ESPN announced on Monday, that former college coaches Bruce Pearl and Seth Greenberg will be joining the network as college basketball analysts.
Both are accomplished coaches who will bring years of experience to the network. They also will bring some baggage, as well.
Greenberg was fired as head coach at Virginia Tech a few months ago after an almost decade long stint at the school with moderate success.
Of this new endeavor he said,
“I am excited and honored to be joining ESPN. I look forward to using the relationships I have developed over 35 years of coaching college basketball to bring unique insights to the ESPN viewing audience.”
Pearl, more notably, hasn’t coached since his termination as coach of the University of Tennessee for recruiting violations. The penalties leveled by the NCAA made it difficult for Pearl to find work and has kept him out of basketball as a result.
Pearl is known for his larger than life personality. During his tenure as Vols coach, Pearl was known to paint his body in bright orange to get the fans pumped up. It’s that kind of willingness to do the absurd that ESPN really looks for in their commentators.
As we all know, it’s not about who knows the most, but rather who can shout it the loudest. Just ask the Dick Vitales of the world.
Both Pearl and Greenberg can benefit greatly from this exposure. If they do a decent job, this gig could potentially parlay itself into another coaching job. It certainly worked for Steve Lavin. All it takes is for one athletic director to think you know your stuff.
There are no guarantees whether these hirings will end up working out for ESPN. In fact, the only guarantee will be that this country will get subjected to a plethora of ugly Bruce Pearl sport coats.
At the very least, Pearl and Greenberg will certainly make the college basketball season just a little more colorful.
Bruce Pearl/Photo Credit: nesn.com
Steve Rosenberg
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