After being fired by Texas nine years ago, Rick Barnes has been a lifesaver for Tennessee Athletics | Trey Wallace

Charlotte, North Carolina Tennessee will play the same team that determined Rick Barnes had peaked if it wants to advance to the Sweet 16.

Following the 2014–2015 season, the Texas Longhorns decided it was time to part ways with the renowned head coach after 17 years in charge. Simultaneously, Tennessee underwent a terrible coaching change that never restored the Vols to their former glory, as Bruce Pearl had done years earlier.

Moving on was difficult for a coach who had such a profound influence on Texas, but Barnes had to decide quickly if he wanted to stay in college basketball coaching. As events in Texas were unfolding, the Vols needed to locate a coach capable of revitalizing the program, and it didn’t take long for the parties to come to an understanding.

Formerly a show that could garner viewership and ratings, athletic director Dave Hart needed a mulligan after making a mistake in Donnie Tyndall’s hire. Thus, the Vols called two days after Rick Barnes was fired by Texas, and Barnes was determined to take advantage of the chance, regardless of how quickly the move would occur.

Rick Barnes, nevertheless, will never openly express any feelings of hostility for Texas following what happened. After defeating Saint Peter’s in Thursday night’s NCAA Tournament opening, the erstwhile Longhorns Coach was aware of the following move.

“Well, I’ve got great respect for my time at the University of Texas, and I’ve got dear friends that they’ll be friends until the day I die,” said Rick Barnes. Great ties with most of that people, as I mentioned before, but I’ve been gone for nine years and am a Tennessee Volunteer. The time I spent there was unique because so many people there had a profound impact on my life and so many people had headed that program and performed so effectively.

However, I am grateful to the Almighty for the blessing of coming to Tennessee. Perhaps I was unaware of it at the time. However, there is no better way for me to be in a situation where My professional career will come to an end.”

By now, you’ve all heard the tales about the extent of dysfunction that existed within the Tennessee athletic department. The Vols needed someone to save them from mediocrity, whether it was with the women’s basketball program, the football program, or even the baseball team at the time. In light of the Vols’ struggles to assemble a stable leadership group within the university, they sought a name that would generate excitement outside of collegiate athletics.

Knowing that the writing was on the wall, Rick Barnes’ conversations with AD at the time Dave Hart began a week before to his termination by Texas. But Barnes said on Friday that stability had to be brought to Tennessee in order for them to return to their previous levels “We had known each other via that and me in the ACC. Dave Hart interviewed me back in 1985 or ’86, when I was an assistant at Ohio State and he was an associate AD at East Carolina preparing to become the AD.