Does UT really care about football?

[m1al]

I'm not so sure they care too much one way or the other as long as they can keep sheering the sheep and counting the money.

The ONLY way to get their attention is hit their wallet HARD... If folks quit showing up, settling for the garbage they put on display and stop buying merch, THAT will definitely get their attention.

 

[MurphyVol]

I think UT does care about football, over the years they've dedicatd a lot of funds to facilities. I just think the administration has been riddled with incompetence.

 

[05_never_again]

When boosters put out the big money, they insist that their terms are the path followed.
That will never change at any school. People giving the big money always make the rules.
The University administration sees football as a rival for prestige.
Without the Athletic Department's "donation" to the University, sports would exist on something similar to intermural activities. The University exists to educate students in the State of Tennessee, not to win win football games. Anything that cuts into the "donation"(such as hiring a top level coach) will always be a fight that most likely cannot be won by the AD.

I think that the phenomenon you're referring to exists at schools that are very strong academically and have an academic reputation to uphold, but not at a place like Tennessee.

What Tennessee lacks are leaders in our admin that can corral the boosters and get them all on the same page.

 

[05_never_again]

I think UT does care about football, over the years they've dedicatd a lot of funds to facilities. I just think the administration has been riddled with incompetence.

This. A 102k seat football stadium, the facilities we have, etc. are not indicative of a university that doesn't care.

 

['Boro-vol]

This. A 102k seat football stadium, the facilities we have, etc. are not indicative of a university that doesn't care.

Remnants and spoils of a by-gone era.

 

[05_never_again]

Remnants and spoils of a by-gone era.

They've continued the facility upgrades up until the present day.

I think "we don't care" or "we are cheap" is a coping mechanism we tell ourselves because we'd rather believe that than our admin simply being totally stupid. What big-name coach would want to come here right now, given the way things are run?

 

[Cartervol]

Their hires don't indicate a commitment to winning. Hope for the best type hires and playing the we can't get anyone and no one wants the job card so long, truly no one wants the job now. It's the higher ups that make UT a less attractive job, nothing else, because they have everything else.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

The eggheads in the administration do not. At one point the academics found it distasteful that the football coach (Fulmer) was the most powerful man on campus, if not this end of the state. They seized the opportune moment when fan support dwindled to purge him, and the good-ole boy network, from the Hill. They have never fully relinquished control, though hiring Fulmer as AD remains a head-scratcher.

To directly answer the question...they care about the check football can provide, not football. And they certainly don't care about the check enough to relinquish control.

This is an interesting take. What better way to stick it back to the eggheads that to hire a guy like Pruitt to a powerful position? It must make them squirm.

 

[EZE]

I’ve never heard anything about Patterson not wanting or accepting the job because of money. Patterson would have taken the job if offered in 2009 and he told us to drop dead in 2010. Money had nothing to do with it.

Thanks Hammy!

 

['Boro-vol]

This is an interesting take. What better way to stick it back to the eggheads that to hire a guy like Pruitt to a powerful position? It must make them squirm.

That's just the point...it is no longer a powerful position. They have seen to it that since Fulmer no football coach has as much influence as he did. This is not me saying it either...I've had this discussion with lettermen. Many see it that way. They removed the Orange blood from the program and the AD (until Phil) and consolidated control.

 

['Boro-vol]

They've continued the facility upgrades up until the present day.

I think "we don't care" or "we are cheap" is a coping mechanism we tell ourselves because we'd rather believe that than our admin simply being totally stupid. What big-name coach would want to come here right now, given the way things are run?

That's true...but to squeeze money out of benefactors you have to sometimes give something in return.

 

[05_never_again]

That's true...but to squeeze money out of benefactors you have to sometimes give something in return.

I think that there are plenty of benefactors that still want to give money, but it comes with strings attached (e.g., "I'll commit X million to buy out the current coach, but only if you hire my guy").

In our admin, there are too many chiefs, not enough Indians, and they all care too much about who gets the credit. They care about winning, but they care more about getting pats on the back for it. It is the most dysfunctional group of administrators and boosters outside of perhaps the University of Texas.

 

[JBVolunteer]

I think the restructuring in university leadership that took place between 2000-2003 was the beginning of the end. Turmoil and incompetence in the administrative offices led to turmoil and incompetence in the athletic department and it’s never improved.

 

[Elhanan]

Not anymore. The admins in offices hate football. It’s masculine, violent, and thus doesn’t fit their world view.

They see it as brutish and uncivilized. Not something they want to be associated with in their ivory towers.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

The only thing left to do is start removing seats.

They need to; they need to remove the bleachers and put in actual seats. I don't care at all if it brings down the "official" attendance because nobody cares about that crap anymore. What I do care about is Fatty McGiantAzz can't overtake my seat.

