The 30 Lowest Moments for Tennessee Vols Athletics in the Adidas Era

Feb 26, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; A Tennessee Volunteers cheerleader performs during the game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

15. Tennessee Men’s Basketball Coach Jerry Green Goes From Star to Unemployed After Two Months of Bad Play in 2001

This is still potentially the craziest story in Tennessee Vols sports history. On paper, it is impossible to see how Jerry Green was pressured out of Tennessee. He took the program to heights it had never reached before.

After inheriting players that Kevin O’Neil recruited, Green took the Vols to the NCAA Tournament in his first two years while bringing in two more sick recruiting classes himself. He went further each year in the tournament, and in 1999-2000 had a Sweet Sixteen finish with a 26-7 record, the best in school history. It should have been a Final Four appearance, but no matter.

Going into 2000-2001, Green’s Vols were ranked in the Top 10 in the preseason and lived up to the hype, making it to 16-1 in the middle of January and a No. 4 ranking. Nothing would get better from there.

An injury to Tony Harris, a loss to Kentucky, and then two losses at Florida and Georgia followed later by losses at Arkansas and Ole Miss had the Vols at 18-6 and out of the Top 10. Then they lost three straight home games to get to 18-9 and unranked.

Still, there was no reason to fire Green. He had taken the program to unprecedented heights, and you can’t make him a victim of his own success.

But at this point, more stories surfaced about him winning with players primarily recruited with O’Neil. It had also become clear that he had lost to a lower seed every year in the tournament. And he always had issues with different players getting into trouble.

Despite the success, Green seemed to be underachieving with amazing talent.

As this pressure grew, Green then made an offhand comment that Tennessee fans who did not support the program could go to K-Mart instead. Well, now you’ve really set off a firestorm.

Anyway, the PR fiasco that was Green ended with a 22-11 record in 2001 and a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. He was then forced out by the administration, in what has to be a low moment in Tennessee history.

You can judge and criticize all you want, and the truth is people were happy to see him go. But the collapse of the team and the amount of under-achieving it did coupled with firing a coach who had reached incredible heights was a huge letdown.

Next: #14: Football Loss to UNC in 2010