Tennessee gave him a lifetime contract today. Will Rick Barnes retire or will PJ Tucker stop dribbling first?

I ran into him at the Denver airport when A&M played Colorado in football my senior year. He went out of his way to talk to me about Big 12 basketball. I've always kind of been a fan of his since then. I wish A&M had a coach that was consistently good enough we could give a lifetime contract, though I'd still be ticked off if we did.

I just saw that, be careful what you wish for. Not a fan of lifetime contracts.

He's also 71 so I'm guessing lifetime = 5 years or less when he decides to retire?

I'd be super mad if we actually gave a coach a lifetime contract, but it would be nice to have a coach that consistently performs well enough to have a discussion about it.

I imagine this is mainly just a way to combat the recruiting trail retirement rumors that come up every year and I'm sure he's given them some kind of indication that he's going to retire at some point soon.

No coach deserves tenure. But some have earned it.

Tennessee did this so he won't have to remove his name from consideration when other openings come along.

Luke The Drifter said:

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Tennessee did this so he won't have to remove his name from consideration when other openings come along.

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Probably not because he is 71 years old and probably planning retirement in the next five years. Smart play on both sides

sixpakdad said:

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Luke The Drifter said:

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Tennessee did this so he won't have to remove his name from consideration when other openings come along.

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Probably not because he is 71 years old and probably planning retirement in the next five years. Smart play on both sides

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Tell me you don't get the joke without telling me you don't get the joke.

Rick Barnes is a class individual. Great guy, good HC.

So he just, in fact, removed his name from firing consideration.

I wish A&M had had as good a coach as Barnes over the years. I don't get the jokes. The dude just wins regardless of where he goes.

Dimond1968 said:

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I wish A&M had had as good a coach as Barnes over the years. I don't get the jokes. The dude just wins regardless of where he goes.

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Pretty much agree, although you do have to admit the "Barnes is withdrawing his name from consideration..." stuff does get a little tiresome. Its possible that's his agent or PR people and not him personally, though, and I don't think its really happened in a long time. Just there for a while, it seemed, it was a weekly occurrence in mid-April.

With that said, he's been a consistent winner at Providence, Clemson, t.u., and Tennessee. You don't need all fingers on 2 hands to fully count the number of times his teams HAVE NOT been to the NCAA tournament, and that's been since 1989! That's pretty dang impressive.

How would Aggie basketball look with him at the helm since then?

I was hoping he was going to get a title last year at Tennessee. He's one I'd like to see get one before he hangs it up.

greg.w.h said:

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No coach deserves tenure. But some have earned it.

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@grok explain this oxymoron to me like I'm a moron.

Won't be long. There's only so many times one can hear Rocky Top before going postal