Donnie Tyndall enters the wrestling ring, and we're all winners
Many of you probably know by now that former Southern Miss and Tennessee basketball coach Donnie Tyndall was set to serve as a “coach” during a tag team wrestling match in Kodak, Tenn., Saturday night.
If you want to catch up on the details on the original announcement, feel free to browse my blog from earlier this week: CLICK HERE TO READ IT.
Tyndall was fired in March at Tennessee after the NCAA informed the school of alleged rules violations made during Tyndall's two-year tenure as head coach at USM from 2012-14.
The NCAA has yet to reveal the full scope of the violations at USM or what penalties might follow, but the situation was serious enough that USM athletic director Bill McGillis decided to self impose a postseason ban for the 2014-15 campaign. The investigation also led Tennessee to boot Tyndall after one 16-16 season.
First-year Southern Miss basketball coach Doc Sadler did about as well as you can manage considering the circumstances, but the 2014-15 season was a hot mess that included one game that ended with just four USM players on the court. The Golden Eagles ended up 9-20.
Unfortunately, the NCAA tends to drag these things out so everybody has to wait until the hammer drops, including Tyndall.
Tyndall is in limbo at the moment, hoping that he somehow gets a shot to return to the coaching profession or maybe enter radio or TV.
In my blog earlier this week, I pointed out the absurdity of the whole deal and wasn't terribly kind in my depiction of Tyndall's current situation.
I can tell you for a fact that he was less than pleased.
The obviously annoyed Tyndall took to Twitter to throw a little shade in my direction.
I got a good laugh out of the Tweet. I don't care to get into some awkward back-and-forth with Tyndall, but I felt it was worth a light-hearted response.
Along with Tyndall's Tweet, several Tennessee fans felt the need to back up the coach's taunt. In this group was apparently the ghost of Dale Earnhardt Sr.:
@Patrick_Magee you just got roasted bro
— Dale (@daleEnumber3) June 12, 2015
.@DonnieTyndall with @DonOfDesirePWS & @justinCorino getting ready for @GFWWrestling pic.twitter.com/tvY5YkhGcd
— Justin Phelps (@CoachPhelps) June 14, 2015
As the announcer rolled through some of the names, he said “Coach is going to be here tonight, coach Tyndall.” There was a brief awkward pause and loud boos followed.
That tells me Tyndall is a natural for the wrestling profession. If he's catching heat that quickly, who knows what his future could be in the sport?
This was supposed to be a one time event for Tyndall.
While the only ones fortunate enough to see Tyndall step in the ring were actually at Smokies Park Saturday night, there were some tweets and photos that made their way out:
Ladies and gentlemen... Former UT basketball coach and now pro wrestling manager Donnie Tyndall pic.twitter.com/kvTqUxmBiV
— Greg Williams (@k4hsm) June 14, 2015
Tyndall mania pic.twitter.com/aoaBWoo8as
— nick (@nmartin8608) June 14, 2015
According to Adam Green of the Knoxville News-Sentinel
@Patrick_Magee Tyndall mania layed the clipboard to him. pic.twitter.com/63gxxgABVn
— nick (@nmartin8608) June 14, 2015
@DonnieTyndall Tyndall mania pic.twitter.com/blLKwDH7lR
— nick (@nmartin8608) June 14, 2015
I want 2 thank @GFWWrestling what a fun time we had tonight! I turn 45 tomorrow n I am officially retiring from the ring after this big win!
— Donnie Tyndall (@DonnieTyndall) June 14, 2015
This story was originally published June 13, 2015 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Donnie Tyndall enters the wrestling ring, and we're all winners."