Mike Hamilton: Pros and Cons

#1
Incipient

Incipient

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#1
A lot of people are very angry with Mike Hamilton, myself included. However, another quite solid post has suggested that he's impressed the administration enough to stay around.

I've been a huge UT fan for a while, but the amount of detail to which I've followed has risen significantly in the last couple years (partly because of getting out of college, partly because of finding sites like RTT and VN).

However, I feel like I have a pretty incomplete picture of why all the Hamilton angst is happening. So I'm posting what I see as the pros and cons, and I'd like y'all to tell me if it's right.

Pros:
*Fundraising
*Improvement of facilities
*Assigning Blackburn to Kiffin
*Hiring Pearl. Even if it ends here, it's moved the program forward.

Cons:
*Handling of Fulmer situation (is this a timing complaint?)
*Todd Raleigh
*Negotiating an awful buyout on Kiffin's contract
*PR mess with violations and football hiring
*The interview on Wednesday

Neutral:
*Kiffin. The package deal made it worth the risk, or at least arguably worth the risk.
*Dooley. Not enough information. I like the guy so far, but it hasn't been long.

What did I miss?
 
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#2
#2
he did fire fulmer when everyone wanted him to. We could to alot better, but could also do alot worse.
 
#5
#5
A few reasons why I dont like Hammy as AD:
1st- The way he handled the Fulmer situation.

2nd- After Kiffin left, in his press conference the day after he was asked if he felt he made a mistake in hiring Kiffin and he basically said no Coach Kiffin did some good things in his time here.

3rd- His arrogance at times is just astounding.

4th- Did I mention the Fulmer situation.
 
#6
#6
the kiffin hire did get alot of people talking about ut football again and had alot of kids looking at us. When he first took the job about 90% of fans were very excited. Im sure he didnt forsee the storm that was coming.
 
#7
#7
* Bruce Pearl - Great hire and turned UT Basketball program's fortunes around.
* Sam Winterbotham - Great hire. UT Tennis team back among the top 2-3 programs in the nation.
* Jim Kelson - UT golf is making a lot of good noice on the national level under Kelson.
* Lane Kiffin - Was the best hire under the circumstances. All vestiges of Fulmer were washed away. Left under a cloud of turmoil, but UT will recover strong.
* J.J. Clark - Clark has a long row to hoe to get UT track back on the tracks.
* Todd Raleigh - Has struggled with UT baseball. Off to a great start in 2010. Team is 16-2 right now, as we head into SEC play.
* Derek Dooley - Great hire for the football program. After Flummojism was cleaned off of the walls, and Kiffin moved out of the way, Dooley has sunk some deep roots in putting together two solid recruiting seasons together. Took a team that had the talent to win 4 games to a 6 win season and a Bowl Game. Pretty damn good job.

Look at the fact that UT made a profit in the midst of a financial depression and made a profit on their 6th consecutive Bowl Game and the fact that UT operates in the black every year. That is unusual in collegiate athletics. Most athletic programs run in the red. I'd venture to say that Hammy has done a good job.
 
#9
#9
* Lane Kiffin - Was the best hire under the circumstances. All vestiges of Fulmer were washed away. Left under a cloud of turmoil, but UT will recover strong.

Disagree with this 100%. We didnt need all of Fulmer's things wiped away. Like actually keeping UT's traditions. I will agree, perhaps the program was growing stale under Fulmer, but not everything about him needed to be wiped away.
 
#10
#10
CoachDoubleDD said:
* Lane Kiffin - Was the best hire under the circumstances. All vestiges of Fulmer were washed away. Left under a cloud of turmoil, but UT will recover strong.

Disagree with this 100%. We didnt need all of Fulmer's things wiped away. Like actually keeping UT's traditions. I will agree, perhaps the program was growing stale under Fulmer, but not everything about him needed to be wiped away.
Click to expand...


That's why I have that one as a neutral. I don't think it was the best hire, but I don't think Hamilton can be fully blamed for how it turned out. It was risky, but not foolhardy.
 
#11
#11
Incipient said:
That's why I have that one as a neutral. I don't think it was the best hire, but I don't think Hamilton can be fully blamed for how it turned out. It was risky, but not foolhardy.
Click to expand...


Depending on how Dooley turns out, this could very well go from a neutral to a positive or a negative. IMHO, Dooley will become a great hire over time. The fact that we would have never hired him if it hadn't been for that other coach trying to turn us into USCeast may end up being a good thing. Of course, I really never have understood how our last coach can be blamed on MH. Are you saying MH knew he was gonna put up pics of USC players, etc. or that Pete Carroll was gonna run from the "AA to the NFL? Most of our fanbase was excited about him up until the moment he decided to bolt.
 
