A tale of trust, loyalty and costly mistake

[Remy]

I'm going to treat Currie for the time being like I would one of teammates from back in the day. I have his back until such time he proves I shouldn't. Not going to run him down or buy into others doing it until there's good reason. This is the usual VN smear before the guy has even chosen his drapes for his office.

 

[81Orange]

Currie is our guy so he has my support for now but he is on a short leash. Davenport botched her first hire as evidenced by this discussion. The fan base is devided and that won't fly. She and Currie are on the wrong side of Fulmer's camp. She could have hired anyone else and would have avoided that. She hired an AD that hasn't made one good coaching hire and can't seem to get along with coaches. And I am not blaming him for the Fank Martin separation.
Looks like Currie is swimming up stream. The first time he pushes the wrong button the storm will begin. Turmoil will ensue until he is replaced and our altheletics will suffer.
If Currie were really smart he would have declined the offer.

 

[nagle]

A university presidents number one priority is not winning championships. That is Currie's job. If she has any high priorities, it is removing the title IX crap out of the rear view mirror, and a lot of things that has diddily poo to do with athletics. It doesn't take time to figure that much out.

+1

 

[LA vol7]

I don't blame Currie for what Frank Martin did. But, the jury is definitely out on both him and Davenport. I don't believe Davenport is serious about winning championships JMO. I sure hope I am wrong but time will tell. In the meantime we will continue to be embarrassed by finishing at the bottom of the heap in most sports until things happen for the better.

You're exactly right. Honesty, I can't believe out of all the possible candidates we ended up with these two! Now, there probably isn't a chance that in my lifetime Tennessee will be really relevant in any college sports! It's disappointing!

 

[butchna]

Currie was hired because he was good at bringing in money and he "was a UT guy", but the money being the main driving factor. Blackburn has made his teams better, Currie has P5 experience but he either maintained or made worse what was handed him. This hire was the school people wanting to use the massive football fanbase to rake in cash to eventually carry all the sports without caring that the fanbase won't be opening its wallet if the product doesn't get better.

Wanted Blackburn first but tap the brakes on his hiring history. Lower threshold at UTC's level. You can freely hire a top assistant or lower level type and worst case scenario you hire somebody else if it doesn't work out. Currie didn't have that luxury.

 

[sameolvol]

Clearly this melange of repartee is going nowhere, but I feel just a tiny bit compelled to toss in my :twocents:. Just as any VFL alum living close to Columbia, SC, would, I'm unwillingly deluged with that bunch of "Go Cocks!" BS. I'm naturally objective about USCjr sports...don't give a plug nickel for the bunch of 'em. Because of this lack of subjectivity, then, its been easy for me to provide an accurate scenario to my fellow Vol fans regarding both subjects, IE a reasonable take on Frank Martin and the true effectiveness of a truly excellent AD. After winning a couple of NCAA baseball championships and sending a notable crowd of players to the big leagues, Ray Tanner retired from the diamond and moved into the vacant AD's position. Right off the "bat" he improved an already decent program. Both his integrity and his willingness to make changes for the better, always doing so with class, have made improvements to an institution that hasn't really been known for doing very much. Frank Martin's acumen for coaching has never been questioned. His problem was...up until near the end of last season...despite his intense passion for winning and his inability to hold in his emotions, he'd lost a couple of very good players (can't remember their names) and was on the verge of losing one or two more. According to Columbia's newspaper "The State" and all three of Columbia's national tv broadcasters, AD Tanner (who admitted it was risky to bring in Martin but that he recognized the man's top tier talent) met with him and presented him the gospel of Coach Tanner. From that group of meetings, Martin, who didn't appear to feel stepped on, improved the dynamics of his player relations. SC's already very good talent started playing up to Frank's abilities to coach them. Now, Currie couldn't pull this off with Frank, but maybe he, just as did Frank, could've learned one of many lessens we all need to absorb throughout our carreers. He's our AD now, so instead of throwing stones at him, let's back him up 'til he displays some of the awful traits some folks are already kicking around. AMIRIGHT?:yes:

 

[LocoVol]

Wanted Blackburn first but tap the brakes on his hiring history. Lower threshold at UTC's level. You can freely hire a top assistant or lower level type and worst case scenario you hire somebody else if it doesn't work out. Currie didn't have that luxury.

Doesnt matter what level they are at, both were limited by budget and stature. Currie had the better budget and stature at KS but more expectations, blackburn had less budget and stature but was still expected to win but at not as high a level. It all evened out in the end! to that degree blackburn has done a better job with what he was given!

 

[EZE]

A university presidents number one priority is not winning championships. That is Currie's job. If she has any high priorities, it is removing the title IX crap out of the rear view mirror, and a lot of things that has diddily poo to do with athletics. It doesn't take time to figure that much out.

Amen! UT is an ACADEMIC institution where sports are extracurricular activities.

It is not a sports institution where academics are extracurricular activities.

It doesn't mean that sports cannot be important. It only means that her priority is the academic standing of the school. The AD's priority is managing sports.

 

[butchna]

Doesnt matter what level they are at, both were limited by budget and stature. Currie had the better budget and stature at KS but more expectations, blackburn had less budget and stature but was still expected to win but at not as high a level. It all evened out in the end! to that degree blackburn has done a better job with what he was given!

Lower threshold. Did well. Never had to struggle with hiring a Bruce Weber over an unproven assistant...wasn't an option. I was one of the first on this board to clamor for Blackburn to replace Hart. When a poster would ask what had he done to warrant being the overwhelming favorite. I listed his hiring choices as a positive. I do think he has a good eye...limited choices and all.

 

[butchna]

Currie is our guy so he has my support for now but he is on a short leash. Davenport botched her first hire as evidenced by this discussion. The fan base is devided and that won't fly. She and Currie are on the wrong side of Fulmer's camp. She could have hired anyone else and would have avoided that. She hired an AD that hasn't made one good coaching hire and can't seem to get along with coaches. And I am not blaming him for the Fank Martin separation.
Looks like Currie is swimming up stream. The first time he pushes the wrong button the storm will begin. Turmoil will ensue until he is replaced and our altheletics will suffer.
If Currie were really smart he would have declined the offer.

Sounds really open minded.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Currie is our guy so he has my support for now but he is on a short leash. Davenport botched her first hire as evidenced by this discussion. The fan base is devided and that won't fly. She and Currie are on the wrong side of Fulmer's camp. She could have hired anyone else and would have avoided that. She hired an AD that hasn't made one good coaching hire and can't seem to get along with coaches. And I am not blaming him for the Fank Martin separation.
Looks like Currie is swimming up stream. The first time he pushes the wrong button the storm will begin. Turmoil will ensue until he is replaced and our altheletics will suffer.
If Currie were really smart he would have declined the offer.

Do you really think she had a say in this hire other than the statement of "Will Comply with your wishes Governor"?