John Adams: Danny Morrison an appealing AD candidate for Tennessee

For most of last weekend, Bubba Cunningham’s name was the hottest among Tennessee athletic director candidates. By Sunday night, the North Carolina athletic director was an old flame.

UT fans shouldn’t have been jolted by the turnabout. They are accustomed to rejections in the hiring process.

And there’s nothing wrong with a rejection or two or three. It just proves you are aiming high.

Tennessee apparently is aiming as high as an AD at a Power 5 conference school. That’s fine as long as you understand the challenges of such pursuit.

For one thing, a Power 5 AD won’t come cheap. Also, you never should assume that others view UT in the same glow that your biggest boosters do.

Outgoing Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart wasn’t an acting AD when UT hired him, though he had been one earlier in his career. Mike Hamilton, his predecessor, had never been an athletic director at any level when Tennessee promoted him.

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

UT’s next prime target is Danny Morrison, who recently resigned as president of the Carolina Panthers but has been a college athletic director at TCU and Wofford, his alma mater. He also was the commissioner of the Southern Conference.

Morrison is obviously well-qualified. And his experience with the Panthers is a bonus. He can engage in pro football chitchat with Tennessee super booster Jimmy Haslam, owner of the quasi-NFL Cleveland Browns.

Something else appealing about Morrison: He’s unemployed. Morrison left his position with the Panthers because he wanted to pursue a college job. He didn’t specify that the college job would involve athletics.

He has a strong academic background. He majored in math at Wofford, has a master’s degree from North Carolina and a doctorate from South Carolina. His math background would come in handy at Tennessee. He quickly could figure out how long it has taken UT to win an SEC championship in each sport.

Some say his career goal is to be the president of Wofford, for which he once served as a senior vice president. But Tennessee fans shouldn’t worry.

I checked. Wofford has a president.

While Tennessee should have a better shot at Morrison than it did Cunningham, it still could have some selling to do.

As an outsider, he might wonder why a school with Tennessee’s facilities, tradition and fan support is no better than mediocre in most sports. He also might wonder about the power structure, especially since Chancellor Beverly Davenport is new on the job. Are the boosters too involved? Too meddlesome?

John Adams: Chancellor might have no interest in 'Tennessee guy'

But he also could look at Tennessee as a wonderful opportunity. Maybe he’s confident enough to think he can provide the kind of leadership the program has so often lacked.

He might even think he can hire a coach capable of winning a conference championship in something. By Tennessee administrative standards, that would be heroic stuff.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnAdamsKNS.

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