John Currie Question

[#1fulmerite]

For those who understand how things work, more so in corporate America, with all that went down here, how in the world was he able to rebound as well as he did? How does someone deflect his short amount of time here and how disastrous it was? Did his accomplishments at K-State overshadow this? Mike Hamilton left and was no where near athletics. So, help me understand.

 

[DaddyChad]

Currie had a history at Wake before. Also had a history of success at KState. Hamilton was simply a yes man for Haslam at Tennessee. I will add a caveat as well, he went on to do a lot of good for charity.

 

[Chitlin&theDude]

Currie handled the hiring of the football coach so poorly that he had to be fired. In his defense we were operating a rudderless ship at the time with our then chancellor and prez. But he definitely did one great thing.... he hired Tony V.

 

[P.O.T.S. VOL]

I feel like DC and CD are spot on here...the thing to me is he had a somewhat decent rep... somewhat ....not great by any means....not done anything great...but I can't recall him really screwing anything up...prior to us that is....I could be wrong....but after the rains fell....I feel like people in the know... people looking to hire someone....could see the Sh!t Storm he inherited... mostly lack of very highly paid people to do one thing....THEIR FREAKING JOB...so I think he was given a second chance...kind of like Clawson.

 

[Boca Vol]

I feel like DC and CD are spot on here...the thing to me is he had a somewhat decent rep... somewhat ....not great by any means....not done anything great...but I can't recall him really screwing anything up...prior to us that is....I could be wrong....but after the rains fell....I feel like people in the know... people looking to hire someone....could see the Sh!t Storm he inherited... mostly lack of very highly paid people to do one thing....THEIR FREAKING JOB...so I think he was given a second chance...kind of like Clawson.

Not to derail the thread but hiring Clawson was simply a bad move by Fulmer. Clawson is a very good coach, just not the right fit for UT.

Imaging Peyton Manning going to Nebraska. Manning was a great QB. Nebraska was great at running the wishbone. That would not have worked well.

 

[njvols]

Not to derail the thread but hiring Clawson was simply a bad move by Fulmer. Clawson is a very good coach, just not the right fit for UT.

Imaging Peyton Manning going to Nebraska. Manning was a great QB. Nebraska was great at running the wishbone. That would not have worked well.

For Currie, just like w/ Clawson, everything is about situational timing. Clawson probably would have been fine if Fulmer got out of his way...Fulmer, as with many, his greatest strength was his greatest weakness. He liked full control of everything...which worked well until the model of success changed and he stuck to thinking old ways would always work. Currie probably would have been fine too if we weren't muddled in the most dysfunctional time in UT sports. You need a lightning rod to bring you out of the swamp, and up until present day, we didn't have competent AD/Coaches which were all aligned with cohesive administrative support. I wonder if JH came in during the Dooley/Butch years how he'd have fared w/ lackluster AD/admin support.

 

[TAF]

Dude...

Corporate America" is FILLED with folks that are incompetent yet climb the "ladder of success" EVERYDAY!

Oh...and Politics, too!

It's NOT what you know (or don't know) ...it's WHO you know!

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

AD’s haven’t been disastrous
Hart hired Barnes
Currie hired Tony
Fulmer renewed Barnes somehow even though he was halfway out the door with his Uhaul loaded for UCLA
White-need I say more?

Although each of these also had some terrible decisions, all 4 got us to where we are now.

It takes a village (sometimes of idiots and mistakes) to raise an elite program.

One of the last radio interviews Pat Summitt ever did, she said she hoped the Lady Vols win multiple championships, but more concerned with the individual student athletes graduating and going out into the world confidently.

So we also can’t lose perspective in that regard. Even with the mess of NIL, I think the leaders of UT are simply continuing and replicating that motto. That and I’ve also noticed an uptick in winning our state in recruiting again.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

People, places, timing and situations weigh heavily on the scale for dictating success or failure.
Now, Corporate America . . .naw, I better not say anything about that.

 

[driscokid]

For those who understand how things work, more so in corporate America, with all that went down here, how in the world was he able to rebound as well as he did? How does someone deflect his short amount of time here and how disastrous it was? Did his accomplishments at K-State overshadow this? Mike Hamilton left and was no where near athletics. So, help me understand.

