiana. He went 86-38 with a spot in the 2005 Sweet 16 at UW-Milwaukee. He doesn't lose often, and he didn't come to Tennessee to be another headstone in the Volunteers' coaching graveyard.
"If you're a coach who goes into everybody else's building and always walks away with a loss, you're going to be one of their favorite coaches," Pearl says. "They're going to give you a big hand when you walk out onto the court: 'Happy to see you!'
"Some day that'd be great if they're not happy to see me."
Some day? Right. That day is here.
Less than a year on the job, Pearl is one of the least popular coaches in the SEC. He's talking too much, he's winning too much, and if you're a Vols fan it's beautiful. Pearl has mainlined caffeine into a program that slept in while everyone else was doing calisthenics. Tennessee has 20 Division I athletic programs, 19 of which played in its NCAA tournament last year. The one that didn't? Men's basketball.
"We're the ones that have a lot of catching up to do," he says.
Tennessee's almost there already, with the same core of players -- actually, less than the same core -- that got Buzz Peterson fired. Without graduated scoring leader Scooter McFadgon and dismissed frontcourt sub Jemere Hendrix, Pearl has used his frenzied system to pull off two of the biggest wins of the season: a blowout at No. 6 Texas on Dec. 17 and a win Saturday against No. 2 Florida. In a league full of boring, unwatchable basketball, Tennessee is fun. It's also 13-3 and ranked No. 19 nationally.
"We're slightly ahead of schedule," Pearl says.
That's an understatement. If you didn't recognize it, you're forgiven. Pearl's rarely subtle; a style that has energized Vols fans ... and infuriated everyone else. Pearl already has had an ugly spat with recruit Tyler Smith, whom Pearl refused to release from the scholarship he signed with Peterson; feuded publicly with Memphis coach John Calipari over the recruitment of Memphis signee Willie Kemp; and been blasted by LSU's John Brady for not having "class" after Pearl walked Dane Bradshaw to the scorer's table and raised Bradshaw's arm to the hooting LSU crowd, as if it say, "You want him? Here he is."
Brady thought Pearl was grandstanding. Maybe, but that's Pearl. This is a guy who had his own coach's show at Southern Indiana. Local TV affiliates told him D-II coaches don't get shows, so Pearl did it himself. He bought TV time on an Evansville cable channel, sold the advertising, even turned on the camera.
"The host was Darrin Smith," Pearl says. "One of us would hit play, and then we'd run and sit down and we'd do the show."
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Pearl has brought that spunk to Tennessee, where he has averaged one public speaking engagement per day. That includes trips to the student union, where he once urged students to support the UT women's soccer team. He also has tripled the size of the pep band, reconfigured the baseline seating to put students closer to the court, and paraded his team from the concourse to the court, high-fiving the crowd along the way. Tennessee students have reciprocated, camping out for the first time in years before the Florida game. When Pearl heard about that, he bought everyone pizzas. Delivered them himself.
In his orange tie and suspenders, Pearl is the second coming of Tennessee's winningest coach, Ray Mears (1963-77), who founded the term "Big Orange Country" and created the Orange Tie Club. After Mears retired at 47 because of depression, Tennessee went through six coaches in 28 years. Pearl is No. 7. Don't expect No. 8 to show for a while.
As unexpectedly good as this season has been, Pearl expects to be better next year. He says Tennessee could be better at four positions, noting the arrival of heralded frontcourt recruits Wayne Chism and Duke Crews along with the return of Chris Lofton, Major Wingate and Bradshaw. Point guard C.J. Watson graduates, but Pearl recruited Marques Johnson and Josh Tabb to join Lofton and top sub JaJuan Smith in the backcourt.
"The future here is so bright," Pearl says.
Pearl is making himself comfortable in Knoxville. He's even tossing around the word y'all, which he says "is so inclusive." It doesn't sound quite right coming from a Boston native, but no matter. Pearl throws around the words he wants to throw around. Too bad if Calipari or Brady -- or you -- don't like it.
"I'm pretty passionate, pretty extreme, pretty intense," he says. "I guess sometimes I get myself into situations. I do know one thing: Ray Mears was not the SEC's favorite coach, but he was Tennessee's favorite. I want to be Tennessee's favorite coach in men's basketball. If over time I can gain my opponents' respect, that would be important. But I can't worry if they don't like me. I'm not worried about it at all."
I can't say enough about how much I like this coach....have met him personally and was member of many basketball camps as a kid that he ran. Guy is as passionate as they come and is a great great motivator. As a kid growing up playing basketball, I always wanted to play for Coach Pearl once I got to college....my athletic abilities took me in another direction. As excelled at every stop he's made.
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By Gregg Doyel
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Gregg your opinion!
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- T9188058 --><!-- Sesame Modified: 01/27/2006 10:10:41 --><!-- sversion: 4 $Updated: lylec$ -->Bruce Pearl doesn't want you to like him. Not really. Because he knows what it would take.
