Rethinking Hamilton's Tenure

#28
#28
The Dooley hire still remains Hamilton's biggest blunder.

He was put in a bad spot when Kiffin left, I get it. But it would have been so much better to hire an interim (Kippy?), sacrifice a recruiting class (which still likely would have been decent), and take his time to find the next coach.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I do remember several posters on here suggesting that exact plan of action right after Kiffin left and before we hired Dooley.
 
#29
#29
--Fired a 1st ballot HOF football coach one year removed from the SECCG.
--Fired Fulmer one year after renegotiating a new contract with a huge buyout
--Hired a smart alec punk who had never been successful at any job to replace him.
--Set Kiffin's buyout to the University so low, he basically walked away
--Fired the most successful baseball coach in UT history
--Replaced him w/a foul mouthed jerk who was not even a successful coach at a WCU.
--Hired Raleigh over Serrano because he didn't like Serrano's Academic pedigree.
--Combined the M&W track programs and let the Women's coach ignore and destroy one of the most successful Men's track programs in the SEC.
--After Kiffin left, hired Derek Dooley who was fresh off a losing season at La Tech and their fanbase was glad to see him go.
--Left Pearl out to dry with the NCAA by not preparing him for the interview and by not intervening and standing up to the NCAA during the investigation (Pearl did make this worse by lying but this never would have happened if Dickey was still AD).
--Hired a basketball coach with a mediocre record (No NCAA appearances) from a mid major. Also, one with a very bland personality following the most charismatic coach in UT history.
--Left the UTAD in debt and in worse financial shape of any AD in the SEC.

There is the resume'. We report, you decide.
 
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#30
#30
No reason to rethink anything regarding Hamilton's tenure. It was on balance an unmitigated disaster from A to Z. Virtually everything he touched at UT suffered mightily. Even those things one could point to as his accomplishments (facilities and Pearl hire) came with great costs in the end. Football, basketball to some extent, baseball, track, AD finances/reserves.....all programs have to be dramatically rebuilt as a result of Hamilton's efforts
 
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#32
#32
There is a ton of criticism one can throw at Hamilton, and much of it is deserved.

-He bungled Fulmer's exit, which was made doubly worse by the extension that he signed the year before
-He ignored a ton of warning signs when it came to Kiffin, and let the guy embarass the school with his public relations
-Some of the issues with Pearl might have been beyond his control, but one can argue that Hamilton failed in his oversight

But the one thing I don't believe is a fair criticism is the hiring of Dooley. This can only be coming with the gift of hindsight. Who else was Tennessee going to get at that point? Kiffin completely screwed the AD by taking off within weeks of Signing Day. No one with any kind of resume was going to take the job.
 
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#33
#33
Boca Vol said:
The Kiffin "hire" wasn't the problem. I seem to recall a pretty fired up fan base when he was hired and Hamilton opened the wallet and paid a king's ransom for the rest of the staff. The problem was Kiffin leaving. That's what put UT in a hole. Who knew Carroll would leave for the NFL opening the door for Kiffin at USC?

Is all of that on Hamilton? No. However, he could have protected UT more with the language in the contracts.
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when the football, basketball and baseball programs go tits up within a close timeframe; i can't see how you can hang it around anyone elses neck but the athletic director...
 
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#34
#34
bamawriter said:
But the one thing I don't believe is a fair criticism is the hiring of Dooley. This can only be coming with the gift of hindsight. Who else was Tennessee going to get at that point? Kiffin completely screwed the AD by taking off within weeks of Signing Day. No one with any kind of resume was going to take the job.
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How about any coach at the same level as Dooley, except pick one that showed improvement and a current year winning record. Dooley may have been on the verge of getting fired when we hired him. Sumlin...?
 
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#35
#35
Titleistvol said:
when the football, basketball and baseball programs go tits up within a close timeframe; i can't see how you can hang it around anyone elses neck but the athletic director...
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Were any of those situations related? Do you honestly think the AD is making these decisions all by himself? He's not! He's just the point person in the whole deal.

The Fulmer extension in 2007-8 was a joke! The firing of Fulmer was handled all wrong, but Hamilton didn't make that on his own.

I'm not saying Hamilton was great as an AD, far from it. But you can't place the blame on any 1 person.

I think the powers at be at UT thought (like many fans) the UT brand could sell itself. In the 1990's, it could. Today, not so much. The Kiffin hire wasn't that difficult. He wasn't doing anything and his Dad was fired in Tampa. It's easy to hire people who are unemployed. UT found that out in their last 2 football coaching searches.
 
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#36
#36
he hired a coach that had the NCAA snooping around and got the
best BB coach UT has had in 30 years fired because of illegal acts
that he had going on and lying about it....both left us in a hole
when they left...both were Hammy hires and one was a Hammy fire...

but he hired some very nice construction crews....
now tell me how great a job he did again...
 
