“How long does Shoop stay? No buyout clause tells me he doesn’t intend to stay too long. Hope I’m wrong though.” – @StarSpangledVol
Daniel: I think, like many assistant coaches, he’s looking to climb the ranks and would like to be a head coach. The fact that he had enough leverage to not have a buyout clause in his current contract should help him in his endeavor. I have to wonder if Vanderbilt would be interested in him returning if it moves on from Derek Mason in the next year or two. My best guess: 2-3 years. That seemingly is about the average tenure at a school for a hot-name coordinator these days anyhow.
Erik: I think he’s going to stay here for a long time. I think the no buyout clause is just semantics.
Nathanael: I say a maximum of 3 years for Shoop at UT. Not because I don’t think it will work out, because I do. I think he has just such a high ceiling that he’ll either get a head coach offer at the college level or will be offered a position in the NFL at some point. And if he has elite success with the Vols, that will be sooner rather than later.
“Is it true that Kongbo hasn’t signed his paperwork?” – Weston Demonbreun
Erik: They were really excited if it was just financial-aid papers, but he’s tweeted since that he’s All-Vol, so I’m not worried.
https://twitter.com/King_Kongbo/status/697087490272800768
Nathanael: According to Kongbo himself, he’s signed it and is waiting for his father to sign it as well. Kongbo made it sound like his father simply hadn’t signed it because he’s out of town or something, so I wouldn’t be worried about this.
“Nashville was top rated market for Super Bowl. Wouldn’t it be a good city for a professional football organization?” – David Maxedon
Daniel: Haha, everybody laugh at the Titans. We’ll be back…eventually. But it is unfortunate timing to be in such a massive down cycle because of the growth of Nashville as a city, the fact that there’s a young, likeable potential franchise QB in place and the fact that there will be so many “free agent” fans when Peyton officially calls it quits.
Nathanael: The Titans absolutely need to make a play to snatch up the free agent Peyton fans by going out and getting another loved former Vol. Whether it’s signing Eric Berry in free agency this offseason or drafting, say, Jalen Hurd next season, the Titans would be stupid not to try to get fans literally three hours away from Nashville to buy in. But it makes too much sense, so that means the Titans probably won’t do it.
“Is a hot dog a sandwich?” – Nick Rogers
Daniel: There’s a national hog dog and sausage council – which being on, by the way, is now my new career goal. They say it’s not, so I’ll side with them.
Erik: Depends what stadium you buy it in.
Nathanael: I actually hate this question. But I’ll answer it because I like you, Nick. No, it’s not.
“Paper, plastic, or canvas?” – Blake Richmond
Daniel: Situational shopping, Blake, that’s what’s it all about.
“How hot is Holly Warlick’s seat?” – David Maxedon
Daniel: About a three on a scale of 10. She isn’t going anywhere this year. I think she would need to finish this year poorly and then have another subpar year in 2016-17 for it to be a real conversation for the administration. I get that the expectations are sky high for that program, but they’re not going to ax a coach that has won 27, 29 and 30 games the last three years and has a roster that, if everything can finally click, could make a deep run in the postseason again this year.
That being said, I get the concerns and the lack of confidence in the direction of the program. It is a strange sight to see the Lady Vols lose some of these games and fall behind in recruiting.
Nathanael: Unless she absolutely plummets this year and doesn’t even make the NCAA Tournament somehow, she’s completely safe this year. She’s in a non-revenue sport and hasn’t had a “terrible” season before this one. There’s no way Dave Hart is going to lose money on a buyout in a non-revenue sport when athletics is just now getting its head above water financially speaking.