For one thing he'd have to shut up, and Pearl isn't about to shut up. It's possible he can't shut up. He's a born-again basketball coach, unwilling and probably unable to stop proselytizing about the SEC school that gave him this national pulpit.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=200 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=200>
"If you're a coach who goes into everybody else's building and always walks away with a loss, you're going to be one of their favorite coaches," Pearl says. "They're going to give you a big hand when you walk out onto the court: 'Happy to see you!'
"Some day that'd be great if they're not happy to see me."
Some day? Right. That day is here.
Less than a year on the job, Pearl is one of the least popular coaches in the SEC. He's talking too much, he's winning too much, and if you're a Vols fan it's beautiful. Pearl has mainlined caffeine into a program that slept in while everyone else was doing calisthenics. Tennessee has 20 Division I athletic programs, 19 of which played in its NCAA tournament last year. The one that didn't? Men's basketball.
"We're the ones that have a lot of catching up to do," he says.
Tennessee's almost there already, with the same core of players -- actually, less than the same core -- that got Buzz Peterson fired. Without graduated scoring leader Scooter McFadgon and dismissed frontcourt sub Jemere Hendrix, Pearl has used his frenzied system to pull off two of the biggest wins of the season: a blowout at No. 6 Texas on Dec. 17 and a win Saturday against No. 2 Florida. In a league full of boring, unwatchable basketball, Tennessee is fun. It's also 13-3 and ranked No. 19 nationally.
"We're slightly ahead of schedule," Pearl says.
That's an understatement. If you didn't recognize it, you're forgiven. Pearl's rarely subtle; a style that has energized Vols fans ... and infuriated everyone else. Pearl already has had an ugly spat with recruit Tyler Smith, whom Pearl refused to release from the scholarship he signed with Peterson; feuded publicly with Memphis coach John Calipari over the recruitment of Memphis signee Willie Kemp; and been blasted by LSU's John Brady for not having "class" after Pearl walked Dane Bradshaw to the scorer's table and raised Bradshaw's arm to the hooting LSU crowd, as if it say, "You want him? Here he is."
Brady thought Pearl was grandstanding. Maybe, but that's Pearl. This is a guy who had his own coach's show at Southern Indiana. Local TV affiliates told him D-II coaches don't get shows, so Pearl did it himself. He bought TV time on an Evansville cable channel, sold the advertising, even turned on the camera.
"The host was Darrin Smith," Pearl says. "One of us would hit play, and then we'd run and sit down and we'd do the show."
[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Pearl has brought that spunk to Tennessee, where he has averaged one public speaking engagement per day. That includes trips to the student union, where he once urged students to support the UT women's soccer team. He also has tripled the size of the pep band, reconfigured the baseline seating to put students closer to the court, and paraded his team from the concourse to the court, high-fiving the crowd along the way. Tennessee students have reciprocated, camping out for the first time in years before the Florida game. When Pearl heard about that, he bought everyone pizzas. Delivered them himself.
In his orange tie and suspenders, Pearl is the second coming of Tennessee's winningest coach, Ray Mears (1963-77), who founded the term "Big Orange Country" and created the Orange Tie Club. After Mears retired at 47 because of depression, Tennessee went through six coaches in 28 years. Pearl is No. 7. Don't expect No. 8 to show for a while.
As unexpectedly good as this season has been, Pearl expects to be better next year. He says Tennessee could be better at four positions, noting the arrival of heralded frontcourt recruits Wayne Chism and Duke Crews along with the return of Chris Lofton, Major Wingate and Bradshaw. Point guard C.J. Watson graduates, but Pearl recruited Marques Johnson and Josh Tabb to join Lofton and top sub JaJuan Smith in the backcourt.
"The future here is so bright," Pearl says.
Pearl is making himself comfortable in Knoxville. He's even tossing around the word y'all, which he says "is so inclusive." It doesn't sound quite right coming from a Boston native, but no matter. Pearl throws around the words he wants to throw around. Too bad if Calipari or Brady -- or you -- don't like it.
"I'm pretty passionate, pretty extreme, pretty intense," he says. "I guess sometimes I get myself into situations. I do know one thing: Ray Mears was not the SEC's favorite coach, but he was Tennessee's favorite. I want to be Tennessee's favorite coach in men's basketball. If over time I can gain my opponents' respect, that would be important. But I can't worry if they don't like me. I'm not worried about it at all."
I can't say enough about how much I like this coach....have met him personally and was member of many basketball camps as a kid that he ran. Guy is as passionate as they come and is a great great motivator. As a kid growing up playing basketball, I always wanted to play for Coach Pearl once I got to college....my athletic abilities took me in another direction. As excelled at every stop he's made.
Didn't even think about Bruce Pearl being the coach. Didn't really care. All I remember about Pearl was that he was on the sidelines last year when UW-Milwaukee got pounded by Illinois. 
