Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess
Mike Hamilton listens during his press conference where he announced his resignation as UT athletic director.
Sunglasses over his eyes and his Blackberry nowhere in sight, Mike Hamilton sat casually with his feet propped up on the dashboard of his golf cart Friday afternoon.
A few moments of rest spent in between holes of his annual charity golf tournament couldn't have symbolized the former Tennessee athletic director's past two months any better.
"I think maybe a couple gray hairs have gone away," Hamilton joked.
The sense of calm that took hold immediately after he resigned in June is what made waiting for the Committee on Infractions' ruling so easy for Hamilton. After slogging through all 22 months of the NCAA's investigation, and then waiting even longer for the school's hearing, Hamilton said he was actually pleasantly surprised that it came down Wednesday, and not some time later in September.
But as much as Hamilton has separated himself from UT and the spotlight since his resignation, he still had a sense of validation and closure when the NCAA upheld the university's self-imposed penalties and issued no further sanctions.
"You want it to come on out and want to be as you hoped it would be," Hamilton said in his first public comments since his resignation. "Given what we have gone through, the compliments the university received for how we interacted with the NCAA during the infractions process were validating when it relates to our compliance."
UT's acting vice chancellor of athletics Joan Cronan singled out Hamilton as a "key factor" throughout the investigation.
On Friday, Hamilton deferred the credit to UT's compliance staff.
"This situation we were involved in was a very specific scenario involving personalities. Good people who made mistakes, unfortunate mistakes," Hamilton said. "In the end, I hope that going forward in the NCAA that is the process. If it's individual-specific, let the individuals bear more of the brunt of the charges."
Former men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who received a three-year show-cause penalty that will make it extremely difficult to obtain a college coaching job during that period, was that individual. And that's what Hamilton said he ultimately anticipated — give or take a year — after going through the June hearing.
"He'll get through that," Hamilton said. "Bruce is going to be successful in whatever he does."
At a press conference from his driveway Thursday, Pearl harped on the infamous "bump" violation that was alleged against him and former assistant Tony Jones in February's Notice of Allegations, which caught UT's administration by surprise. Pearl said the timing of the alleged violation, which was ultimately contested and dropped during the June hearing, "led directly to the termination of my coaching staff."
Hamilton wouldn't confirm Pearl's statement and wouldn't speculate on what might have happened if the violation was never alleged.
"I don't think we're in to revisionist history," Hamilton said. "It's an accumulation of things. It's regretful we ended up there."
Hamilton, though, echoed Pearl's sentiments about the "flaws" in the NCAA's investigatory system.
"The NCAA has to do what they need to do to play it all out, go down the bunny trails they have to go down to complete an investigation," Hamilton said. "For those of us who are involved in it, particularly when it's a secret process, it's really hard because there's collateral damage from that, institutional damage from that, there's speculation involved in that.
"That can have a negative effect on both schools' and people's lives."
Hamilton certainly fell into that category.
His personal life already time-crunched with the litany of responsibilities that come with being an athletic director at an SEC school, Hamilton said the 22-month investigation made it nearly impossible to spend any significant time with his wife, Beth, and his five children. That's changed for the better over the past two months.
Hamilton has vacationed in Jackson Hole, Wyo., camped with his son, Matthew, and played plenty of golf. He said he hasn't felt the need to read newspapers, check his e-mail or even listen to the radio as much as he did on the job at UT. Hamilton's knowledge of the school's ongoing search to find his replacement is minimal, and that's the way he wants it to be.
The money he receives from a contract buyout that will pay him $1.3 million over the next three years has allowed him to live comfortably and survey his options. With his children now back in school, Hamilton said he's been fixated with figuring out "what's next."
There are an array of options, and they're primarily outside the world of college athletics. For some of those opportunities, a deadline to make a decision is looming, which means Hamilton's time in Knoxville could be coming to a close soon.
"There are times and seasons in our life," Hamilton said. "This was a wonderful season so we're preparing for the next one."
Andrew Gribble may be reached at 865-342-6327. Follow him at http://twitter.com/Andrew_Gribble and http://blogs.knoxnews.com/gribble
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Comments » 79
Witch_Doctors writes:
Witch Doctor say he had it all along. Witch Doctor say he wasnt involved in some of the coaches bad decisions. Witch Doctor say plus he got all our facilities top notch in the country.
Bones never lie.