#12
#12
CoachDoubleDD said:
A few reasons why I dont like Hammy as AD:
1st- The way he handled the Fulmer situation.

2nd- After Kiffin left, in his press conference the day after he was asked if he felt he made a mistake in hiring Kiffin and he basically said no Coach Kiffin did some good things in his time here.

3rd- His arrogance at times is just astounding.

4th- Did I mention the Fulmer situation.
Click to expand...

I've heard from pretty good sources that MH was blindsided after his discussion with Fulmer about retiring at the end of the season. Instead, it turned into Fulmer doing what he did at his press conference. The entire time I listened to Fulmer claim he loved UT, while causing that kind of a scene told me all I needed to know. Fulmer handled it badly..not MH. It was time for him to go and he didn't like it, nor did he see it. Again, if we all know that MH wouldn't get rid of Pearl without the large boosters and chancellor saying so, do you think he fired Fulmer on his own? I think the MH angst is way overblown by a vocal few on here.
 
#13
#13
Hamilton is a horrible Ad and he needs to be fired. I can not believe that people still defend him. He has turned UT athletics into a joke.
 
#14
#14
Scottyhop said:
No credit for hiring Pearl?
Click to expand...

Hamilton did not do a nation wide search to hire Pearl. Pearl was recommended to UT by Ernie Grunfeld. All Hamilton did was offer him the job. Grunfeld also recommended Jay Wright, Villinova's coach, to UT when Dickey hired Buzz Peterson. If you believe that Pearl was a great hire then thank Grunfeld and not Hamilton.
 
#15
#15
Hamilton is not a good evaluator of personnel. He wouldn't know a good coach if their last name was Summit.
 
#16
#16
You aren't worth a hang as an AD if you can't represent in a public setting without inserting your foot so far into your throat that it can say hello to your small intestine.
 
#17
#17
how in the world can people still support mike hamilton?? is he good at his job? I suppose. he IS making a lot of money. but the guy is dumber than a box of rocks. he obviously missed the idea that with the AD job, comes the responsibility of keeping your coaches in line. with his lack of PR skills and not even LETTING s*** hit the fan, but practially THROWING s*** into the fan, it's impossible to support him.
 
#18
#18
Incipient said:
A lot of people are very angry with Mike Hamilton, myself included. However, another quite solid post has suggested that he's impressed the administration enough to stay around.

I've been a huge UT fan for a while, but the amount of detail to which I've followed has risen significantly in the last couple years (partly because of getting out of college, partly because of finding sites like RTT and VN).

However, I feel like I have a pretty incomplete picture of why all the Hamilton angst is happening. So I'm posting what I see as the pros and cons, and I'd like y'all to tell me if it's right.

Pros:
*Fundraising
*Improvement of facilities
*Assigning Blackburn to Kiffin
*Hiring Pearl. Even if it ends here, it's moved the program forward.

Cons:
*Handling of Fulmer situation (is this a timing complaint?)
*Todd Raleigh
*Negotiating an awful buyout on Kiffin's contract
*PR mess with violations and football hiring
*The interview on Wednesday

Neutral:
*Kiffin. The package deal made it worth the risk, or at least arguably worth the risk.
*Dooley. Not enough information. I like the guy so far, but it hasn't been long.

What did I miss?
Click to expand...



Cons:
Kiffin Hire (no experience,was just fired for lying, USC
was under investigation,had the bring his over
the father along)
Fulmer situation (u know the story)
Todd Raleigh (OMG)
Violations (Hammy should go to work for the Post Office
because he's an expert at sitting on his as$
and doing nothing)

Neutral:
Dooley (I hope this loser can turn it around)
Pearl (He can win...but only when he cheats)
Fundraising (TN pretty much in the middle of the SEC
pack, but should be number one considering
the size of our facilities)
Improvements (Again TN is in the middle of the pack, all
other SEC teams are also making big
renovations)

Pros:
He's done nothing exceptional, all three major sports are in shambles
 
#19
#19
How can you call Dooley a loser? he has never had the talent that it takes to win in college football. Let him get the horses, and I think you will be surprised.
 
#21
#21
Too bad we can't get someone like Grunfield for AD.

Hamilton needs to go. He has shown himself a buffoon in the public relations aspect. Many people could fundraise at Tennessee...especially with the SEC TV contract and the solid donor base. The only thing that scares me is Fulmer wringing his chubby hands waiting for the job.
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