Regrets? Everyone Has Them
Coach Rick Barnes on Why Being One of the Winningest Coaches of All-Time Isn’t Where He Finds Ultimate Satisfaction
Today’s guest is one of the greatest basketball coaches in UT history—we’re talking the University of Texas and the University of Tennessee. Rick Barnes took the University of Texas to the NCAA tournament in 16 out of his 17 seasons as his head coach. And as the current coach for Tennessee, he’s a recent recipient for the Naismith College Coach of the Year.
We talked to him about all of this, but he took us one layer deeper—to the faith in God that forms the foundation of all he does, as a man, a coach, and a dad.
We think you’ll love our conversation with Coach Rick Barnes. As always, thanks for listening.
Useful Links:
Rick Barnes Lives His Life for the Lord
The Best Thing I Learned from Rick Barnes
Faith Lifts Up Tennessee Basketball Team
Cover Image courtesy of University of Tennessee Athletics
Episode Transcript
*Some listeners have found it helpful to have a transcription of the podcast. Transcription is done by an AI software. While technology is an incredible tool to automate this process, there will be misspellings and typos that might accompany it. Please keep that in mind as you work through it. The FDA movement is a volunteer-led movement, and if you’d like to contribute by editing future transcripts, please email us.
Henry Kaestner: [00:02:26] Coach, thank you very much for joining us on the show. [00:02:28][1.9]
Rick Barnes: [00:02:28] It's good to be with you guys. [00:02:29][0.7]
Henry Kaestner: [00:02:30] Well, we'd love to start by getting a picture of your life on the court and off the court. So let's start with the latter. Can you tell us a bit about your personal background, who you are, your family, where you come from? [00:02:38][8.5]
Rick Barnes: [00:02:39] Well, I grew up in Hickory, North Carolina, which is only the other side of the mountains from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. And I grew up in a family of five in a small town with Hickory at one time was a furniture capital, a lot of hosiery, a lot of industrial. And I love it. I really do. I went to high school and college there in my hometown. [00:02:59][20.3]
[00:03:00] And as I said, I grew up with three brothers and a sister. I lost my sister in a car accident when she was 18 years old, which was a very tough time for our family. [00:03:10][9.5]
[00:03:10] As you can imagine, a lot of thoughts come to your mind even now, as I think back to that day that the last time I saw her. [00:03:17][6.7]
[00:03:17] And from there growing up, I loved my childhood. I really wasn't very much of a student, did not enjoy school at all. Just wanted to do everything I could to get out of schools like apply love sports. [00:03:31][13.6]
[00:03:32] I grew up in an era where the Yankees were on TV every weekend and grew up in the heart of NASCAR country and grew up and big NASCAR fan as well. [00:03:40][8.5]
Henry Kaestner: [00:03:41] Who's your favorite driver? [00:03:42][0.7]
Rick Barnes: [00:03:43] Growing up, my favorite driver probably would have been. I kind of went back and forth between David Pierce. I liked Richard Petty some, too. But later on, Dale Earnhardt became the guy that I loved. I still watch it. Be quite honest with you. If our team were for the national championship and my brothers had a chance to come and watch us play for the national championship or go to a NASCAR race they're going to the NASCAR race. But I loved Hickory. And while. Iwas there I ended up marrying my wife of forty four years. I worked for her dad while I was going through college, and she and I knew each other growing up. [00:04:20][37.2]
[00:04:22] I got married my senior year in college and my grades got a lot better my senior year because of her. And without her being in my life and God bringing us together I don't think any of what we've done together would have happened because she was the one that we had a chance to go to the ACC tournament one year. A friend helped me really get into coaching. He invited Candy and I to go and we walked out of the Greensboro Coliseum, and I said to her, well, I'd love to be able to get into college coaching. She said, what do we have to do? I don't know. We started asking questions. We wrote letters. [00:04:54][31.9]
[00:04:54] I drove around the state in North Carolina trying to figure out how to get into college coaching. And a buddy of mine sent me up to Appalachian State, where Bobby Crimmins and Kevin Cantwell were the coaches. And they both told me that, hey, you can volunteer. That's probably the route you have to take. I ended up going to Davidson college for a year as a volunteer coach, which at that time, I think back and Bob McKillop was on that staff, who is now the head coach at Davidson, and Jeff, who has spent a lot of time with both NBA and college basketball. Eddie Bedenbop as the head coach. God blessed me in so many different ways. And I love my childhood. And I'll be quite honest with you. I loved growing up. I was kind of free and I just kind of went from day to day and loved being outside. I still love Hickory, but God blessed us in so many ways and I'm thankful for that. [00:05:46][52.3]
