University of Tennessee paying Turnkey $75,000 for AD search
The University of Tennessee is paying Turnkey Sports & Entertainment $75,000, plus expenses, to conduct its search for a new athletic director.
The financial agreement was disclosed Monday in a public records request made by the News Sentinel.
Related document: Turnkey Sports & Entertainment bid
Turnkey was selected over three other bidders – Collegiate Sports Associates, DHR International and Parker Executive Search.
Turnkey has assigned executive director Gene DeFilippo to perform the search and agreed that DeFilippo will not begin any other Power 5 athletic director searches during the UT search. DeFilippo is the former Boston College athletic director.
UT is replacing Dave Hart, who announced his retirement on Aug. 18. Hart’s retirement goes into effect June 30, but he can step aside sooner if a replacement is named.
Incoming chancellor Beverly Davenport will be hiring the new athletic director. Davenport’s full-time appointment at UT begins Feb. 15.
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Collegiate’s bid for the AD search was $75,500, plus a one-time $500 fee for technology and office support and reimbursement for travel costs, materials and background checks.
DHR’s bid was $112,000 with travel costs paid separately and advertising and other expenses to be reimbursed at cost.
Parker’s bid was $70,000 with travel and advertising costs reimbursed at actual cost. If the athletic director’s salary was less than $250,000, Parker’s fee would have decreased to $55,000.
UT paid Parker $75,000, plus expenses, to help in its nationwide search for a new chancellor for the Knoxville campus. The contract locked in terms that can be used by the Tennessee Board of Regents and any of the UT campuses for searches, but neither are required to use Parker.
UT spokeswoman Karen Simsen said the university opened the bidding process for the athletic director search to “generate proposals from a wide range of range of firms with experience in executive recruiting for the sports and entertainment industry.”
UT has formed a search committee to advise Davenport throughout the hiring process. The members of the committee are: former UT quarterback great Peyton Manning; senior associate athletics director Donna Thomas; UT trustee and alumnus Charlie Anderson; Jimmy Haslam, alumnus, CEO of Pilot Flying J and owner of the Cleveland Browns; and professor Donald Bruce, UT’s faculty representative for the SEC and the NCAA.
If the candidate Turnkey selects is terminated within the first 12 months of employment by UT for willful misconduct, gross negligence or because he/she is unfit to be AD as specified in the position description, Turnkey would conduct a replacement search at no additional fee.
