COACHING SEARCH CONTINUES
So what has changed in the five years since we last had a head coaching change? From the university stand point a lot….a new chancellor and a new athletic director. These are the two positions that a prospective coach will be most inquisitive about….they are his chain of command so to speak, the two positions he directly reports to, answers to and the two positions that will make his job easier or harder. A smart coach will want to know as much about Dr. Davenport and John Currie as he does about what the quarterback depth chart looks like. Why? Currie controls his budget and Davenport, through her provost, controls admissions and curriculum (two huge factors in recruiting prospective football players). Most every successful football coach has the strong support of his athletic director and his chancellor/president. When tough times hit are they with you or do they have their finger in the wind? Hall of Fame coach Bob Stoops retired after 18 years as head coach at Oklahoma this past year…..the same year the president and athletic director that hired him retired……not coincidental I am told.
This leads into the people who will be evaluating and also hiring our next coach. A little history here….Bob Woodruff and Doug Dickey combined for almost 40 consecutive years of serving as athletic director for the Vols ending with Dickey’s retirement in 2002. Woodruff played for and was an assistant coach at UT. Dickey played quarterback for Woodruff at Florida and prior to the 1964 season was hired by Woodruff to be head coach for the Big Orange. Every SEC football championship won in the last 60 years by the Big Orange was placed in the trophy case by one of these two men…..all seven of them won with either Woodruff or Dickey as athletic director.
This will be the fourth head coached hired in the last ten years. To put this in historical perspective compare the last 10 years to the previous 40 years. In the 40 years of the Woodruff/Dickey era they hired a grand total of 4 head football coaches for ….Doug Dickey, Bill Battle, John Majors and Phillip Fulmer. Three of the four (Dickey, Majors, Fulmer) won multiple SEC championships. Wooduff and Dickey shared at least a few key traits: they both were wise, tough skinned, loyal to the university, good final decision makers, stubborn if needed and most importantly they ran the athletic department. Both were hired to do a job and while both would certainly listen to the advice of many, in the end it was their decision, their rear ends on the line, and they would damn sure do the job they were hired to do…..come hell or high water. I knew these two men, Coach Dickey much more so than Coach Woodruff and here is what I saw….when decision time came nobody told them who to hire.
Lessons…..the previous three head coach hires were all done without the input of any person with a strong football background. In other words all advice was given by people who had never coached the game and/or played the game at a high level. Additionally no football people were included in the interview process, nobody qualified to ask these football questions: 1) do you believe in physical play on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball 2) what is your understanding of what style of play it takes to win in this conference 3) will you coach one side of the ball….if yes who is your choice to coach the side you do not coach and if no who will be your two coordinators 4) tell me, convince me about how you handle a game day side line, be specific about staying ahead of the game…..we (Tennessee) have had big problems in this area these past few years. These were a series of mistakes that were repeated on three different occasions…..athletic directors that did not value the experience, wisdom and knowledge of high level playing and/or coaching from men willing to help in this area. It was the “I know what is best” attitude that eventually ended with the removal of both men from the athletic director’s chair IMO.
What can John Currie learn from these lessons of the past? He was involved with the Lane Kiffin hire and knows how that all went down. Hiring someone with no knowledge of or any interest in learning about our history and traditions is a sure fire losing bet. Just because you’re a young pretty boy from the west coast, have a cute wife, a dad that was an iconic assistant coach, can BS with the best of them….well that has proven to not be a winning edge when hiring a Big Orange football coach. As for the other two hires….. head coaches from programs that are not in a major conference has its own set of problems. Simply put, neither of our last three head coaches, for different reasons, was up to the task of running a football program the magnitude of the Volunteer program. However, there are good qualified coaches to lead this program that are current head coaches in the SEC, head coaches at other major programs, head coaches at smaller programs, assistants at many levels of coaching…..Mr. Currie’s charge is to find that right fit, that right person to lead this football program. Doug Dickey was a young assistant from Arkansas, John Majors was a proven national champion from Pittsburgh (with a slight Volunteer background) and Phillip Fulmer was a 13 year Tennessee assistant……three different backgrounds but all were superb head coaches that represented this university well and won championships while doing so. Bottom line…. good coaches come from all parts of the country, from all levels of coaching and can be young, old or in between. We just need a “coach”.
