Tennessee’s Athletic Department Problems Start at the Top
Posted on February 28, 2011 by Jacob Bunn
Last Wednesday, the University of Tennessee received a notice of allegations from the NCAA. Included in that notice were several rules violations by the Tennessee football and basketball programs. All of the allegations against the football program were committed under a previous head coach, Lane Kiffin.
Impermissible telephone contact by a former assistant, impermissible contact by a former assistant, and failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance by a former head coach (Kiffin) were the allegations against the football program. The NCAA’s findings on the basketball program were even worse.
So the bottom line is this: Tennessee has been blatantly violating NCAA rules in more than one major sport.
“Okay, Bunn,” you say, “tell us something we did not already know.”
With an ‘atmosphere of compliance’ not being promoted in more than one major sport, one has to draw a conclusion that something is amiss with the athletic department as a whole. And whoever is in charge of that department in Knoxville must be held more than partially responsible. The person in charge is, of course, Athletic Director Mike Hamilton.
With Kiffin being cited in the NCAA’s notice, many may direct blame solely toward him. But Hamilton hired Kiffin at Tennessee. And I will remind you that Kiffin was the one who decided to depart after the 2009 season, not the other way around. So presumably, Tennessee would have allowed Kiffin to remain the coach for as long as he desired. They certainly have not made any attempts to remove head basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who lied to the NCAA.
Tennessee football will recover. They are one of the SEC’s richest programs in terms of tradition and fan support. But the question is, will it happen under the oversight of Mike Hamilton?
There is no doubt Derek Dooley is making strides to return Volunteer football to prominence, but as long as the NCAA’s penalties loom, the former Louisiana Tech head coach may be significantly hindered.
Eventually, Tennessee will clean up all of its athletic programs and will be competitive in all sports. One thing appears clearer, though, as this process drags on: Mike Hamilton and clean Tennessee athletic programs do not seem to mix.
Contact Jacob Bunn via email at jacob@bunnsports.com
