here is a good article.
Finding right coach is all on Hamilton's head
Commentary by JOE BIDDLE
Staff Writer
Mike Hamilton listened to his heart while pondering Buzz Peterson's future as Tennessee's basketball coach.
There was ample evidence to allow Peterson to continue coaching the Vols. Great person. Family man. Loved in the community, church and on campus.
Ah, then the Tennessee athletics director also had his head to examine. The facts were plain. This was a Tennessee program that underperformed. It was a staff that underwhelmed. Players under Peterson's watch were not improving. Too often, they played without plan or purpose.
Hamilton watched SEC tournament champion Florida blow out opponents in Atlanta. The fact two former Tennessee high school stars (Corey Brewer and Lee Humphrey) now play for Florida did not go unnoticed. Future recruiting is vital for the Vols, with some six major prospects in the state's junior class.
Hamilton's head knew the answer that best served Tennessee basketball's future. His heart eventually followed.
Where, oh where, do they go from here?
The perception in the coaching fraternity is that Tennessee is a football school, run by football people, and that basketball is not a priority.
A 25,000-seat Thompson-Boling Arena sounds like a first-class facility. To a college basketball coach, it's a white elephant who would scare the coaching shorts off someone whose job it is to fill it.
Tennessee's basketball program is also infected with apathy. Fans stayed away by the thousands in this most disappointing season.
The only cure for apathy is new blood, someone who can bring the fans back under the Big Orange tent.
The main problem since they fired Don DeVoe in 1989 has been flawed hires. Doug Dickey was a no-nonsense, bottom line AD. Hiring basketball coaches was his Achilles' heel. He included big bucks boosters in the hiring process.
Wade Houston was hired primarily because of then-UT President Lamar Alexander's past with Houston's family. Then came three seasons under Kevin O'Neill, a tightly wired hoops junkie, who suffered a meltdown. Jerry Green was a panic move by Dickey after several candidates turned him down, including Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings and Tim Floyd, who will coach at Southern Cal next season after two NBA jobs.
Hamilton has hired Champ Sports, a California-based search firm headed by former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey. Search firms serve a purpose, but Hamilton needs to rely more on knowledgeable basketball people with no agendas. Three quickly come to mind, all with SEC ties.
Eddie Fogler has retired to the broadcast booth, but won SEC titles at Vanderbilt and South Carolina, two diverse institutions with different demands. Larry Conley is a former Kentucky star who has broadcast college basketball games for years. Former Alabama and Vandy Coach C.M. Newton has kept up with the game, is a consultant with the SEC.
I'm convinced the right coach for Tennessee is out there. Money should be no object. It's up to Hamilton to rely on his head once again.
He can't afford to blow this one