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Tennessee Vols owe athletic success partly to last four ADs

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Vols are thriving in many sports. Credit the last four Volunteers athletic directors: Phillip Fulmer, John Currie, Dave Hart and Joan Cronan.

They say it takes a village. Well, if you’re the Tennessee Vols, that means literally a village of athletic directors. Since the start of this century, six different athletic directors have been leading different aspects of the program, and UT has had five different full-time ADs just this decade.

But if you look at the way the program is going right now, they all deserve credit. The jury is still out on current AD Phillip Fulmer, as he obviously just made his hires last year, but the Jeremy Pruitt hire is clearly one people like so far with the football program.

However, men’s basketball success is a tribute to two ADs back. After losing Cuonzo Martin and dropping the ball with Donnie Tyndall, Dave Hart hit a grand slam by bringing in Rick Barnes. Fans were willing to see Barnes overpaid to stay in Knoxville this year after the UCLA Bruins courted him.

He may have messed up with the hires of Tyndall, Butch Jones and Holly Warlick to replace Pat Summitt. The Lady Vols name issue and sexual assault lawsuit were also on his watch. But Barnes was a hire that worked out, and fans appreciated that this year.

What about John Currie? He was forced out within a year because of how badly he botched the hire to replace Butch Jones in Tennessee football. The attempted Greg Schiano hire and subsequent failures before his firing are why he’ll live in infamy, and Fulmer bringing in Pruitt may end up only making him look worse.

Don’t forget, though, that Currie is the one who hired Tony Vitello. Right now, the Tennessee Vols are having their best baseball season since Rod Delmonico led them to the College World Series in 2005. This is just Vitello’s second season, and he’s clearly an elite coach. Currie hit a home run here as well, even if Vitello’s style is more about pitching (pun intended).

So Tennessee men’s basketball and Tennessee baseball are thriving right now thanks to hires by Hart and Currie. The jury is out on Tennessee football and Tennessee women’s basketball, as Fulmer forced out Warlick and replaced her with Kellie Harper as Lady Vols head coach, and we’re still waiting to see how Pruitt turns out in football.

What about other sports? Well, Tennessee softball is obviously a major success and has been a consistent program this entire century. That goes back to the hire of Ralph and Karen Weekly way back in 2001.

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The co-head coaches have another top 10 program this year, something that has been a staple on Rocky Top since they arrived. Want to know who oversaw their hire? It was Joan Cronan, who was the Tennessee women’s athletic director for years before the two programs merged.

Cronan is also responsible for the hire of current women’s golf head coach Lisa Pavon, who has turned the program into a national power, and rowing head coach Lisa Glenn, who has turned that sport from a club sport into one officially recognized by the NCAA.

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She also hired Matt Kredich in 2005 to coach women’s swimming and diving, and he leads the combined program now. A two-time SEC coach of the year, he’s clearly a successful hire.You can’t understate the success Cronan had with her hires and how they’re still helping the program.

Speaking of other hires, track and field is thriving under Beth Alford-Sullivan, women’s tennis is in the top 25 under Alison Ojeda, and women’s soccer has made back to back NCAA Tournaments under Brian Pensky. All of those coaches were hired by Hart. So it’s safe to say he did a good job with many of the other hires.

Currie has also helped with other hires. He promoted Chris Woodruff to head coach of the men’s tennis program back in 2017, and that program went 21-9 his first year, making the men’s NCAAs. It’s now 20-7 and in the top 15.

Fulmer, meanwhile, has hired new coaches as well beyond football and women’s basketball. Eve Rackham got the volleyball program to the second round of the NCAA Tournament her first year, and men’s golf is in the top 25 under first-year head coach Brennan Webb.

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Simply put, the Tennessee Vols previous athletic directors made a lot of mistakes. But the last women’s AD who served in the interim as men’s AD and the last three men’s ADs, including Fulmer, have all had a hand in the athletic program thriving right now. So while Fulmer is more beloved and the others are not, to say the least, give them all some credit.

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