Henry Kaestner: [00:05:48] Was faith a part of your family's story growing up? [00:05:50][1.7]
Rick Barnes: [00:05:51] You know, it was. My mother and father divorced when I was too young to remember. I'm want to say they were divorce and I was maybe three or four. And our grandparents lived right down the street from us and spent a lot of time with them as my mom was working. And we moved a lot as those years. We moved a lot, but we were in church, Baptist church. My mother was a charter member. There is still the oldest living member of the church. She's 89 and she's part of the five or six people that started the church. We were in church every Sunday, every Sunday night, every Wednesday. So we grew up understanding right and wrong. [00:06:30][39.7]
[00:06:31] And then as I got older, I remember I'm going to say it was 1963. There's a big gathering at Lenoir-Rhyne College, which is now Lenoir-Rhyne University. Leighton Ford had come there to speak. And I think that's Billy Graham's son in law maybe. And I think Dr. Graham showed up and I remember sitting in the parking lot with my grandfather, and there was a huge crowd. And that was the first time I'd ever been in a crowd that size. But I wasn't even in a football stadium. And from that point on, I really started a little bit, I guess when I was in the seventh, eighth grade, I started following Billy Graham religiously. He would come on TV and he would talk and, you know, I'd joined the church. Honestly, moreso because I was an athlete and they had asked me to play on his church softball team when I was a kid because, you know, I was a pretty good player. And I remember one night coming home and every time I knew Billy Graham was coming on, I'd go home. I don't care what I was doing. I'd get there to listen to him. And one night I knew from the TV I got down on my knees. [00:07:33][62.4]
[00:07:34] And when he offered the invitation and did that and called in, got my address, they sent me those scripture cards I carried in my wallet until they just really wore out. And then a funny story to tie it together was at Providence College. I'd been there six years. And my last year there when I knew I had accepted to Clemson University job and I got a call from a guy from the Providence Journal and he said, I'd like to ask you a question, but I don't want you to think about it. I want it to be spontaneous. And he said, I'm going to ask you this question and I'd like to have an answering in really, three seconds. He said, if you could have dinner with any two people, who would it be? And without question, I blurted out Billy Graham and Richard Petty. So that's thinking about it. But today I would change that. I would obviously like to be able to say Jesus Christ or the Apostle Paul or some people from the Bible. But that was the first thing that came out of my mouth. It really was. And so I had a chance. Right after that came out, a gentleman asked me if I'd like to meet Dr. Graham. He was gonna be up in Boston doing a fundraiser up in Boston area. And my wife and I went up and I did have a chance to meet him. And he knew a lot about Clempson. Obviously, he knew Coach Hatfield, who had been on the platform with him a few times. He grew up you know, he lived basically an hour and a half from Clemson. And then later on, Dale Jarrett, a guy that I have a relationship where there was a NASCAR champion invited me to a race in Texas. And after that race was over with his brother Glen and was trying to get the satellite tracking as quickly to get us out so we could get moving. Now, looked around by the hollers and I saw Richard Petty and I said to Glenn, I said, I gotta meet the king. You know, he's the king. Yeah. So I ran over to him and said, introduce myself. And he said, I know who you are, I've watched you, and told him how much I grew up admiring him and seeing him was nuts, and I told him the story I told you about saying I'd like to have lunch with he and Billy Graham. He went, That's quite a wide spectrum, but I did, to answer your question. I grew up with a background with knowing who Jesus Christ was. But to the extent the depth that I thought I did, I wouldn't have been anywhere close. You know, it was a surface Christian at best. I knew, again, I give my grandparents, my mom credit for they taught us right and wrong. But yet I also know now that that's the Holy Spirit within us, too. We know that. And once I got to college, I say what I felt was strong in my faith. But I was not really. I was a carnal Christian at best. And then over the last ten, twelve years, I'd like to think that God's taken me deeper to truly understand what it means to be a Christ follower. [00:10:28][174.2]
