Welcome to the new coach. I'm not going to say it's a bad hire as only time will tell. I will say it is a surprise hire. I really hope he succeeds.
I still say Hammy should be fired. Not because of this hire, or at least not only because of this hire, but because he has yet to prove himself at being able to handle the ATHLETIC side of the athletic dept. Yes, he is a great fundraiser, but that's going to dry up if the wins don't start coming soon.
Martin is not a proven commodity. He may succeed, he may not. Don't get me wrong, I like the stats I've seen, but he's not proven at this level. I like Dooley, but he's still not a proven commodity. He doesn't have a winning record yet and who can be 100% certain he will work out. I don't really follow UT baseball, but I see many on here criticizing Raleigh. Hamilton has yet to hit a homerun with any of his hires.
Maybe I expect too much, but I think the UT AD should be held to a high standard and the current state of UT athletics does not sit well with me. Football is rebuilding after falling apart under the watch of Mike Hamilton. Basketball will now have to rebuild after the actions of Bruce Pearl, but, again, it happenned under Hamilton's watch. The common denominator is Mike Hamilton. It's time for him to go.
Even his PR skills are poorly lacking. He made a mess of the Fulmer ouster. He looked like a complete idiot after the Kiffin debacle. He submarined the basketball program two days before the tournament and drew criticism from every sports commentator I heard. He has not brought a good spotlight to UT. He has continuously left us looking bad to the rest of the nation. ESPN may or may not hate us, but if they do, Hamilton has provided them with lots of ammunition to use over the years.
I just believe Hamilton has left us with egg on our face too many times. I have no faith in him. IMO, he is not the man to be running our athletic department. I hope Cheek, or the BoT, or Haslam will come to the same conclusion and end this.
