At approximately 2PM EST on Saturday March 29th, Vol Twitter went absolutely bonkers. It was at that time Tennessee fans were reacting to the ESPN report (that someone wisely leaked) which informed the world that Coach Cuonzo Martin was a target of Marquette for their vacant head coaching position.

Cuonzo Martin and Ben Howland have emerged as top-tier targets for Marquette, sources told ESPN: http://t.co/XRMo3GDv6G

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) March 29, 2014

Sanity left the building by approximately 2:30-3PM EST. Those who were part of the “Bring Back Bruce” crowd were all over the place. Their comments were by no means cogent nor did they have a particular thought behind them. But one famous backer of the movement did have a liner thought process that it was possible to follow. It was, of course, the most famous member of the “Bring Back Bruce” movement, Mr. Clay Travis, owner of the very successful website Outkick The Coverage and a radio personality in Nashville and nationally and an underutilized member of the Fox Sports One College Football Pre-Game Show. Clay is unquestionably more sane than other members of that club, he’s also more wealthy and more intelligent, but he is a member of that club. On Twitter, this Saturday, the following happened:

If Cuonzo actually left for Marquette, Vols would likely end up with a better coach and recruiter.

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravisBGID) March 29, 2014

Can you imagine if Tennessee brought Pearl back before he coached a game at Auburn? Dave Hart would be UT AD for life.

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravisBGID) March 29, 2014

Lots of people who read this site and lots of people who follow the SEC don’t like Clay Travis.

I do.

I just disagree about this issue and, more importantly, the simple fact that when it comes to the Bring Back Bruce idea he has an ideology rather than a philosophy. A philosophy can adapt to facts. When ideology collides with reality, reality always wins. He’s backing his idea, because, as Inception put it so aptly, an idea is like a virus. We need to discuss this movement, the reaction and reality. But first, there are things I need to talk about.

In the interest of full disclosure: I went to college to write and talk about sports, but then life and practicality and rent and money to attract potential girlfriends got in the way. So I deviated from that path. It’s a path that lead me to the University of Tennessee College of Law, so it lead me to y’all and I’m grateful for that, but it’s a convoluted path. Last summer, I got back to doing what I love and what I’m less horrible at than anything else I do, which is write about sports and life and try to be amusing. I was first published as a Bullpen writer for Outkick The Coverage when Lori Kelly, who is a tremendously nice person and gifted writer and editor that I admire personally and professionally, liked what I’d written and helped me get it on the site. If you click on it now, since the transfer of Outkick to Fox has happened, it looks like nobody read it. The sharing features are clean. But people did. My Twitter followers increased, the comments were positive and all of a sudden I had the recognizable adrenaline rush that people were reading me and few were trolling.

I was hooked.

So for the next week two weeks, I bombarded poor Lori with columns and ideas and emails and if she weren’t an incredibly nice person, she’d have had cause to justifiably hire people to beat the living daylights out of me. But I wrote all of those things because I like writing and I like that site. The coverage of conference realignment has been utterly superb. Clay owned those stories. He’s also really smart when it comes to TV.  To be clear: I wanted to be hired to write at that site the way I write here. I was published once more and it was a thrill again. In an incredibly classy move, Outkick then decided to pay Bullpen writers and Lori Kelly managed to send me a check around Christmas for the two articles they featured. I cashed it, but have a photocopy amongst my keepsakes

A permanent position at Outkick was not to be. It was okay, because some months later, I did get that lucky. Here and at another great place to be writing and read.

I’m incredibly lucky to work with people that are brilliant here at Football Time, which has been and, I hope, will continue to be, my home for many years to come. The audience of this website is really smart, interesting and fun to interact with. I landed in the right place for me to write. The owner and proprietor of this website also allows me to chat with his radio audience on Tennessee Sports Radio. It’s a pleasure every single time. So this column isn’t about an axe to grind. It’s about a genuine disagreement and a logical reasoning that I struggle to comprehend.