 

[Hacksaw11]

Here's the thing ... if UT doesn't care about UT football, then neither do I. I am slowly coming to a place where I don't need the discouragement and disappointment that has become UT football in my life. I am about this close ...

to being done with UT football. This coming from a life long fan. I know, here come the "Well, Bye" gifs and the "you ain't a real fan" challenge. Truth is, I've been a fan thru thick and thin longer than many on this board have been on the topside of God's green earth, and I can't believe it myself that I'm at this point.

But I am.

That said, I believe it's okay to have other teams you pull for, and enjoy watching. If you only watch and pull for UT, that's fine, but I think you can like other teams as well. I enjoyed watching SC when Spurrier had them rolling. I pulled for them every week but one. If they axe Muschamp, and hire Freeze, while UT sits on their hands, I'll just change the channel and enjoy watching SC.

I just can't do this UT less than mediocre/not competitive/not even competent thing any more.
Maybe I'm becoming a fair weather fan in my old age? Whatever, I just want to be happy, and enjoy life, and UT football is not enjoyable any more.

I agree. It's the cumulative effect over the years that has gotten me to this place. On top of that, I have witnessed so many of the blowouts after spending $$ and been pissed off for the following week only to do it over and over again. I would love to have the passion for UT football I once had but like a furnace, that fire has to be stoked and right now it is nothing more than smolderning embers.

 

[landscapingvol]

I'm just looking for one explanation that would cause me to believe they do. You could not screw this situation up as bad as it has been done over the years if you intentionally tried to do so. It was bad enough before Fulmer but now it appears he does not want anyone to overtake his legacy. He may be a nice guy but he is in so far over his head that the results are predictable.

Indirectly no, they care about revenue and as long as revenue is consistent then the product on the field isn’t as important. Consequently, better investments in competent coaches would result in fewer buyouts and more revenue.

 

[Iam4utalways]

That’s funny. UT isn’t a person. It’s buildings and land and other stuff.

Do the people that run UT care?

I believe Fulmer wants UT to be successful at Football.
I believe the football coaches want to be successful at their job for their own good.

I believe VFLs want UT to be successful.

I believe the players want to be successful for their own good. One may have been fans as a kid and want UT to be successful.

 

[NEO]

F no!

The school could care less.

You don't go 15 years and be this bad for this long and remotely place a priority on winning.

 

[IPleadInsanity]

I'm just looking for one explanation that would cause me to believe they do. You could not screw this situation up as bad as it has been done over the years if you intentionally tried to do so. It was bad enough before Fulmer but now it appears he does not want anyone to overtake his legacy. He may be a nice guy but he is in so far over his head that the results are predictable.

This is a 100 million dollar budget operation. The administration has 3 choices on how to run it. 1. High risk - Pay a coach and staff huge dollars putting the school in a must win situation, demanding full stadiums and making the coach more important than the administration. 2. Medium risk- Pay coaches a middle of the pack salary and utilize the SEC network split/bowl game split to meet budget requirements and hope for we finish higher than middle of the pack. Low risk - Vanderbilts method. Spend as little as possible on football and utilize the split money to enhance other sports. They have consistently chosen #2.

 

[volfan411]

UT cares about a@@es in seats and beers in hands. If they can accomplish that with 6 wins and a bargain coach they are happy.

 

[Backwards K]

I think UT does care about football, over the years they've dedicatd a lot of funds to facilities. I just think the administration has been riddled with incompetence.

They spend hundreds of millions of dollars on facilities and always hire an unknown coach that no one else wants just to save a million or two. Don't get me wrong, that's a lot of money but not when you consider the amount they put into the facilities. In a few years, we will be left with a great shrine to what was a once great football program.

 

[Orangeslice13]

I’m one of the “My university doesn’t care about winning “ people on here. I just don’t believe they care. Sure they have spent money on facilities but skimp out on paying for a winner.
The last 4 hires have been a disaster. It’s possible I guess that they care but they’re just inept at their job.

 

[preacherwebb]

This is a 100 million dollar budget operation. The administration has 3 choices on how to run it. 1. High risk - Pay a coach and staff huge dollars putting the school in a must win situation, demanding full stadiums and making the coach more important than the administration. 2. Medium risk- Pay coaches a middle of the pack salary and utilize the SEC network split/bowl game split to meet budget requirements and hope for we finish higher than middle of the pack. Low risk - Vanderbilts method. Spend as little as possible on football and utilize the split money to enhance other sports. They have consistently chosen #2.

What they have put on the field consistently resembles number 2 all right.

 

[photovol]

Does UT care about football?
Not much, obviously