I think it’s a lot about a good fit. He did not fit in at TN. Wake is more his type place. Here he never really grasped the concept that perception wise football is king and all else follows (even when the football team isn’t that good and other sports are better)

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

Dude...

Corporate America" is FILLED with folks that are incompetent yet climb the "ladder of success" EVERYDAY!

Oh...and Politics, too!

It's NOT what you know (or don't know) ...it's WHO you know!

Peter Principle Unbound (subtitle “sometimes the glass ceiling is warranted”)

 

[DaddyChad]

I think it’s a lot about a good fit. He did not fit in at TN. Wake is more his type place. Here he never really grasped the concept that perception wise football is king and all else follows (even when the football team isn’t that good and other sports are better)

Idk. I think the AD was much different then than now. One booster had a little too much say. Our power base was pretty divided bc of that. You had Anderson and Fulmer pretty much stage a coup in forcing Haslam out of power there. Currie much like those before him was doing what he was allowed to do as far as football. I think even White as good as he’s been would’ve struggled in that time period. We have much better leadership and a much more aligned power structure now behind them.

 

[onevol74]

Fulmer did not renew Barnes. Randy Boyd stepped in and saved our BB program after Fulmer was about to destroy it and let Barnes walk out the door. Fulmer was a disaster as AD.

AD’s haven’t been disastrous
Hart hired Barnes
Currie hired Tony
Fulmer renewed Barnes somehow even though he was halfway out the door with his Uhaul loaded for UCLA
White-need I say more?

Although each of these also had some terrible decisions, all 4 got us to where we are now.

It takes a village (sometimes of idiots and mistakes) to raise an elite program.

One of the last radio interviews Pat Summitt ever did, she said she hoped the Lady Vols win multiple championships, but more concerned with the individual student athletes graduating and going out into the world confidently.

So we also can’t lose perspective in that regard. Even with the mess of NIL, I think the leaders of UT are simply continuing and replicating that motto. That and I’ve also noticed an uptick in winning our state in recruiting again.

 

[turbovol]

For those who understand how things work, more so in corporate America, with all that went down here, how in the world was he able to rebound as well as he did? How does someone deflect his short amount of time here and how disastrous it was? Did his accomplishments at K-State overshadow this? Mike Hamilton left and was no where near athletics. So, help me understand.

Disastrous? How so? We had the most disastrously embarrassing moment in the history of UT athletics when he was athletic director, to be sure--but that was solely caused by irrational fans, clowns in the Tennessee legislature--and with an assist, no doubt, from the job-seeking Fulmer. And we saw how that played out....lousy coach hired, trouble with the NCAA, and Fulmer a lousy athletic director. And remind me who hired Vitello? I had no doubt that Currie would get hired by another good school.

 

[bpalmer28]

Currie was undermined and used as a scapegoat imo

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

And lets not forget, Fulmer, with his impeccable timing, stepped in to 'save the day' when Currie screwed up the FB hiring to get the AD job after Currie was fired. So we had back to back AD disasters.

 

[DaddyChad]

Disastrous? How so? We had the most disastrously embarrassing moment in the history of UT athletics when he was athletic director, to be sure--but that was solely caused by irrational fans, clowns in the Tennessee legislature--and with an assist, no doubt, from the job-seeking Fulmer. And we saw how that played out....lousy coach hired, trouble with the NCAA, and Fulmer a lousy athletic director. And remind me who hired Vitello? I had no doubt that Currie would get hired by another good school.

Schiano would’ve been a disaster as well. This clowns and fans stood up for what they believed in. I don’t really pin that on Currie, he was hiring who Haslam allowed him to:

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Schiano's HC coaching record since the UT debacle has not been impressive. Have to agree with DC, he would have just been another Butch Jones or worse. The Penn St thing is probably always going to follow him by association, deservedly or not .

 

[kptvol1452]

Not to derail the thread but hiring Clawson was simply a bad move by Fulmer. Clawson is a very good coach, just not the right fit for UT.