Henry Kaestner: [00:10:29] Well, tell us a little bit more about that. I love the part of your story where you describe how your kids helped pull you back in relationship with God and challenging you to be a spiritual leader. Can you spend a little bit time on that? [00:10:39][10.9]
Rick Barnes: [00:10:40] You know what I would say again, coming through high school and college. I think that anyone that knew me would say that I was a good person. I'd probably say to you that I lived a quote unquote, fairly clean life, even though looking back now, I was a sinner. I mean, I can't say any other way. You know, I was shallow. I was shallow in my relationship with God. I didn't have the depth of a prayer life that I needed. And then once I got into coaching and, you know, and again, Candy has been with me every step of the way. And I got on the fast track, you know, where I wanted to be a young head coach and I want to be a head coach and became a head coach at thirty one, at that time, one of the youngest head coaches in the country, and after one year coaching at George Mason University as a head coach, I had the opportunity go to Providence and coach in the Big East and the Big East was really rolling, as it is now it's a great basketball conference. I became fleshly, became caught up in this world and thinking about, you know, fame and fortune. It was about me. You name it. I got caught up in a world and lived in a very worldly. And even though I would still, you'd see me. I think you'd say I'm a nice guy. My wife was doing a phenomenal job of keeping our kids in church. So I would be the guy that would be going to church with my family, my kids, and certainly listening to pastors preach. But the one question I hadn't asked that I should have asked many, many, many years ago was God put it clear in my mind, the sin is keeping me from having a relationship that I really need to have with you. And I would often go to church and know that I'd ask for forgiveness, but not really understanding what true repentance was, you know. Knowing full well when I asked for forgiveness, that I would turn right around and go back to what I was doing. So I really wasn't asking for repentance the way I needed to be. And one day I came in and gotten into where instead of going to church, you know, my family found a beautiful church in Austin, Texas, called the Austin Stone. And it was very different from anything that I had grown up with. I grew up in a Baptist church in a very baptist service. And now this is when you walk to Austin Stone, the music is more rock style music, you know, and it was loud. Yeah. Two thousand, three thousand, four thousand people there. And so I used that as an excuse. That's not who I am. That's not what I want to do. But it was really me just falling away from the faith. [00:13:19][158.6]
[00:13:19] And again, I've never not believed in God. I've never not believed in Jesus Christ. But what I didn't do, I didn't abide in Jesus Christ. I didn't honor him. I didn't live the way I should've live. I lived like I was being a phony. I'd been a hypocrite. I was a typical person that I think I would say if that's Christianity, I'm not far from Christianity. And I wasn't living like a Christian. My life certainly wasn't shining for the kingdom. And I came in one day after being on a bike ride. My daughter and son were waiting and they said, dad would like to have a talk with you. And they told me, they said, you know, we love you. We appreciate your hard work to help us provide for us and all that. But right now, I don't care about any of that. We care more about you where you are in your phase of life. We think that if you die today, that you wouldn't go to heaven and we don't think that you're treating mom the way she should be treated. We don't think you're living your life the way you need to be treated. You're not showing the love and patience. You're not as gentle as you need to be. And what they basically did was pretty much describe the fruit of the spirit. You know the love joy, peace, patient kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. I wasn't showing much of that. And I got angry with them. I got angry because I felt like why were they calling me out? And I certainly didn't show the self-control at that time because I walked out, got my car, took off. And for about. Oh, probably a minute. Who do they think they are? And then all at once, I just stopped in my tracks. And I know everything they said was the absolute truth. I knew it was the absolute truth. I'd been living a lie. I had been a hypocrite, phony, you can put any word you want to put on it. It wasn't real. I wasn't. And so. Thanks to them. And the grace of God. Strictly the grace of God. One thing I've learned is that God will never leave you. He will never forsake you. Because I truly believe that when I kneel down in front of that TV with Billy Graham, that I felt the presence of God come into my life. And I know I went through a period there where God was my treasure. Know that he was I felt and I knew. I just felt the Holy Spirit living in me at that point in time. But then as I got going in the world of athletics, I got going into the world of coaching, I became too worldly centered and I lost my foundation. [00:15:50][150.5]
