quote:

He's a lot better than he looks on paper. In fact, UT kind of sent him away to UTC because he needed to get some higher level experience and experience away from UTK if he was ever to become our AD (there are a lot of people who feel this has been the path for him from day one) but from people that have dealt with him before he's whip smart and knows how to manage his coaches. We've went an entire year with no real AD. Dave Hart was brought in to be a hatchet man not a permanent hire and while he's been good at being brutal budget wise, he's sucked at about everything else. He doesn't understand UT and his tone deafness has hurt him and the entire AD.

Truthfully, we haven't had an AD that understood UT since Doug Dickey retired and we've gone downhill ever since. Blackburn understands UT but more importantly he understands that you have to protect your programs and even your coaches and often when it comes to coaches you have to protect them from themselves. Hart has been a lame duck all year and even prior to his contract non-renewal/retirement he was an AD who was heavy handed with smaller programs while not actually helping his coaches. He didn't know how to protect a coach from him or herself.

Blackburn, OTOH, knows sports management AND people. He will guide his coaches and be forceful when he needs to be without being the ironfist that Hart could be when it came to money. From the day Hart announced his retirement, he's been the only candidate UT people have wanted. He's the type of AD who can help CBJ much the same way Dickey helped Fulmer. Hell I date tDecline as starting with Dickey's retirement. A lot of folks don't realize the power a good AD wields. They can make or break a coach and I don't just mean by controlling their purse strings and hiring.

UT desperately needs to get this hire right. It's even more important than the football coach right now. (Oh and he'll also kick Holly's arse into gear or make damn sure we get the best coach not named Geno to lead our LVs).

Okay, gotcha. A good administrator is sometimes better than a good coach. Bama springs to mind when talking about how an AD can change the fortunes of the entire program. Good luck to y'all. I'm still going to troll because that's what God told me, Dan Akroyd, and John Belushi to do, of course.

So the financial crisis is over, or looking to be over soon?