Imaging Peyton Manning going to Nebraska. Manning was a great QB. Nebraska was great at running the wishbone. That would not have worked well.

Coach Fulmer did not make great hires...Clawson was good coach but not right fit Vols.,..
Not going diss CPF won a natty should have won more with talent TN had for yrs.....

 

[volbound1700]

For Currie, just like w/ Clawson, everything is about situational timing. Clawson probably would have been fine if Fulmer got out of his way...Fulmer, as with many, his greatest strength was his greatest weakness. He liked full control of everything...which worked well until the model of success changed and he stuck to thinking old ways would always work. Currie probably would have been fine too if we weren't muddled in the most dysfunctional time in UT sports. You need a lightning rod to bring you out of the swamp, and up until present day, we didn't have competent AD/Coaches which were all aligned with cohesive administrative support. I wonder if JH came in during the Dooley/Butch years how he'd have fared w/ lackluster AD/admin support.

Clawson never got a great chance IMO. He had only one game (UCLA) to really be in control and I think he lost it after that game. The UCLA game was such a bad loss that it totally put our coaching/player situation in turmoil for the rest of the year and started the downward spiral.

I know Clay Travis isn't well respected but he did write a book about the 2008 team that gives great insight into the situation. That UCLA loss hung over them like a rainstorm all year.

 

[volbound1700]

Disastrous? How so? We had the most disastrously embarrassing moment in the history of UT athletics when he was athletic director, to be sure--but that was solely caused by irrational fans, clowns in the Tennessee legislature--and with an assist, no doubt, from the job-seeking Fulmer. And we saw how that played out....lousy coach hired, trouble with the NCAA, and Fulmer a lousy athletic director. And remind me who hired Vitello? I had no doubt that Currie would get hired by another good school.

A lot of it was Clay Travis that started it just like he ran off Cuonzo Martin. I agree that the embarrassment was on TN fans/boosters but I have some sympathy with the fanbase being out of patience.

Schiano would have definitely been a better pick than Pruitt in hindsight.

The current administration is able to balance the boosters and stop the infighting that plagued our current program for decades. It seems like the Haslams and all parties are behind Danny White and letting him run the ship. Tennessee is in good hands now.

John Currie was likely a good AD that walked into the wrong environment at the wrong time. Tennessee was a sinking ship and it should have never been in that spot if not for all the mis-management that turned Tennessee into a second-tier SEC program. Danny White has done wonders to get the ship afloat again.

 

[turbovol]

Schiano's HC coaching record since the UT debacle has not been impressive. Have to agree with DC, he would have just been another Butch Jones or worse. The Penn St thing is probably always going to follow him by association, deservedly or not .

Nobody knows what kind of coach he would have been--and this idea that the fans knew is both nonsense and irrelevant. The bottom line is that AD's make decisions, and their decisions are accepted by fans. Fans aren't always thrilled with the AD's choice--that's been true for all schools for ages, but it's the way it's always been done. Fans could have revolted when Dooley was announced--or Jones? ADs don't present fans with a list of candidates and have them vote on their preferred choice. So how the fans think Schiano or anybody will do is completely irrelevant. And we saw how it all evolved with Fulmer--a second disaster after the first.

 

[ru4real-really?]

Curry screwed up the FB coach hire???? You gotta be kidding! He hired Mike Leach before Fulmer got involved! Where might we be right now if Fulmer had been able to control himself! We might still have Mike Leach and championships!!!

 

[Orangethumb]

No one really cared about baseball and Currie was allowed to hire who he wanted.

The Schiano revolt happened because the fans had already been through Dooley and Jones. He may have been better than Pruitt but I don't see it. Another "pro-style" coach who would have been .500 overall and the bottom of the SEC with losses against all of our rivals.

 

[dobre_shunka]

Curry screwed up the FB coach hire???? You gotta be kidding! He hired Mike Leach before Fulmer got involved! Where might we be right now if Fulmer had been able to control himself! We might still have Mike Leach and championships!!!

Are you aware Mike Leach died suddenly in 2022 and left MSU in a mess trying to find a coach? And they are on their 2nd head coach since his death.