Henry Kaestner: [00:15:52] How does that realization and the interaction that you had with your kids, How did that change you presumably as a man? But as a coach in the way that you related to your players, for instance, what changed then? [00:16:03][11.4]
[00:16:04] Well, I can say this. Bsck to growing up, I would never, ever use profanity. I mean, it was forbidden in our house. You just did not use profanity, anything like that. And when I got into coaching, I was an assistant coach at Davidson for two years, at George Mason, for five years, Alabama for a year. And Ohio State for a year. Now, I can tell you, I did not use curse words. I just wouldn't do it. But I became a head coach. I actually had a assistant coach tell me, if you don't talk the language of these players, you'll never get your message across. And at that point time, I did start using profanity and I'm ashamed of it. I hate it. It makes me sick to even think about how I could go that way. And I had a conversation with one of my players at University of Texas one year, and his name was Damian James, a person I loved tremendously. He was struggling. And before a game at Oklahoma, I brought him in to speak to me right before, you know, we're going to meet as a team before we get to play there. I said.\, Damian, I want to help you in some way. Somehow I want to help you. And I just don't feel like I am. He looked at me. This is a life changing moment for me as a coach. He said, coach, I have to apologize to you because I haven't lived up to the expectations that you have for me or for myself. And I can tell he said that to me. I knew that I had let him down for him to even think that he could blame himself for how he was playing, I just knew that it was a life changing moment. That's what. So, I said, tell me this. What can I do to help you? He said, Coach, to be honest with you I've never had anybody talk to me the way you talk to me at times in terms of the language. And I said, are you talking about the profanity? He said, yes. And I say, Well, I tell you what, Damian, I promise you this with the grace of God and help of God I'm never going to curse again. And to be honest with you, since that day, I never have. And I actually went back and apologized to some players that I had previously coach because I felt like that I had not lived up to my responsibility within. I wanted to teach them the way I would like for my kids to be taught and I apologized to them and told themm that I was wrong, selfish on my part. It was me looking out for me and I owed them an apology. And I'm glad I was able to do that with a number of different guys that coach years. And so that was major. Because you know what? Even when I was cursing, it was for show. It just goes back and telling you how the world, if you're not grounded in the word everyday world, can pull you in directions that you really don't want to go. [00:18:42][157.6]
Justin Forman: [00:18:43] Coach, that's powerful stuff. You know, I know the guys at Austin Stone. Matt, Kevin and Todd and great guys really stewarding the opportunity to encourage families like yours. Talk to us a little bit. I mean, it sounds like quite a journey that you've been on, going back to former players, kind of apologizing. Talking about some things you regretted. Well, how has it changed your relationship with your kids? What does that look like today? [00:19:06][23.5]
[00:19:08] Well, talking about the Austin Stone, I had conversations with Matt Carter and my wife as we dealt with marital problems. You know, where by God's grace, you know, again I can't say enough about my wife. I mean, I think she's at one of most godly people I've ever been around my life. And for her to stay with me was again another grace of God. But what I would tell you, I learned from my kids and I say this often goes, the kids shouldn't be afraid to tell their parents the truth. [00:19:37][29.1]
[00:19:37] I think that you've got to have truth tellers in your life. I think you've got to have accountability partners. I think you've got to truly have people that love you. And again, I would say there is a way you have to go about doing it. I don't know. They can be harsh. Like that day when my kids sent me down. I do remember that I thought they were lovely, loving in a way they said it. If they would've come at me in a real harsh way, I'm not sure how I wouldrespond to that, but I think that young people need. Sometimes I see it, you know. You know, God talks back to the faith of a child. And I think sometimes kids can help their parents by telling them the truth and saying, hey, you see something that is not right, your family. But my kids love the Lord. I can tell you that I have one that's a missionary in the Middle East. And I have a daughter that has lived on Mission too. I mean, she adopted two young children from Uganda. And she had two the old fashioned way and the way they have raised her family in a Christ-centered home is something I'm more proud of than anything that Candy and I've done together. [00:20:41][64.3]
