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johnlg00 writes:

in response to BradleyJKinkaid:

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least someone has come out on the national scene and mentioned what is one of the underlying issues affecting the football program (which has affected hiring of coaches AND recruiting top notch players).

I don't claim to know things about this, but this is a big issue that needs to be explored and written about in the media. Maybe someone already did and I missed it but I don't think so.

I am happy with Butch Jones, I like him, and I think he has what it takes. IF he succeeds, he will have done so with what appears to be obstacles to the football program/athletic dept. that other school don't have.

I don't understand the fine details of what Maisel wrote about, but these issues surfaced just about the time Dooley was fired, when the Borad of Trustees met.

The issue needs EXPOSURE, and the fans need to put PRESSURE on the administration for some clear answers that we can understand. I'm all for athletes being held to academic standards, BUT if there are unrealistic expectations being placed on athletics by Jimmy Cheek (and obviously there are others there who have his back), the question becomes, "why?".

I've heard J Cheek wants UT to become a "research university". If I'm speaking out of ignorance please forgive me. I don't understand the fine print here, but my suspicion is that Cheek wants to take the school in this direction to receive funding.
(Here's an article I pulled up on Google: http://education.stateuniversity.com/...)

The more I hear the more something stinks within the administration.

I only took the time to write this so hopefully us, the fans will begin to ask more questions about what this stuff means so we can have a clearer understanding AND if someone is trying to push something across that could be detrimental to the athletic program, more people need to know. I'm not advocating athletics above academics, but surely they can exist without what seems to me a clear disadvantage to the AD at UT.

I would like to try to address some of the points you raised. For one thing, UT athletics has been far more generous in giving to the academic side than other schools mainly because, at least until recently, it was one of the few big-time programs that operated in the black out of its own funding. It had funds to spare for such purposes when other programs did not. Given the currently less-favorable balance between expenses--including a highly unusual outlay for coach buyouts--and declining revenues because of the weak economy and weak performance on the field, the UTAD found it necessary to temporarily suspend its gifts to the academic side.

Most people who don't follow higher education on a regular basis may not realize that state funding for public colleges and universities has been declining for decades. I heard a report on the University of Virginia that stated that state funding made up only about 10% of the school's operating expenses. I don't know exactly what the comparable figure would be for UT, but this is happening all over the country. The idea of turning UT into a "research university" is indeed tied directly to the school's need to make up the shortfall in public funding, as are the huge increases in tuition and fees for students.

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