Tenn_Traveler writes:
I was not a Hamilton supporter. He deserves some credit for the NCAA investigation results. Hopefully he will be successful and happy with his life and endeavors.
tovolny writes:
Good, plain, straight forward reporting. Gribble did an excellent job with this. Gribble now writes like a professional and shows no personal agenda. I like his Joe Friday style.
orangeblood8456 writes:
mh was a good ad. some of the mh bashers will be eating a little crow. nice to see bruce man up to the punishment. to bad tony jones won't.
eb502us#225637 writes:
What is a 50% grade these days?
If it's still the same as when I was at UT, then Hamilton gets an F. Sure, he may have handled the NCAA inquiry with care, but that same care didn't go into overseeing the programs he supervised.
Perhaps he'd have a job if he had spoken to Pearl about the BBQ photograph before he was surprised and grilled by NCAA. Then again, if you go 6 months without talking to your baseball coach, one would guess communication isn't part of the job title.
Then let us not forget about the foot in the mouth syndrome that Hamilton was an expert in. It was downright embarrasing not only to all us alumni, but to the university itself.
I could go on and on but there is a reason he's no longer the UT AD, and it's mainly because other more influential alums saw the same, giving VALIDATION to his inept performance when it counted the most.
BigBadVol writes:
Hamilton showed a lot of class during this interview. Let's move on.
Ga_Dave writes:
I know my post may ruffle some feathers, but here goes. Based on the positive results from the NCAA in their report and the fact that we have never been in such good shape with facilities, etc. we should rehire MH! After all, we don't have a replacement. Do we really want to take a chance on a non-proven replacement? This, of course will never happen, because it would require Cheek to eat some crow. The few times I've talked to MH, he struck me as a decent, God loving, UT committed man. What more could we want? And, by the way Mike, I'll fake some of those orange ties if you still have some. Now for the posters that will want to tar & feather me. GBO Wore my orange UT T-shirt today here in Georgia for Pat.
mattnchatt writes:
Hammy struck out with his first round of coaching changes, but I'm feeling positive about his second choices. Good luck to him, obviously he ain't hurtin'.
SEC__Headgear writes:
Hamilton Bad. Hamilton Gone, Good.
BillsBrother writes:
Bruce lost his job over his blatently poor decisions as the Head BB coach, and Hammy ultimately lost his job for poor decisions as AD. There is no vindication.
grizzlyvol writes:
First time responder, long time VOL! MIKE'S JOB was to guide the UT ATHELTIC dept. to success, 'not to be classy'. LET' not forget here that MH left BASEBALL, TRACK, BASKETBALL AND FOOTBALL in shambles(compared to when he started) and while it is time to move on, LET'S NOT FORGET how this AD woefully managed the ATHLETIC DEPT. at UT.
gortrtt writes:
This NCAA snafu is merely one event in Hamilton's 8 years of bungling things up in Knoxville.
Play all the golf you like, Mike. Just stay away from our university.
CrankE writes:
Great job Mikey! Glad to know that you got this right. It also seems clear that your dismissal helped. Stay gone. Thanks.
stroker writes:
I second that motion!
Ga_Dave writes:
Thanks, Stroker. GBO - 8-4 this year!!!!
VolunteerLifer writes:
I wonder if UT would have gotten off with only its own self-imposed penalties if Hamilton hadn't resigned. In any case, I was a big critic of Hamilton's actions during this whole thing. His attempt to stand by Pearl through to the end was aborted in an embarrassing, foolish scene. Still, I criticized Hamilton for doing the self-imposed penalty thing, arguing that the ncaa would not take that into account when it put out its penalties. So I was certainly wrong about that. I think that when Hamilton finally threw Pearl overboard then resigned himself, the ncaa decided we had suffered enough.
PHAT_VOL writes:
The NCAA has to do what they need to do to play it all out, go down the bunny trails they have to go down to complete an investigation," Hamilton said. "For those of us who are involved in it, particularly when it's a secret process, it's really hard because there's collateral damage from that, institutional damage from that, there's speculation involved in that.
Bunny Trails the bitterness comes through here. Never once said anything about how he left the University of Tennessee Athletics. Not a sorry or appology anywhere. "Bad things happening to good people" He sounds like he didn't have the supervisory power to supervise anyone. Kind of like the thug when interviewed and states I AINT DID SIT MOMMA except in a more sofisticated way.