[00:20:42] The way our kids are living for Jesus Christ. And so do I feel accountable to them, I really do. Again, I just appreciate them being able to sit me down and tell me that, because at that point time, I think they would tell you that I'm a person. When someone comes at me, I normally am going to fire back. They weren't afraid of that. They just did what they knew they had to do. [00:21:02][19.9]
Justin Forman: [00:21:03] So, Coach, that obviously puts a lot in perspective when you talk about just the way that your life has been changed and just kind of how some of those conversations just impacted using man. Let's shift our little bit to the court. We'd be remiss to not talk about some of the accomplishments there, knowing that you're one of the all time winningest coaches in the history of the game. Talk to us for a little bit just about things on the court. When you think about big games, big wins teams. What are some of the things at Texas, at Tennessee that you look at, that you look back with fond memories and say those are some of the things you most proud of? [00:21:34][31.2]
Rick Barnes: [00:21:35] You know, it's always the players. You know, people think that, I mean, you win games. You lose games. But it's the relationships that you have with your players and your coaches. I mean, I've been blessed to have tremendous coaching staffs everywhere I've been. But it always goes back to the players and the growth that you see in them. And I do think that because of my background growing up. I believe in hard work. And I do believe that when we have a chance to coach the guys, the one thing I don't want them to have would be regrets when they leave, I don't think they'll look back and say, Coach, I wish you guys would have done this or do that. And it's not me. I mean, we're a staff. We're it's a we it's not a me or an I. I don't want them to look back and think we could have done more for them. I don't want to look back and think they were prepared for not only what might come next in their basketball career. I wanted them to understand that our culture is about honesty, about integrity. [00:22:33][57.9]
[00:22:34] It's about responsibility and those three things. If they truly can understand those three things, regardless of what culture they go into. They're going to be successful. But all the fond memories of again, we could talk about great games, highlight games, and there's been a lot of those losses, too. But still, it's the sweet part of this. And right now, what we're going through this coronavirus, we missed our team. We missed this timing and being with the players. And it'll always be about the relationship that you develop through your players. [00:23:03][29.3]
Justin Forman: [00:23:05] Certainly one of the special players, from an accomplished standpoint, had to have been coaching Kevin Doran. I've got an 11 year old at home and of course, you know, a big fan of Kevin and just watching his career develop. When did you know that he wasn't just going to be good, but one of those transcendent players that really changed the way the game was played? [00:23:22][17.4]
Rick Barnes: [00:23:24] Well, when we had recruited him and Russell Freeman was our coach at the time who had gone on a recruiting trip up to a Christmas tournament, I think is up in, I think, Delaware. [00:23:34][9.8]
[00:23:34] And he called me one night and I think it was Russell's first year on road. He said, Coach, what's our philosophy of coaching young players scholarships? And I said, well, you know, I've never been one of those guys went to all seventh and eighth-graders. I just think that's not the way it should be. And Kevin was in the 10th grade. I told Rusty, I said, well, I don't have a problem with it. Get a scholarship to me. High school, 10th, 11th and 12th grade. You know, now people would consider ninth grade. But my junior, I was seven, eight, nine. Right. So I said, I don't have a problem that you want to hold for high school. And I said, if he's that good, he's probably gonna forget it anyway because if he's that good everyone is going to offer him. So Russ offered him and then from that point on did a phenomenal job of recruitming Kevin through the next couple of years. And when he came down to visit, you know, LaMarcus Aldridge was his host. And Kevin came down with his father, Wayne Pratt. And that was the first year that juniors could actually visit in the spring. And so he came down and we had a nice visit, LaMarcus did a nice job on the visit. [00:24:36][61.9]