Despite the fashionable nature to BRING HOT TAKES and TWITTER BEEF every single time two people don’t see eye-to-eye, I was and remain a fan of Clay Travis. But on this issue, it feels like we don’t just disagree, but that we’re operating in two different universes. That’s worrying.

When it comes to Bruce Pearl, Clay Travis has an addiction similar to our mutual addiction to WiFi. Lots of people have it. I am a recovering Pearl addict and there is no shame in admitting it. But when you are in the clutches of it, that addiction leads to an analysis that just doesn’t make sense. Bruce Pearl cannot leave Auburn less than a month after taking the job. A big part of the current Bruce Pearl sales pitch is the redemptive nature of it and when Bruce Pearl goes in on a sales pitch, he goes all in. The person who investigated Pearl for his actions at Tennessee signed off on him being hired at Auburn. That’s a vital part of the story that Bruce Pearl is selling. He can’t leave. On the Tennessee side of things, the same reluctance that existed in January and February, in the dark times, still exists.

This isn’t going to happen, regardless of how bad someone might want it to. Simply put, Clay Travis is wrong.

The reality is that the future of Tennessee Vols Basketball remains squarely in the hands of Cuonzo Martin. The possibility that he’ll leave and go to Marquette is real. It is in Tennessee’s interest to lock up Coach Cuonzo Martin and keep a program headed in the right direction on track. Marquette, for a more detailed analysis, was just abandoned by Buzz Williams for less money to coach Virginia Tech, which is, despite a beautiful campus, not half the basketball school Williams left. Why? Because the Big East, as a conference, has all the stability of Justin Beiber and the Marquette administration is in flux. It’s not a situation that someone would be desperate to walk into, particularly someone in line for a handsome raise with a solid recruiting class coming in where they presently coach. Unless, of course, Coach Martin feels like he’s one bad half from being given a pink slip. That’s the moving target. Marquette has other options too. Ben Howland  wants back in. Marquette is also looking at Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski.

What about Wake Forest?

Cuonzo Martin is, as of this writing, not on their radar.

So here’s what will likely happen in the next two weeks:

1) Bruce Pearl will continue selling Auburn.

2) Cuonzo Martin and his staff see handsome raises from Tennessee or UT becomes damaged goods.

3) Clay Travis will either ignore or utterly denounce this article through his various media platforms that I admire, envy and respect.

But here’s what won’t happen:

Bruce Pearl ain’t walking back through that door this spring.

Post Script:

I’m a native New Yorker who loves The South in general and Tennessee in particular. I felt at home in Tennessee. I miss it every day. Yet the habits of a New York life infect those that live it. In that vein I add the following to this column:

• If I’m wrong and Bruce Pearl is the head coach of the University of Tennessee Men’s Basketball team this spring, then I will fly myself to Nashville and submit to whatever Howard Stern-style humiliation Clay Travis or Twitter can dream up.
• If I am right, I will refer to this column in the future in the Tony Kornheiser style of “I believe I had that one.” Which I know Clay Travis will appreciate. I’ll also demand to be on a radio show with Clay, but that’s unlikely to actually happen.
• I feel obligated to come up with a David Letterman Style Top Ten List Here…So

Top 10 Things More Likely Than Bruce Pearl Returning As Coach Of Tennessee in 2014

10) The missing plane was hidden in the beard of Clay Travis all along

9) Michael Vick is named PETA’s “Man of The Year”

8)  Nick Saban leaves football for a new career as a Standup Comedian

7) Tim Tebow becomes the new starting Quarterback of the New England Patriots

6) Will Smith is totally cool about NOT HAVING EYEBROWS

5) America Considers Banning Bacon

4) Bret Bielema turns down a kegerator (and doesn’t secretly have it brought to his study)

3) Will Muschamp survives a rough 2014 season through pure charm.

2) Lane Kiffin inspires a standing ovation from everyone in Knoxville.

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO BEFORE BRUCE PEARL RETURNS TO UT:

1) Clay Travis hires me as owner & operator of Outkick The Coverage upon firing himself.

Thanks for reading, everyone.