Bad University presidents hire bad Chancellors who hire bad AD's who hire bad coaches. Jimmy Cheek was the worst administrator in UT history. His bad hires cost us millions of dollars in coaching severance packages, loss of championships, & lost donor & ticket & concessions revenue in football, basketball, baseball, & other sports.
Cheek chafed as an academician in agriculture, if that's not an oxymoron, when Spurrier came to Florida. Their president, Lombardi, who went on to be LSU's president, after doubling UF's student population under his leadership, promoted Spurrier's success in football in recruiting students, alumni, donors, state appropriations for new buildings & professors, etc. Cheek was insanely jealous of all that & vowed to suppress athletics & make it subservient when was unwisely hired as UTK Chancellor. His administration was an abject disaster.
Not only did he fire Pearl, he also hired Martin & Tyndall & many other bad coaches in basketball, Dooley & Jones in football, & tried to hire many other bad ones. He also tried to extend Hart's contract as AD before DiPietro intervened. Cheek was an abject failure that needs to have his center court seats in basketball taken away. He's cost us way too much. His goals were all wrong & never got accomplished anyway.
