Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt was introduced during a timeout at the Vols basketball game on Saturday Mike Wilson/News Sentinel
David Blackburn was my favorite for the Tennessee athletic director's job after the Vols parted company with AD Dave Hart.
Blackburn was then the athletic director at Chattanooga and also had considerable experience in a variety of athletic administrative jobs at UT. Moreover, he had a great track record for hiring coaches.
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I didn't think much about former UT football coach Phillip Fulmer as a candidate, mainly because he lacked administrative experience.
My preference didn't matter when UT swooped into Manhattan, Kan., and brought back John Currie as its athletic director.
But after last week, I'm having second thoughts about how I view the AD job. Maybe university chancellors and presidents should, too.
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I don't know how newly hired Jeremy Pruitt will fare as Tennessee's head coach. And I don't know how Fulmer will fare as an athletic director.
However, I appreciate the way Fulmer hired a coach.
Just a week earlier, UT Chancellor Beverly Davenport fired Currie and named Fulmer as her new AD. Six days later, he had his coach.
It wasn't the coach I expected.
Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele is a friend and former coaching colleague of Fulmer's. But Steele didn't get the job. Instead, Fulmer chose an Alabama defensive coordinator over a Vol for Life.
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Remember, Fulmer is old school when it comes to Tennessee football. And UT's old-school rival is Alabama. Yet Fulmer set the rivalry aside, just like he set his history with Steele aside, and hired the man he thought would do the best job.
That was impressive.
That made me wonder how things would have gone if Tennessee had hired Fulmer as its athletic director instead of Hart in 2011. One thing for sure: He wouldn't have scrapped the Lady Vols name for all sports except women's basketball. He knew the history. He appreciated the brand too much.
Imagine how much pain that would have spared the Tennessee fan base.
Currie later reinstated "Lady Vols" for all sports. He wasn't as successful in a bewildering coaching search that ended with his firing, rather than a hiring.
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Fulmer's coaching search was as simple as one coach hiring another coach.
Although it's no longer fashionable to have a former football coach as your athletic director, Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez is a rare exception. And the Badgers are doing OK in football.
So is Alabama under Nick Saban, who was hired by former Alabama assistant football coach Mal Moore.
And in my 30 years of covering UT football, its best athletic director has been former football coach Doug Dickey.
University of Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt speaks about who he sees as the Vols' opponents during his introduction ceremony in the Neyland Stadium Peyton Manning Locker Room Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.
Perhaps, UT should rethink the structure of its athletic department. It might be better off with an AD just for football and another administrator for every other sport in the department.
As important as football is, wouldn't that make sense?
An athletic director for football could lighten the load for his coach. He could serve as a liaison between the coach and all the peripheral staff members who require his attention, though they have nothing to do with whether he wins or loses on Saturday.
And if Tennessee made Fulmer an AD for football, he might be willing to work beyond his two-year contract as athletic director.
Reach John Adams at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @johnadamskns.
The Tennessee coaching search has gone through a tumultuous week. Angela Gosnell/News Sentinel
Tennessee has named former head football coach Phil Fulmer as the athletics director. Wochit
John Currie is out as the Tennessee athletic director after eight months on the job and one chaotic week of a football coaching search, according to media reports. Angela Gosnell/News Sentinel
Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt has been hired as the next coach at Tennessee. Wochit
Les Miles' name has surfaced in connection with Tennessee's football coaching opening. Here's five things to know about the former LSU coach. Wochit
As Tennessee football's coaching search rolls on, the Vols and athletic director Phillip Fulmer could turn their sights on former quarterback and current Southern Cal offensive coordinator Tee Martin. Angela Gosnell/News Sentinel
As Tennessee football's coaching search rolls on, the Vols and athletic director John Currie reportedly turned their sights on Washington State coach Mike Leach. Angela Gosnell/News Sentinel
As Tennessee football's coaching search rolls on, the Vols and athletic director John Currie could turn their sights on Kevin Sumlin. Angela Gosnell/News Sentinel
More than 100 people gathered outside Neyland Stadium on Nov. 26, then marched on Anderson Training Center to express outrage after reports surfaced that Tennessee is finalizing a deal to hire Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano. Calvin Mattheis
Jauan Jennings on Sunday drove by a crowd who, minutes earlier, had chanted "Free Jauan." The UT Vols released Jennings after he posted a profanity-laced rant to Instagram. He has since apologized. Submitted / Twitter user @witness781
A timeline of Tennessee's coaching search
Phil Fulmer named Vols athletics director
John Currie out as Tennessee athletic director
UT Vols: 5 things to know about Jeremy Pruitt
UT Vols football: 5 things to know about Les Miles
5 things to know about Tee Martin
5 things to know about Mike Leach
5 things to know about Kevin Sumlin
Crowd speaks out against Greg Schiano, calls for John Currie's firing
Jauan Jennings drives by Sunday's protest of Greg Schiano