Opinion: Tennessee's dishonorable move of canceling Army game shows how far Volunteers have fallen

Disheartened.

That’s the word Tennessee state Rep. Dave Wright (R-Knoxville), an Army veteran and University of Tennessee alumnus, used to describe his reaction to UT canceling its 2022 football game against Army.

I’ll take it a step further.

Yes, Tennessee’s decision to replace Army with an easier opponent — Akron — for its Sept. 17, 2022, game is disheartening.

It’s also dishonorable and shameful. 

And it shows how far Tennessee football has fallen that it chickened out of playing a service academy.

It’s even more disgraceful when you consider that the 2022 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention will occur that week in Knoxville.

Medal of Honor recipients would have been recognized at the Army-Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium. The convention still will occur, but attending the Akron-Tennessee game will be an optional activity, said Joe Thompson, president of the Medal of Honor celebration board of directors.

Who can blame them if they skip the Akron game in favor of a day in the Smokies? Good luck selling tickets to that dud matchup. 

Mind you, the Medal of Honor is our nation’s highest military award for valor. Recipients are American heroes.

“UT made a business decision. Why they made the decision, I have no idea," Thompson told Knox News.

Anyone who knows college football can fill in the blank to why Tennessee made this decision: The Vols believe they'll have an easier time with Akron than Army, a more competitive opponent that features a triple-option offense that's tough to endure, especially the week before the Florida game.

“It’s a sad decision on that one act, because the Medal of Honor winners could have gone to an Army-UT game, which I think has a lot of heritage behind it,” said Wright, who was deployed to Germany during the Vietnam War and rose to the rank of Army first lieutenant.

“To me, it would have been a very prestigious game, UT playing Army. And it’s been relegated to backburner status of UT trying to get its football program back into a winning way.”

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Tennessee, which has produced one winning season since 2016, usually welcomes the chance to embrace the red, white and blue. Army Black Hawk helicopters flew over Neyland Stadium in an impressive display before Tennessee's season opener against Bowling Green. Patriotism and military support build goodwill in these parts.

But rather than honor its contract to play a service academy, Tennessee opted for an easier avenue to pad its record. 

Danny White signed paperwork to cancel game vs. Army

UT officials have said the process to drop Army from the 2022 schedule began under former athletics director Phillip Fulmer and former coach Jeremy Pruitt. 

But current AD Danny White, hired on Jan. 21, signed the paperwork to cancel the Army game, according to records obtained by Knox News, and White inked the Akron contract in February.

Not surprisingly, Tennessee did not announce the schedule change. The change only became apparent Tuesday, when the SEC revealed the 2022 schedule for its members.

Scheduling decisions are handled by athletics administrators with input from coaches, but pinning this on Fulmer and Pruitt rings hollow.

Tennessee's AD and football coach report to Chancellor Donde Plowman. I think the decision to cancel the Army game should have gone to the chancellor's desk. 

It’s unclear whether Plowman was involved in the decision or when she became aware of it. Her spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. The Tennessee athletics department also did not comment. UT System President Randy Boyd was not involved in this scheduling decision, spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter said Friday.

If Plowman knew about this decision and gave it the greenlight, that’s indefensible. If she was in the dark about the decision, that's unacceptable, too. Tennessee football is the front porch of her university, and canceling Army isn't equivalent to nixing a game against Rutgers or South Florida.

I asked three current or former Division I athletics directors whether they would include a chancellor or president in a decision to cancel a game against a U.S. service academy. One AD, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said involving a chancellor or president isn't necessary, while the other two said they would involve the university chancellor or president in the decision.

"If you’re dealing with any institution – but, in particular, if you’re dealing with a service academy, given the nature of who they are and what they do and what they stand for in our country – that needs to be an institutional decision," said Mike Alden, former longtime athletics director at Missouri, who retired in 2015. "That cannot be a departmental decision."

Louisiana AD Bryan Maggard said all game contracts or amendments at his university must include the president's signature.

“I’m not in the business of second-guessing other athletic directors, particularly if I don’t know all the circumstances surrounding the situation," Maggard said, "but I do think anytime you’re dealing with one of the military academies, you do need to be very perceptive of the optics. I know here in Southern Louisiana, that would be a very heralded game."

University of Tennessee should have considered its history and Army ties

If Tennessee officials need a reminder of what the Army means to this university and its football program, they need only consult the school's stadium name: Neyland Stadium.

Former coach Robert Neyland has Mount Rushmore status within UT athletics. He led Tennessee to four national championships and earned the rank of general in the Army. Neyland served in both World Wars, and his military service twice interrupted his Vols coaching tenure.

The Army ROTC forms an important piece of the university’s history. The military program at UT predates that of any other state university in the country, according to the university. Until the 1960s, ROTC participation was compulsory for UT students.

Tennessee has made flushing money an artform, and it took a $100,000 net loss on the scheduling switch. Never mind the financial ramifications. The school should have honored its contract, signed in 2016, to play this game because it’s the honorable move.

Neyland’s seven maxims are often recited around Tennessee’s football program.

Neyland’s seventh maxim states: Carry the fight to our opponent and keep it there for 60 minutes.

The Volunteers showed no fight by swapping a game against Army for an easier opponent. They showed no patriotism. They showed no honor. They took the easy way out.

Knox News reporters Tyler Whetstone and Adam Sparks contributed to this reporting. 

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.