Tennessee basketball: Rick Barnes told Vol fans that he was UCLA bound

Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes had a Tuesday presser where he said contract buyout kept him from going to UCLA.

Happy Tuesday Volnation, just another ordinary day in the quiet town of Knoxville, Tennessee where there is never a dull moment in the sports world. If you missed the news, Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes said he would be the coach at UCLA if they would have paid the contract buyout.

If you’ve been without internet access the past two weeks, Rick Barnes was a serious candidate for the UCLA head coaching vacancy. In fact, he was going to take the job. He wanted the job, but his five million dollar buyout stood in the way.

In the presser Tuesday afternoon Barnes said, “The bottom line is we just really couldn’t work it out with the buyout.” He also said, “I think I would have been the coach at UCLA.”

This is going to make some of Volnation mad, but if you were truthful with yourself from the start and listened to what we were saying, you knew the buyout was the only thing that kept Barnes in Knoxville.

However, that really shouldn’t surprise anyone, UCLA historically is the better job.

It’s very similar when Tennessee football comes calling. Almost every coach in the country is going to stop what they are doing and at least listen. The football program is widely looked upon as one of the best jobs in the country despite the past decade of struggles.

UCLA, in Barnes’ eyes, is one of the best basketball programs in the nation. However, it is rather stunning that he told Tennessee fans that he wanted to leave and that he would have left. Maybe he doesn’t love Tennessee as much as the fans wanted him to.

Some will applaud his honesty and bluntness, and those people wouldn’t be wrong. After Butch Jones lying in every press conference, the honesty was refreshing. But, I don’t think it made any sense for Barnes to publicly announce his intentions or exactly how the deal fell through. Most fans had already convinced themselves that Barnes picked Tennessee over UCLA.

With the recent contract extension, Barnes is under a lot more pressure from Volnation. After his comments, I would say the pressure to win is monumental.