#42
#42
knoxvols11 said:
To the Fulmerites that is an unequivical NO!
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I can't say that I know your personal stance, but there is a large contingent of posters on here who credit Jones with two Big East titles despite the fact that he lost the tiebreaker both times.
 
#43
#43
Oh good grief being a good fun raiser does not equate to being a good decision maker, leader and negotiator. This "he is a good guy mentality" is killing our athletic program, being a good guy means they should be doing something in public service not coach or run a multi-million dollar organization.
 
#44
#44
bamawriter, you need to stay out of this one. It's a family argument. Besides, you are just upset that Fulmer's winning pct (10-5 .667) vs Alabama is better than Bryant's record vs Tennessee (16-7-2 .640).
 
#45
#45
bamawriter said:
Their is a tone of criticism one can throw at Hamilton, and much of it is deserved.

-He bungled Fulmer's exit, which was made doubly worse by the extension that he signed the year before
-He ignored a ton of warning signs when it came to Kiffin, and let the guy embarass the school with his public relations
-Some of the issues with Pearl might have been beyond his control, but one can argue that Hamilton failed in his oversight

But the one thing I don't believe is a fair criticism is the hiring of Dooley. This can only be coming with the gift of hindsight. Who else was Tennessee going to get at that point? Kiffin completely screwed the AD by taking off within weeks of Signing Day. No one with any kind of resume was going to take the job.
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Interim coach would have been a better option, and that's not just hindsight. Plenty of people on here who are wiser than me suggested it in the days after Kiffin left. The realistic posters on here knew we were going to get a crappy coach, because the situation was so terrible that it was practically career suicide for a capable coach.

I actually think Arkansas did the right thing by giving the reigns to Mr. Smile for a year, although the Bielema hire looks worse and worse every day.
 
#46
#46
The good outweighs the bad in this situation and therefore he will always and should always be remembered as a terrible administrator. UT's fall from grace can largely be blamed on him and also on whoever let people like him and Cheek be the ones that replaced excellent administrators like Joe Johnston and Doug Dickey. I'm a strong believer in keeping UT people in charge of UT. I think Hart is okay but Cheek should have been replaced by somebody associated with UT, someone who understands our traditions. I'm afraid UT has lost a lot of that over the years.
 
#47
#47
Backwards K said:
bamawriter, you need to stay out of this one. It's a family argument. Besides, you are just upset that Fulmer's winning pct (10-5 .667) vs Alabama is better than Bryant's record vs Tennessee (16-7-2 .640).
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Saban wipes the floor with Fulmer's record: 7-0 (1.000).
 
#48
#48
PeytonBerry said:
I was thinking about Hamilton's time at UT, and while it was time to go, I do think he accomplished some good things at UT.

1. Gave Neyland a beautiful facelift -OK BUT NO REAL BIG DEAL IN MY VOOK! He did create more boxseats for all the big money and SCREWED THE AVERAGE FAN!
2. Transformed TBA. Same as above!
3. Hired a coach that made b-ball relevant again. No integrity that brought the program back down again. Then hired Zo! Need I say more on this subject!
4. Avoided NCAA sanctions (admittedly from hires he made). Pearl???? ...

Often times, I heard people characterize Hamilton as a slimeball, but from those close to him, he was a man of good character who involved himself in the community and charitible endeavors. He is a man of faith, and adopted children in desperate need of a family. I imagine while he was here, he gave his all for Tennessee.

Don't get me wrong, Kiffen and Dooley fall on his watch, and he needed to go. I just think as quick as we are to criticize coaches and AD's, we should have some perspective and give credit where it is due. Perhaps we can say the same for our basketball coach.

Flame away!
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Hambone was absolutely the WORST AD IN TENNESSEE HISTORY, hands down, not even close!!!!! He brought the sports program to it's knees AND IT WILL TAKE TEN YEARS JUST TO GET EVEN! You are on drugs! I guess you think the POTUS is a great man too?
:loco:
 
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#50
#50
Backwards K said:
But Fulmer was better in the series than the Bear! And he got your school on probation.

That's why you hate him so much!

BTW: Fulmer had a 7 game winning streak against Bama, too.
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If you were capable of reading simple English, you would have noticed that I wasn't running down Fulmer at all. In fact, my only mentions of Fulmer were slamming Hamilton's bungling of his firing and noting that, tie or not, Fulmer won East 4 times post-'98 when a UT fan was trying to knock the accomplishment.

To your suggestion that Fulmer was better in the series than the Bear, it's sort of ridiculous since Bryant coached ten more games in the series, and is only slightly behind Fulmer in win % thanks to a tie turning into a forfeited loss. Fulmer did not actually coach a win in '93. But whatever makes you feel better.

As for streaks, Bryant had an 11 game streak, so that trumps all. And barring a major upset, Saban will be on 8 and counting in a little over seven months.
 
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