Will Tennessee's next athletic director stick around for a while?

For a span of 77 years, from the Roaring Twenties into the dawn of the 21st Century, the University of Tennessee spent little time or money searching for athletic directors.

Through a remarkably stable run from Robert Neyland through Bob Woodruff and Doug Dickey, the UT athletic department had a steady and familiar hand on the wheel. Over on the women's side, pre-merger, Joan Cronan ran the show for 29 years. Decades passed with little fuss about whose vision would best suit the purpose of pursuing championships.

Now, those seem like, and were, the good old days.

Tennessee is looking for its third AD since Dickey retired in 2003. Neither of the past two will have a statue built on campus anytime soon.

As another search firm logs billable hours at UT's expense, a review of the program's AD history might be worth a look.

Although he never held the title of athletic director, Nathan Dougherty deserves a mention. As faculty chairman of athletics, Dougherty hired Neyland as head football coach in 1926. It was the watershed moment.

As was commonplace, Neyland held the dual title of AD while amassing 173 football wins and putting UT on the national map. Paul Parker (1936) and John Barnhill (1941-45) filled in when the Army called Neyland to duty. Neyland retired as coach in 1952 but stayed on as AD another nine years.

Neyland's death in March 1962 precipitated a turbulent episode. Football coach Bowden Wyatt was named acting AD for 14 months, ending with his termination in both jobs in 1963.

Although Wyatt's reign was brief, a couple of major hires occurred – Ray Mears to coach basketball and Chuck Rohe for cross country.

Mears made UT basketball a must-see event for the next 15 years and introduced the concept of "Big Orange Country." Rohe soon built track and field into an SEC powerhouse and, as director of recruiting, introduced the speedy dual-sport athlete to the football team.

To fill the AD seat in 1963, the university turned to an assistant football coach. By the time Bob Woodruff retired in 1985, the Vols were an all-sports success and facilities were transformed.

On Woodruff's watch, Stokely Athletic Center was built and then outgrown. Don DeVoe (basketball), Ray Bussard (swimming), Mike DePalmer (tennis) and Stan Huntsman (track) were notable hires.

Like any Tennessee AD, Woodruff's signature hires were football coaches. Dickey was an inspired choice in 1963. Bill Battle was only a short-term success in the early 1970s. Johnny Majors came home in 1977 to both a hero's welcome and a major rebuild.

Dickey, who had infuriated UT fans by leaving for alma mater Florida after the '69 season, was a controversial choice to follow Woodruff. A successful coach, he had no experience as AD – sound familiar? – and was running a tile manufacturing firm in Florida.

For the next 18 years, Dickey brought fundraising into the modern era and steered the program through a couple of NCAA investigations with no major sanctions. He finished the mammoth basketball arena Woodruff started and upgraded Neyland Stadium with skyboxes.

Every men's program won or shared an SEC title on Dickey's watch. Phillip Fulmer won a national title in football and both Doug Brown and Bill Webb did likewise in track and field. Another hire, Rod Delmonico, took UT baseball to three College World Series. Dickey had little luck hiring basketball coaches, four of them in a 13-year span. Even a consistent winner, Jerry Green, proved unpopular.

The ouster of Majors and promotion of Fulmer in 1992 left scars in the fan base, but so would have standing pat.

Dickey's retirement in 2003 kicked off a national search that ended with the in-house promotion of Mike Hamilton. UT unsuccessfully courted Ron Wellman of Wake Forest and Joe Castiglione of Oklahoma, among others. Hamilton said his strategy was "to be the last man standing" and it worked.

Hamilton lasted eight years in which positive work was outweighed by the football debacle that began with firing Fulmer in 2008 and hiring first Lane Kiffin and then Derek Dooley. Bruce Pearl took UT basketball to the heights then flamed out in an NCAA mess many felt Hamilton should have handled better. Out of favor, Hamilton resigned in 2011.

Another national search (that included rejections) led to Dave Hart, the No. 2 man at Alabama. Hart's legacy is fresh enough to not require repeating. Suffice it to say it's been an eventful six years.

Within a matter of weeks, UT should have a new AD, either Fulmer, David Blackburn or, who knows, an outsider. The new boss will inherit a team of coaches assembled by predecessors Hart, Cronan, Hamilton and even Dickey (Jim Kelson, men's golf).

The hope, no doubt, is this will be the last search for a long while.

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