But we are a stong group and our Baseball, Track, Football and Basketball that were all affected by Mr. Hamilton will in time be O.K.
Lets move on !!
Go VOLS !!
VolzsFan writes:
No other major school will let him fire two legends and mis-manage another. He is destined to D3 or high school.
Those of you that think he resigned from one of the only 14 schools that makes money in athletics and was paid about $600K per year is laughable.
givehim6 writes:
Well good to know he is taking life easy now playing golf while he waits on his check. I do hope him good luck in the future, wonder if he and phil will ever play a few rounds? Na probly not. You would had thought he would have had a well wish for Pat.
SevenT writes:
Hammy fired Fulmer so Hammy goes.
Not that complicated.
dvols writes:
absolutely correct
hamilton should have topped it off with sticking his tongue out and giving a big thwtttttttttt.....
VOLS_SEC_RULES writes:
NCAA investigation is over, ruling has been made. Learn from the mistakes. Put the Pearl, Kiffin, Fulmer, Hamilton, and Jackson discussions behind us because.....IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!
UofTNVol writes:
Mike Hamilton was the best AD UT has ever had and likely will ever see. It's a damn shame most UT fans are so stone-cold ignorant they can't see or appreciate what he's done for our school. I'll always be a grateful Vol and wish him the best.
VOLGrad00 writes:
Mike will be further vindicated with the hires of Dooley, Cuonzo and Serrano.
arkyvol writes:
nostalgia can be as blinding and as disorienting as jack daniels, but its gonna take a helluva lot longer than a couple of months for me to miss hammy.
Ga_Dave writes:
I agree with you except for Serrano. I think he will bring our baseball back to prominence, but I don't believe that Mike had anything to do with that hire. I think that was done by Joan. GBO 8-4
thevoice writes:
That may be a stretch, but I am indeed grateful for his efforts with the NCAA recently. Job well done, especially with him knowing that he wasn't going to be around much longer. I don't fault the guy regarding anything having to do with Pearl (Pearl did it himself, 100%; it's immature how some folk blame Hamilton and/or Cheek for Pearl's and UT's misfortune). But the Lane Kiffin hire was a setback.
pcorange writes:
Still glad Hamilton is out. He fired a very successful and classy football coach to hire Kiffy Poo.
ReVolver writes:
Hamilton is a class act.
The Kiffin hire is easy to judge as a mistake in retrospect, but SO MANY people LOVED that we got this young brash coach at the time. That decision was made in response to a bunch of folks getting tired of the traditional Fulmer approach, so of course they had to look for something 'fresh'.
Looks to me like we ended up with a real gem in Dooley, anyways. Half the people who complain about him harp on inconsequential things...they really just don't like his personality. Lord forbid we have a smart guy as our coach.
kthoma14 writes:
There is no "we" MH. Your "we" is the ACC--Clemson. I fart in your general direction.
UofTNVol writes:
Stupid.
BustaRhymes writes:
Your post is "stone-cold" ignorant... If Mr. Hamilton was really the best AD in UT history, he would not have been forced to resign. The fact that he put the program (and his career) in a position where his resignation was required, pretty much sums up Mr. Hamilton's performance as UT's AD. I doubt there will be a rush of schools racing to hire him as their AD... but in UT fashion... we've rewarded his failure pretty well... so he's probably not in a rush to find a new gig...
SummittsCourt writes:
consider feathers ruffled - if it wasn't for his bad decisions our 3 main men's sports wouldn't be in the bad shape that they are in. Get a clue and get your head out of his ....
SummittsCourt writes:
The kiffin hire? how about the fact that with his leadership the three main sports programs went down hill. he was supposed to be the athletics director, not a fund raiser who cared more about the bottom line than anything else. good riddance to him. UT is already in a much better place without him.
SummittsCourt writes:
Mike's mistakes
1. He bungled the Fulmer situation big time. The results, the team went flat and lost to Wyoming.
2. He hired a 5-15 arrogant, lawless coach who tried to rid Tennessee of its traditions and turn UT into USC east and then bolted the first chance he got leaving UT in trouble with the NCAA.
3. He hired Todd Raleigh - nuff said
4. He bungled the Bruce Pearl situation all together and then in the end screwed the whole team days before our the NCAA tournament began. Result UT gets blown out by Michigan.
