Former Tennessee Vols administrators: David Blackburn hired, John Currie not
Former Tennessee Vols administrators received opposite news Monday. MTSU hired David Blackburn, but the Maryland Terrapins passed on John Currie.
Early in 2017, when the Tennessee Vols were searching for a replacement for Dave Hart to be their athletic director, the search came down to three candidates: Dave Blackburn, Phillip Fulmer and John Currie. One year later, in a brutal twist of irony, the one who got the job is now the only one not serving as an administrator.
We know about the drama that led Fulmer to replace Currie back in December. Well, he then became a finalist for the Maryland Terps athletic director. But UMD announced on Monday that Damon Evans, the formerly disgraced Georgia Bulldogs athletic director, would take the position.
The same day that happened, Blackburn got another job as well. Another former UT administrator, Blackburn was noted for his success in revitalizing the UT Chattanooga. And the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders announced that he would take the position of Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Affairswith their program.
Both of these moves now show just how bad the Currie hire was. Remember, Blackburn had a much better track record at Chattanooga, but his lack of FBS experience as an administrator held him back. The same was true with Fulmer.
So, influenced by failed businessman Jimmy Haslam, the Tennessee Vols turned to a guy who had a mediocre track record with the Kansas State Wildcats in Currie. The rest of the world saw it, which is why the Terps were much more willing to promote their assistant AD who had a major scandal when he last held this title at a previous school.
Simply put, Currie became toxic. It wasn’t just the failure of the Greg Schiano hire that caused that either. Don’t forget that he botched the chancer to bring in Jeff Brohm after that. And then, with Lane Kiffin, Mike Leach and Bobby Petrino still on the table, he went after Dave Doeren. Only after that fell through did he try to make a home run hire with Leach. But it was too late.
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That level of incompetence is why he is the one without a job right now. Blackburn was a rising star a few years ago, and although the Tennessee Vols didn’t hire him, he’ll likely have a job with a major program in the future. Meanwhile, Fulmer is doing what is necessary to keep the department together at UT. Both were somehow passed over in favor of Currie last year.