[00:24:37] And he obviously committed to us. And when he came in, we'd been in practice maybe a week. And Fran, and one of us assistant coaches at Providence and Fran is known me for a long time. We almost worked together as assistants together. George Mason. But he called me one day and we had lost everybody on our team. Pretty much with graduation and one or two guys leaving for the NBA. So we had four returning players from the team and we signed seven guys that year and it was one of the top two recruiting classes in the country, depending on how you want to look at it. And Kevin also appeared behind it with D.J. Augustine and Damian James. But Fran called me and said tell me about your team. I said, I don't know about our team right now. I really don't. But I can tell you this. We've got the best player. And he said, what do you mean you got the best freshman? No, we have the best player in college basketball. He said that's a big statement. So I will say it again. We had the best player in college basketball. And as you know, he went on win every player of the year award that you can get the first freshman to do that. And then he actually played, I think, Kevin ended up averaging thirty six minutes a game. Kevin Durant is one of those, if not the hardest working player that we've ever coached. He's a tremendous teammate. It was never about him. He always want to get better. He wanted to be coached hard. And if people know him, his love and passion for the game, they would probably be somewhat I don't know, would be surprised because when you're great. And I wish everybody had a chance to coach a guy like him, not only from his ability, but from his personality to who he is and how unselfish he is. And he really is all about winning. And there's not a team that we've had since that we haven't been time talking to that team about him and all the things that he would do with his teammates and where, again, it was never about him. And that's actually the motto of our culture. We say INAM. But what it stands for is it's not about me. And no one lived up to that more so than Kevin Durant. [00:26:42][124.3]
Justin Forman: [00:26:43] So, Coach, you've got a lot of people listening here that probably have gone through transitions in their career just professionally as a business leaders or wherever God has them. Now, after you left Texas, the program has struggled a little bit and you've had some great years there at Tennessee and some friends there. As believers, you know, it's hard we fight some of that temptation to look back and maybe be torn between the gratitude of where God has you now and maybe some pride thinking that, you know, you had a lot to do with success there. Texas, how do you balance that as you look forward, but also see the program that you put a lot into there in Texas? [00:27:20][36.4]
Rick Barnes: [00:27:22] Well, when I look back at my time in Texas again, I could take it from the last seven, eight years where I felt like my faith had really started to grow in the way that that I'm thankful for that again. That's all through the power of the Holy Spirit. I really thought I would be at Texas for a long time and really as long as I wanted to. And I'd worked for one of the best, if not the very best athletic director in the country. When He decided to step down and things started changing. There you could tell that Board of Regents they were getting more involved where they hadn't really been at the time that I was there. [00:27:57][34.8]
[00:27:57] But even my last year there, I was told that I was going to stay. And I was told if I would fire some of my coaches. I could stay, but I wouldn't do that. And so when it happened, I'd been in contact. People started calling me about the University of Tennessee job. And so I knew that that was a possibility, even though I wanted to stay at Texas. I really want to do that. And so when I think back to answer your question, actually, Steve Patterson told me that he wanted to do this the right way. I said, well, the only way to do it is for you to fire me. You're gonna have to fire me because I'm not going to fire my assistant coaches, and I never quit. And obviously, the other part of that would be the contract that was in place and they were willing to work through that. I said, no, I'm not quitting. You'd like to fire me. And knowing that I had already had the job at Tennessee, I knew that as soon as I walked out of the press conference my last day that I would be on my way to Tennessee. But I've never looked back with any anger, to be honest with you, because I think Steve Patterson, even though I could say he was the person that fired me, I think that that was the vehicle in which God used to say that I've got some other plans for you. I want to