10 factors determining if Vols head coach Rick Barnes leaves for UCLA

2. Assistant pay

Now here is a unique one, but it’s one that is probably a huge factor for Rick Barnes. Pay never seems to be a big deal for him as Tennessee basketball’s head coach. Of course, when you’re the second-highest paid head coach in the SEC, why would it?

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However, one thing that could be a sticking point for Barnes is assistant pay. Remember, he committed a minor violation in 2017 because he was willing to pay some of his assistants out of his own pocket.

Barnes’s loyalty to his assistants is clearly deep. The Texas Longhorns fired him because he refused to replace any member of his staff. That’s how things work with him, and it could be an issue for the Vols.

Sure, they could shell out money to pay him. But assistants are a different story. Remember, the Vols are struggling as a program right now with revenue simply because of all their expenses, and it’s about to get worse.

The Tennesseean reported just last Friday that the athletic department had a $6.5 million deficit in 2018, and it due to $13.8 million in buyout expenses. Football has been the big killer with guys like Butch Jones and Derek Dooley and their staffs. But now, Holly Warlick has just been fired, and she has a buyout of over $700,000.

As a result, the Vols could have trouble paying Barnes’s staff what he wants. And this is a new negotiation altogether with the departure of assistant head coach Rob Lanier, who is now head coach of the Georgia State Panthers. All of this is up in the air, and it’s certainly an issue. So this makes it an advantage for UCLA unless Tennessee can find the money.