Hamilton discusses UT future

Mike Hamilton will celebrate his fifth anniversary as Tennessee's athletic director next month.

And you don't have to look hard to find his fingerprints all over the athletic department. Facility upgrades and hiring men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl are two of the top entries on his resume.

Hamilton discussed Pearl, the change in the UCLA game and football coach Phillip Fulmer's quest to best Gen. Robert Neyland on Wednesday on the News Sentinel's radio show, The Sports Page.

On fans being overly concerned that Pearl will leave for another school.

"The thing that we have to get to as Tennessee fans is we have to quit having an inferiority complex about this basketball job. This is a good basketball job.

This has been made better with what Bruce has done in the last three years - significantly better in the last three years - but this is a really good place to coach basketball."

On when fans will move past that inferiority complex.

"In two or three years when Bruce has been here six years and we have maybe been to an Elite Eight or a Final Four or won a national championship and it is clear that he is here for the long haul, and it is clear that our success is here for the long haul, I think that is when we get beyond it.

When you have, prior to Bruce, what was it, five coaches in 15 years? I think it is pretty easy to develop a little bit of that complex. You begin to wonder if it is ever going to happen for us. Well it is going to happen and it is a matter now of having a consistent face on the program, and that is what we are trying to accomplish."

On Pearl's commitment to UT, does it apply to all other schools or just the jobs he's been presented with?

"My hunch is it applies to everything. I can't get inside the workings of a person's mind but I think Bruce realizes that what he has created here is pretty special and he can achieve all of his life's dreams (at UT).

You're selling out a building with 21,000 in there every night and really creating a new legacy. We have had tradition and success at Tennessee but there is another level that we can achieve. Bruce is doing the things that can get us to that next level, so why not create your own thing?

If you go to Indiana, you are following in the footsteps of Bob Knight and if you go to Kansas it is Roy Williams and Bill Self and all the other great coaches that have been there, but why not create your own legacy here at Tennessee, and I think he realizes that opportunity already exists?"

On the discussions Hamilton has had with Pearl about raises.

"A year ago we had the conversation about if we want to have a business relationship or do we want to have a partnership.

A business relationship is you come in and say you want "x" dollars and that is the way it is, and an AD has to make a decision whether they are willing to pay that with what they are getting.

A partnership is a different level beyond that. A partnership is an understanding that you are working together towards an end and you are getting the support you need, and I got your back and you got my back."

On what he says to fans upset about the recent change in UT's football schedule, in which the UCLA game was moved to Labor Day to accommodate television.

"Truly sorry. I know that people buy tickets in advance and in some cases have non-refundable tickets or get change fees and that is something that I am sorry about.

We felt like the exposure for our program was so significant, given that we are a program that seeks national television exposure for recruiting purposes.<0x00A0>We want to recruit nationally, therefore we want intersectional games on national television. That was the overriding factor in the final decision,<0x00A0>to get that national exposure."

On the significance of Fulmer passing Gen. Robert Neyland in all-time wins. Fulmer has 147 career wins. Neyland had 173.

"Neyland is the icon here in football and the gold standard. For Phillip to have the chance to achieve that type of win total is significant for him personally and is significant for the athletic program.

I think that is an aspiration of his. He is 27 wins away, so that is achievable. Once he gets to that level he has to decide if he wants to coach until he gets to 200 wins, which would not be that far down the road."

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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