take you somewhere else. So that said, I don't have any animosity at all to the University of Texas. I love it. I still have so many friends there. And I do not pull against the University of Texas. You know, Shaka Smart was just the person that God decided was going to be the next coach. And I think Shaka and his staff worked really hard. I think they really do. And I think that sometimes you go in, it takes a little bit of time to get the culture in place that you own. And I pride. If I do, those films come up to where I would be pulling against someone goes Shaka as far did nothing to me. He and his staff that he did nothing to me. I think God is in control of all this. And so my daughter has probably had a harder time with it, to be quite honest. But I've told Russ today I will always love the University of Texas. People there that I know that are still working, they are wonderful people, not wish them nothing but the best. I mean that sincerely. I really do. And I'm thankful that God brought me to Tennessee. And I think he brought me here for a reason to allow my wife and I to get involved in a community area where there are so many wonderful people here that are doing things to really build a kingdom. And I'm thankful for that. So I will tell you this. I know for a fact that if I felt ill well towrat them, I would quickly ask God to bring that to the surface and forgive me for it and repent from it and know that I don't want to. And instead, the temptations of want to be critical, I'm not going to do that that because these jobs are too hard. These jobs are too hard to do. And I'm not going to ever coach a team from the outside. Because I know how hard it is to coach it from the inside. So I'm not I've never been a real opinionated person about what other people are doing. And like I said, I don't wish ill will ever and I never will on the University of Texas go. I had 17 great years there and I have so many fond memories of people there that I loved dearly. [00:31:04][186.9]
Justin Forman: [00:31:06] Thanks, coach. I appreciate you shring that. We're coming to a close here. And I got one last question and then we're going to just can I ask a final question that we'd like to ask about where God has you and his word in this season. But before you get to that. Talk to us about Tennessee. Talk to us about the culture there. I've heard, you know, you walk into this in your journey, eyes wide open and just the excitement of what's there. There's some roots, there's a connection, but also just how your faith can really be more intentional in your work. What excites you about the future there at Tennessee? [00:31:35][29.4]
Rick Barnes: [00:31:37] Well, we have great leadership here. We have a tremendous president in the U.T. system. Randy Boyd, who I think has brought so much stability. And it's been great. [00:31:47][9.6]
[00:31:47] I mean, I think when you think of the entire University of Tennessee system, but then on campus, Donde plowman, our new chancellor, is one of the greatest leaders I've ever been around. [00:31:56][8.6]
[00:31:56] she has a demeanor about her that I think she can lead anybody. She is tremendous. And then it comes down to my boss, who's a coach and who I'm not sure anybody loves the University of Tennessee more than him. He played here, coached here, got fired here, has a street named after him. He felt like probably that he was alienated where he'd come back on campus, even though there's a street named after him. And now that he's back, he has done an unbelievable job of bringing a sense of warmth, stability to the athletic department. And going forward with our university, I can't imagine not coming years is not going to be great and not just for our athletic program, but for our entire university. [00:32:40][43.1]
[00:32:40] With that said, being able to get involved in a city like Knoxville, having a chance to meet some wonderful people that truly they love the state of Tennessee, they love Knoxville and watching men who are at the highest level of their profession, who have been very successful, who have gived back. I mean, I can never thank God enough for bringing those guys into my life alone. There's other people I can name. Many, many people. But those two guys have been the way they have given so much, not just the money to make our state and our city a better place, but it's our heart in the way they give it to people. We love people. They want to see wonderful things you've done. And I'm just grateful to be a part of it. And I want to see our our city be special. I want to see our university be special. I want people to look at it as almost like a model like, man there's something going on there that we need to check into it. And I wanted to find out it. It's going to be about the people. And as I mentioned, we've got great leadership, but it's gonna be the people that we can just continue to grow, learn, help each other. And we all have some differences, but get this set aside and work for the betterment of our university and our community. And now I feel fortunate to be here to be a part of that small board. [00:34:02][81.8]