What would be my advice to John Currie…..consider doing the following: 1) along with what you have learned as an assistant athletic director and athletic director, consult with experienced people in compiling a list of candidates (I am sure this has been done) 2) When that list is compiled and interviews are set ask Phillip Fulmer, Peyton Manning, and Charles Davis to sit across the table from each individual candidate. You should want all three men, with their own different backgrounds in football, to probe, grill and question each candidate and at the end of the day give you their opinion of each candidate’s worthiness to be their next head coach. I trust each of these three men to not only ask the right questions but also to give their athletic director their honest and best opinion and recommendation on who they would hire. Everyone reading this knows my relationship with Coach Fulmer and some may think my inclusion of Phillip is because of that friendship…..sounds reasonable but here are the facts when it comes to a prospective football coach taking a serious look at this job I know this….the first person they will call will be Phillip Fulmer. No person coaching in today’s football will take this job without getting the skinny from a guy highly respected in the coaching profession. One way or the other Coach Fulmer will be involved and Mr. Currie would be wise IMO to get him in on the front end. In my mind Phillip Fulmer, Peyton Manning and Charles Davis are the BWG….the “Best We Got” at the University of Tennessee…..and finally # 3) lean on these three men and then make your own decision on who our next coach will be and give that recommendation to your reporting authority….Dr Beverly Davenport. It would be approved or she should be looking for another athletic director. Tennessee’s athletic director, the job you applied and was hired for……that is your job!
In the end this should be John Currie’s hire…..right, wrong or in between. If this is not his decision then we don’t need an athletic director we simply need a fund raiser. Hall of fame players can give advice and suggestions, former coaches can do the same, wealthy donors will put their two cents in the discussion, the president and chancellor could lean one way the other or probably both, media personalities will debate the wisdom in the hire, but when it’s all said and done this hire will be John Currie’s hire. Few will be around to share in the blame if this hire goes south. As that famous coach from Italy Tacitus said in 98 AD “success has many fathers….failure is an orphan”. If this next football hire is successful many will take credit…..if unsuccessful athletic director will be the orphan….and no one wants the John Currie era to start with a bad head football coaching hire.
John has two very different examples of athletic directors that have preceded him to consider…..he can choose to be like Bob Woodruff and Doug Dickey and run his own ship or he can choose to be like those who followed Dickey and let others tell him what to do. The former two retired at Tennessee and are treasured, revered…….the two that followed not so much. John Currie has seen both sides…he worked for Doug Dickey and he worked for the man that followed Dickey
In conclusion this is what 40+ years of lessons have taught me…..the people who insured John got the job as athletic director, who hired him, who own the plane that flew John and his family in to accept that job are the people that history (lessons) says will tell John what they want done in this decision. After this hire we will soon know the answer to this question…Who is actually running the athletic department?
Let’s Talk next week….By the way the timeline for the new hire is somewhere around December 10th, give or take a few days.
So what has changed in the five years since we last had a head coaching change? From the university stand point a lot….a new chancellor and a new athletic director. These are the two positions that a prospective coach will be most inquisitive about….they are his chain of command so to speak, the two positions he directly reports to, answers to and the two positions that will make his job easier or harder. A smart coach will want to know as much about Dr. Davenport and John Currie as he does about what the quarterback depth chart looks like. Why? Currie controls his budget and Davenport, through her provost, controls admissions and curriculum (two huge factors in recruiting prospective football players). Most every successful football coach has the strong support of his athletic director and his chancellor/president. When tough times hit are they with you or do they have their finger in the wind? Hall of Fame coach Bob Stoops retired after 18 years as head coach at Oklahoma this past year…..the same year the president and athletic director that hired him retired……not coincidental I am told.
This leads into the people who will be evaluating and also hiring our next coach. A little history here….Bob Woodruff and Doug Dickey combined for almost 40 consecutive years of serving as athletic director for the Vols ending with Dickey’s retirement in 2002. Woodruff played for and was an assistant coach at UT. Dickey played quarterback for Woodruff at Florida and prior to the 1964 season was hired by Woodruff to be head coach for the Big Orange. Every SEC football championship won in the last 60 years by the Big Orange was placed in the trophy case by one of these two men…..all seven of them won with either Woodruff or Dickey as athletic director.
This will be the fourth head coached hired in the last ten years. To put this in historical perspective compare the last 10 years to the previous 40 years. In the 40 years of the Woodruff/Dickey era they hired a grand total of 4 head football coaches for ….Doug Dickey, Bill Battle, John Majors and Phillip Fulmer. Three of the four (Dickey, Majors, Fulmer) won multiple SEC championships. Wooduff and Dickey shared at least a few key traits: they both were wise, tough skinned, loyal to the university, good final decision makers, stubborn if needed and most importantly they ran the athletic department. Both were hired to do a job and while both would certainly listen to the advice of many, in the end it was their decision, their rear ends on the line, and they would damn sure do the job they were hired to do…..come hell or high water. I knew these two men, Coach Dickey much more so than Coach Woodruff and here is what I saw….when decision time came nobody told them who to hire.
