Jerry Stackhouse on state of Vanderbilt program after blowout loss to Alabama: 'This is a benevolent dictatorship'

Over the offseason, Vanderbilt signed head coach Jerry Stackhouse to an extension. It’s safe to say things haven’t gone well since — with this week’s lopsided loss to Alabama as a prime example.

However, Stackhouse defended the program in a big way on Thursday.

He made his comments two days after the Commodores fell to the Crimson Tide 101-44 and saw their record drop to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in SEC play. It’s led to plenty of questions about Stackhouse’s performance as head coach even despite his extension, and he didn’t hold back on his thoughts about the program.

“Every night you want to go out and win, but if there’s probably a scheduled loss that may have been (against Alabama),” Stackhouse said, via The Tennesseean’s Aria Gerson. “…. Guys aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do or they get sensitive and don’t want to shoot the basketball. … All right, then. I can be the bigger (expletive) if I need to be. I’ve been that a long time. So I’m pretty good at it. I’m not a coach to hold grudges. … But at the end of the day, this is a benevolent dictatorship. You got to do it my way. You got to do it this way. And I really don’t care who feels any different about it because I know what we’re trying to build here.

“We’re not trying to build something that’s of no substance. When when you do something that has something substance, you have to do some tough things and make some tough decisions and and I’m the guy to do that and we’ll continue to do it until we get it right.”

This year has seen its share of flare-ups from Stackhouse. He was escorted off the court against VCU and received a technical foul after a scuffle against Arkansas last month.

Still, Stackhouse said he has support from the administration at Vanderbilt and called on the players to perform better in practice. He also called out “laughing and joking” amid the struggles.

“Just taking taking what we do serious. Not laughing and joking when you’ve (won) one out of four,” Stackhouse said. “Just about, I want to see the kids really give a damn about what’s going on a little bit more.

“… I got great support from the people that matter. The people that hired me and want me to do this job, know that I’m going to do it the right way. But most of all, I want to do it my way. And I think over time, it’s going to be something that we’re all be proud of. And then I feel like we got great fans that that support that and understand that of course you’re gonna have a few that don’t and most of those noisemakers and the rabble rousers, you become accustomed to to dealing with all that, but I’m very secure in who I am.”