Justin Forman: [00:34:04] Coach, I'm grateful for the time that you've spent with us here. We're going to come to a wrap. Just come with this last close. We like to point back to the scripture and just say, where does God have you in his word this season? What is he bringing to light for you that you might share with our listeners? [00:34:17][13.7]
Rick Barnes: [00:34:20] Well, I made up my mind this year that I really wanted to go slow going slow walk through the Bible starting at Genesis and really try to understand the Old Testament more than I ever had before. Obviously, have loved being in the New Testament, in the Gospels, in Romans and really the New Testament. So as I started this year and working through Genesis and I've really spent a lot of time lately in Exodus, I enjoyed it maybe as much as any time I've ever been in the word and where God has me with this, it's understanding the mistakes that were made back then by the Israelites. But a story that comes to mind where it reminds me myself to when I think about Moses on Mount Sinai and he's up there with God and get put Aaron in charge. He told Aaron I'm gonna be gone. And you do this. While he was up there, you know, God was ready to throw down the thunder on them for what they were doing down below. All the craziness was going on and Moses asked him not to do that. And so when Moses comes down the mountain, he's got the Ten Commandments and he's so frustrated. Hears the music. He sees, the dancing. He sees basically the orgies that are going on and he throws down the tablets where Aaron had collected earings and gold and built this golden calf. And what I found interesting about that is here, Aaron, while Moses was up there, went away from everything, God had started teaching and communing with them about. And he went back to his old habits of worshiping the idols and the gods that they did in Egypt. But yet, when it came time to build the tabernacle, God through, Moses chose Aaron to be the first high priest. And so it reminded me of what Aaron did, you know, when things weren't going well and I drifted from God, you go back to the things that you think make you happy, which they really don't. Because there's a void in our heart that will always be there that only God can fill. I would encourage people to really get into the book of Mark because I think Mark does a great job with his chronicle. He chronicles the day takes you through almost every day and hour. What leads up to, you know what, really in reality, we're the ones that hung Jesus Christ on the cross. I'm responsible for those nails being driven into him from the stand that I've committed. And I think, again, through his amazing grace, the blood he shed, we could be joined again with him. I like to think that through the story with Aaron God's going to meet us, who we probably at least expect. And there's. People out there that I'm sure that are listening. They might know the Lord. They might not. And I will again. My prayer would be that God will open up hearts and eyes and ears at people. When I was a young kid, I was walkin, barely sticking my toes in the water that you've taken deeper into relationship with him. I do think we have a dark world that we live in and we have to let our light shine and just understand in any dark room that any light is a bright light. And I do know that this time of year I've had more people with what's going on in our world right now text me scripture that had never done it before. So I think what God has me is where I think a lot of people are right now is really having a more powerful, fervent prayer life. Spending more time alone with him, more time alone trying. And in really they teach me that there's a depth that I can get to that I need to get to. And only one way to do that is by getting lost in the world and spending more time alone with with his word. That would be mind encouragement for everyone else, too. Right. Now, to step back, refocus and what I've realized, there are things that I don't need that I thought I needed first things I need. And what I need more is is really more quality time with a law coach. [00:38:19][238.8]
Justin Forman: [00:38:19] We are grateful for you, grateful for the way that you just share the power, your story of what God's been doing with you. So we're grateful that you would take the time with us. We're excited about what is lies ahead there in Tennessee and what God's doing there and look forward to seeing the rest of that story. So thank you for spending time with us. [00:38:37][17.5]
Henry Kaestner: [00:38:37] Thank you. Indeed. [00:38:38][0.3]
Rick Barnes: [00:38:39] Appreciate you guys. [00:38:39][0.0]
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