Lessons…..the previous three head coach hires were all done without the input of any person with a strong football background. In other words all advice was given by people who had never coached the game and/or played the game at a high level. Additionally no football people were included in the interview process, nobody qualified to ask these football questions: 1) do you believe in physical play on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball 2) what is your understanding of what style of play it takes to win in this conference 3) will you coach one side of the ball….if yes who is your choice to coach the side you do not coach and if no who will be your two coordinators 4) tell me, convince me about how you handle a game day side line, be specific about staying ahead of the game…..we (Tennessee) have had big problems in this area these past few years. These were a series of mistakes that were repeated on three different occasions…..athletic directors that did not value the experience, wisdom and knowledge of high level playing and/or coaching from men willing to help in this area. It was the “I know what is best” attitude that eventually ended with the removal of both men from the athletic director’s chair IMO.
What can John Currie learn from these lessons of the past? He was involved with the Lane Kiffin hire and knows how that all went down. Hiring someone with no knowledge of or any interest in learning about our history and traditions is a sure fire losing bet. Just because you’re a young pretty boy from the west coast, have a cute wife, a dad that was an iconic assistant coach, can BS with the best of them….well that has proven to not be a winning edge when hiring a Big Orange football coach. As for the other two hires….. head coaches from programs that are not in a major conference has its own set of problems. Simply put, neither of our last three head coaches, for different reasons, was up to the task of running a football program the magnitude of the Volunteer program. However, there are good qualified coaches to lead this program that are current head coaches in the SEC, head coaches at other major programs, head coaches at smaller programs, assistants at many levels of coaching…..Mr. Currie’s charge is to find that right fit, that right person to lead this football program. Doug Dickey was a young assistant from Arkansas, John Majors was a proven national champion from Pittsburgh (with a slight Volunteer background) and Phillip Fulmer was a 13 year Tennessee assistant……three different backgrounds but all were superb head coaches that represented this university well and won championships while doing so. Bottom line…. good coaches come from all parts of the country, from all levels of coaching and can be young, old or in between. We just need a “coach”.
What would be my advice to John Currie…..consider doing the following: 1) along with what you have learned as an assistant athletic director and athletic director, consult with experienced people in compiling a list of candidates (I am sure this has been done) 2) When that list is compiled and interviews are set ask Phillip Fulmer, Peyton Manning, and Charles Davis to sit across the table from each individual candidate. You should want all three men, with their own different backgrounds in football, to probe, grill and question each candidate and at the end of the day give you their opinion of each candidate’s worthiness to be their next head coach. I trust each of these three men to not only ask the right questions but also to give their athletic director their honest and best opinion and recommendation on who they would hire. Everyone reading this knows my relationship with Coach Fulmer and some may think my inclusion of Phillip is because of that friendship…..sounds reasonable but here are the facts when it comes to a prospective football coach taking a serious look at this job I know this….the first person they will call will be Phillip Fulmer. No person coaching in today’s football will take this job without getting the skinny from a guy highly respected in the coaching profession. One way or the other Coach Fulmer will be involved and Mr. Currie would be wise IMO to get him in on the front end. In my mind Phillip Fulmer, Peyton Manning and Charles Davis are the BWG….the “Best We Got” at the University of Tennessee…..and finally # 3) lean on these three men and then make your own decision on who our next coach will be and give that recommendation to your reporting authority….Dr Beverly Davenport. It would be approved or she should be looking for another athletic director. Tennessee’s athletic director, the job you applied and was hired for……that is your job!
In the end this should be John Currie’s hire…..right, wrong or in between. If this is not his decision then we don’t need an athletic director we simply need a fund raiser. Hall of fame players can give advice and suggestions, former coaches can do the same, wealthy donors will put their two cents in the discussion, the president and chancellor could lean one way the other or probably both, media personalities will debate the wisdom in the hire, but when it’s all said and done this hire will be John Currie’s hire. Few will be around to share in the blame if this hire goes south. As that famous coach from Italy Tacitus said in 98 AD “success has many fathers….failure is an orphan”. If this next football hire is successful many will take credit…..if unsuccessful athletic director will be the orphan….and no one wants the John Currie era to start with a bad head football coaching hire.
John has two very different examples of athletic directors that have preceded him to consider…..he can choose to be like Bob Woodruff and Doug Dickey and run his own ship or he can choose to be like those who followed Dickey and let others tell him what to do. The former two retired at Tennessee and are treasured, revered…….the two that followed not so much. John Currie has seen both sides…he worked for Doug Dickey and he worked for the man that followed Dickey
In conclusion this is what 40+ years of lessons have taught me…..the people who insured John got the job as athletic director, who hired him, who own the plane that flew John and his family in to accept that job are the people that history (lessons) says will tell John what they want done in this decision. After this hire we will soon know the answer to this question…Who is actually running the athletic department?
Let’s Talk next week….By the way the timeline for the new hire is somewhere around December 10th, give or take a few days.
