Jimmy Cheek was undoubtedly the worst administrator in UT's history

[CAVPUT]

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.

So....how's the view out there in left field?

 

[#1fulmerite]

Most people don’t know this but Joe Johnson was under Andy Holt. The best we have ever had. He was the Neyland of the non football part of Tennessee!

 

[#1fulmerite]

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[DaddyChad]

When I think of incompetence, I always think of Mike Hamilton.

Mike just did what the Haslam’s told him to. Much like Hart and Currie.

 

[#1fulmerite]

Cheek had a vision of making Tennessee a top 25 research university and that was all he cared about. The University is the land grant university for Tennessee whose original mission is to improve education & quality of life for citizens of the state. Under Cheek, admission requirements were raised so high many outstanding in-state students chose other schools (many other SEC rivals) due to these and/or lack of scholarships. The decline had begun long before him but he was equally inept.

Most don’t know the Land Grant instructions were actually formed to teach agriculture and, added in “Mechanics” which was for military so that Lincoln would sign the Morrill act.

The actual downturn for us began with Shumaker as he wanted us to be @the Harvard of the South” where as former president Johnson said any child from Tennessee that wanted to attend UT could. Getting back to Shumaker, he is the one that implemented the chancellor position for the Knoxville campus so that his lazy ass could pass work to someone else. He also called a hasty meeting to announce Hamilton as AD because he was going on vacation and didn’t want to be bothered. That was a surprise, even to the company that was hired to bring finalist to the position.

Peterson carried on next and got into a pissing contest with Crabtree, the then Knoxville Chancellor, over who controlled UT athletics on the hill. When he forced him out, the senate Faculty turned on him like a pack of dogs on a hog.

What most don’t realize, Cheek and DiPetrio were both major players in the UF college of Ag. Once the state legislature lowered the number of trustees and took power from Haslam. Once the house was cleaned from the top all the way down to the athletic department, we were able to take off!

 

[Savannahbayvol]

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.

Good points but he didn't fire Pearl, Pearly fired himself by lying about an innocuous Bar BQ that the NCAA had pictures of. How could you keep a coach that the NCAA put a 3 year show cause on?

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

Great post!

Gilley was a mess from the get-go but it was Shumaker that began the change for UT to increase standards for incoming freshman in order to make is more competitive with the Ivy League schools. The reason for this was to be eligible for different types and amounts of grants and (sponsorships). Peterson is the one that split up each of the campuses to specialize. He also had the worst ego of all!

UT is not and never has been competing with Ivy League schools, nor have we tried. There’s nothing wrong with trying to be a top 50 school. For all of Cheek’s many egregious faults, striving for that isn’t one of them.

 

[LAVol1]

Good points but he didn't fire Pearl, Pearly fired himself by lying about an innocuous Bar BQ that the NCAA had pictures of. How could you keep a coach that the NCAA put a 3 year show cause on?

You go to war for him against the NCAA, set strict standards for him to meet, and then you lock him up under a long-term contract and you have the best basketball program in the land for years to come with a coach who energizes the fanbase and produces championships. Pearl is a flawed individual, but aren't we all. He learned his lesson. He's a good person and a great leader in spite of his flaws. I root for him any time he's not pitted against the Vols.

 

[Dansky]

Mike just did what the Haslam’s told him to. Much like Hart and Currie.

Mostly bs

 

[ptcarter]

UT is not and never has been competing with Ivy League schools, nor have we tried. There’s nothing wrong with trying to be a top 50 school. For all of Cheek’s many egregious faults, striving for that isn’t one of them.

As I age, and look back over my experience in the "work force" and also what I see on the media, I'd go so far as to say the Ivey leagues aren't as good as they once were. I think there is a part of academia that really knows what they are doing and yes, it helps to have good instructors, but just because you got a diploma from a school with a great reputation, doesn't mean you are the cream of the crop. Right out of college, I worked in a Steel Mill with a couple of Georgia Tech grads. One was really a good engineer and I was impressed. The other had no common sense and was always having to be 'helped'. In a lot of cases, it's more the person than the school. Work ethic goes a long way. Here's an interesting take:

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

As I age, and look back over my experience in the "work force" and also what I see on the media, I'd go so far as to say the Ivey leagues aren't as good as they once were. I think there is a part of academia that really knows what they are doing and yes, it helps to have good instructors, but just because you got a diploma from a school with a great reputation, doesn't mean you are the cream of the crop. Right out of college, I worked in a Steel Mill with a couple of Georgia Tech grads. One was really a good engineer and I was impressed. The other had no common sense and was always having to be 'helped'. In a lot of cases, it's more the person than the school. Work ethic goes a long way. Here's an interesting take:

There are definitely a lot of people who figured school out but can’t apply it in the real world. I would say most of us on this board probably don’t live and work in locations or industries where Ivy Leaguers ever really prioritized though.

 

[walkenvol]

You go to war for him against the NCAA, set strict standards for him to meet, and then you lock him up under a long-term contract and you have the best basketball program in the land for years to come with a coach who energizes the fanbase and produces championships. Pearl is a flawed individual, but aren't we all. He learned his lesson. He's a good person and a great leader in spite of his flaws. I root for him any time he's not pitted against the Vols.

IIRC, this was a repeat offense that he was caught doing before coming to UT. Probably why he tried so hard to hide what appeared to be a minor infraction? Maybe 3rd times a charm and he now has “learned his lesson”? Definitely payed a huge penalty for his mistake at UT.

 

[LAVol1]

IIRC, this was a repeat offense that he was caught doing before coming to UT. Probably why he tried so hard to hide what appeared to be a minor infraction? Maybe 3rd times a charm and he now has “learned his lesson”? Definitely payed a huge penalty for his mistake at UT.

Searched the internet and can't find where the NCAA investigated Pearl for anything prior to the incident at UT. While an assistant at Iowa, he turned in Illinois for paying a recruit but the NCAA said they couldn't corroborate the tape recording of the recruit admitting to Pearl that he took inducements.