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creekroad writes:

in response to DukeDeLuca2:

Mike Hamilton consolidated his power when he was named AD. He swept out most people with UT backgrounds. He fired or forced the retirement of almost everyone with a longer tenure at UT than himself.

With Phil Fulmer's retirement in the not too distant future, and the Fulmer's next stop appearing to be as the next UT athletic director, he gave Phil a nice raise just before a humiliating dismissal in the middle of the season. I suppose that softened the blow for Coach Fulmer, but it's evident that the wrong man left the UT athletic department.

I was told by a lifetime staffer (since forced into retirement) about six years ago that Hamilton was running UT down a shaky financial road. He said we would pay the piper about now. It turned out to be true.

Regardless of where our debt load might be in relation to other SEC schools, the athletic department was run with quiet recklessness during the Hamilton administration. The proof is in the bottom line.

Mike Hamilton is in Africa and is hopefully doing good things there.

I don't know how far that is from Knoxville, but I like the idea that he's in Africa and not on the UT campus.

All of the above is absolutely correct. Additionally, he completely alienated alumni by disassociating the athletic department (ie: Big Orange Club) from the Alumni Association.

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