5. Whether they turn out to be good hires or not is yet to be seen but old mid major mike hires coaches to save $$$$. Why would someone who can coach want to come here under his "leadership".
So he can go away and go away for good. He never was a UT man and he never will be a UT man. Perhaps he is a nice guy as a person, but he was clueless for 8 years and all of our sports programs went downhill under his watch.
NoMoreWooAfterGoodOleRockyTop writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
iowavol writes:
Excellent post. I'll pile on to one comment...perhaps both MH and BP would still be at Tennessee with very minor penalties for very minor violations IF MH would have been more diligent and open in handling the damn picture up front. That one very big mistake has taken us back years.
turner_c writes:
Thanks for:
-9 HCs in the big 3 mens sports.
-3 HC's in each big 3 mens sport.
-dedicating a senior executive to babysit your hire.
-the negative national publicity of your first FB coach hire.
-allowing all big 3 mens sports under NCAA investigation simultaneously.
-9 months of negative national publicity because you incorrectly believed you could save a liar and cheater who tried to intimidate a teenager and his family into lying for him.
-getting the two profitable big 3 sports before the Committee on Infractions.
-leaving all big 3 mens sports having another rebuild, two just getting started.
-the train wreck of your track and field merger.
-$10 million in buyouts counting your own.
We now have to rebuild a dysfunctional athletic department along with track, baseball, basketball and football. The real thanks needs to go to Joan Cronan, without her as womens AD, nothing would have been spared from this train wreck.
mahabrando writes:
simple... this happened under Hamilton... why is he still around?
Ichabod writes:
"What's Next" for Mike ? I guess first on the list would be wearing his 'sunglasses' next Saturday,and slithering up the Elevator to his Luxury Box with 6 seats that he owns 'for life'. He can Certainly afford the concessions because we are paying him $450k p/yr for the next three years.
Of course he may have opted for his "Dream Package' that included last nights race at Bristol and the Montana game - another genius marketing move that netted a total of 175 takers from 25k in advertising. After Saturday, he can come back for the best example of his incompetence, the noon'r against Buffalo, where he can sit anywhere he wants in a stadium that will be lucky to have 65k fans in attendance. Good riddance.
Packer_Park_Orange (Inactive) writes:
Hamilton is gone. Let's move on to getting rid of the debacle of a hire he left behind ---Dooley.
PHAT_VOL writes:
Very well said, TKS.
gortrtt writes:
It's funny that Hamilton's supporters tout his money skills while the university is paying millions to ex-coaches who he fired and/or hired-then-fired.
A final blow to add insult to injury is the fact that HE "resigns" and gets the big buyout ($1.3M) ... and LIFETIME use of 8 season tickets to both basketball and football (estimated to amount to $180K).
Come on, people. Wake up. Having Mike Hamilton as UTAD was an unmitigated failure, and his ineptitude has caused UT's men's athletics, as a whole, to take several steps backwards from where they were when he took over.
crmcm44#321757 writes:
Validation of the fact that under his guidance three major sports were destroyed. How about taking responsibility for his failures, instead this sorry excuse for an AD walks away with a sack of money. Say what you want about BP but he has at least acknowledged he screwed up.
dvols writes:
does TN have an AD??
BillsBrother writes:
Tennessee has an excellent AD, Joan Cronan.
madrigal writes:
What's next, Hammy? Shut up and GO AWAY, that's what.
murrayvol writes:
+1
Hamilton's a good man victimized by a tsunami of bad decisions (by others) and circumstances. I wish him well.
utvolfan writes:
Hamilton DID hire Dooley and Martin, and both seem to have been good choices. CRONAN hired Searrano--who had NOT been hired by Hamilton at an earlier opportunity.
Hamilton apparently has some very positive personal qualities. He also did some good things for UT Athletics, especially with regard to facilities.
He didn't do as good a job in other areas. Though some may view it as minor, from my perspective one of his worst gaffes was the comment about Bruce Pearl just before the Vols' NCAA tournament game--especially after having said earlier in the season that Pearl would remain as UT coach. This was very poor treatment of a person and a program.
But Hamilton is gone, so let's move on. We have the NCAA response, and Cronan is doing a predictably good job in the interim. If she is unwilling to be considered for the permanent position, I trust she will see that UT gets a good person to be the next AD.
utvolfan writes:
The most sensible part of your post is that you wore orange on Friday to support Pat. Keep supporting UT--and CPS!
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