John Adams: John Currie can best rebuild Tennessee with hires, not bricks
While Tennessee was introducing new athletic director John Currie to the masses Thursday afternoon, I was on assignment elsewhere, chronicling the Lady Vols’ quest for an SEC women’s basketball tournament championship.
The quest didn’t last much longer than Currie’s formal introduction and press conference. About the time 12th-seeded Alabama was knocking Tennessee out of the tournament in Greenville, S.C., Currie was telling the folks in Knoxville that UT “can and should be the very best athletic program in the country.”
He was referring to a program that a day earlier had distinguished itself by becoming the first men’s basketball team in 16 games to lose to LSU.
Reality often doesn’t make an appearance at UT’s introductory ceremonies for one of its new leaders. I was reminded of that while watching the video replay of the gala affair.
The reality: UT has a history of bad, or at least curious, hires - from coaches to university presidents.
One of my favorite Tennessee hiring stories was written by the News Sentinel’s Megan Boehnke in 2010. The headline: “Joe DiPietro chosen as 24th UT president.”
The other finalist was current East Tennessee State University president Brian Noland, whom the board of trustees called “a rising superstar” and “proven visionary” with a “national reputation.”
Nonetheless, the trustees hired the “other guy,” sending the message: “Who needs proven visionaries?”
As far as I know, no one has described Currie as a “visionary.” However, the former Kansas State athletic director has been lauded for his fundraising and strategic planning skills.
Nothing wrong with that.
But if Currie succeeds as UT’s athletic director, he won’t do so by coaxing money from donors who live to see their name on a building. Nor will Tennessee rise above mediocrity in athletics by stacking bricks on top of more bricks. Tennessee will need to hire its way to success.
That’s Currie’s challenge. At least, that will be his challenge if he seriously believes UT can be the best athletic program in the country. Or maybe he was just trying to make the donors feel good about the money they have invested in a program that keeps underachieving given its considerable resources.
Consider what currently would constitute success in Tennessee football, basketball and baseball: a victory over a mid-level Big Ten team in a third-echelon bowl, a deep run in the NIT and a trip to the SEC baseball tournament in Hoover, Ala.
If Currie had wanted to drive home his point about Tennessee’s wondrous athletic potential, he should have expanded on his quote. Maybe something like this: “We will give our coaches all the tools they need to succeed at the highest level. And if they can’t, we’ll find somebody who can.”
Currie was given a five-year contract. If his contract were half that long, he still would have the opportunity hire a slew of new coaches.
If he hires the right ones, the fundraising will take care of itself.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.
