What's the Problem at Tennessee (if such exists)?

And it's been this way since JJ retured in 99, and became worse when Snyder retired. I wasn't the biggest fan of Crabtree personally, but when he quit, even my eyebrows raised.

Until they bring in competent leadership at the main positions that are willing to work together, this is going to become the norm and not the exception.

 

So, you believe Tennessee becoming a top 25 research institution is contingent on Tennessee's emphasis and profits in athletics? Not sure I'm buying that.

 

Another factor to weigh into this mess is apparently UT is trying to gain membership into the Association of American Universities, which I assume will help achieve the goal of the Top 25 public research institution.

 

It's not a requirement, but the huge sums of cash and marketing/publicity a good athletics program gives you sure as hell doesn't hurt. I thinks its dumb for athletics and academics to look at each other as the enemy. It should be a symbiotic relationship, I think both sides benefit from each other doing well.

 

I think you overestimate how much money the University receives from the AD. JMO.

 

I'm sure the university gets more financial benefit from athletics than just direct contribution dollars. But if its not much money, then there is no reason for academia to be [itch bay]ing about a reduced annual "gift".

 

As far as Haslam's quote, I question strongly whether the people of Virginia really love the University of Virginia. I've lived in the Va Beach area --sadly-- for a year and a half now, and I see very little UVA pride.

Much more love for Va. Tech here, which is twice as far away. He may not have been talking about UVA specifically though.

 

The amount received from the AD is fairly small potatoes overall.

 

I took it to mean that a healthy AD that is able to contribute needed funds that can assist in achieving the educational goals of UT would be tremendously helpful to the academic side, a win-win situation for all.

 

Sounds like politicians to me.

 

That could increase with a prosperous AD, no?

 

It's still money that helps the university. If there was no the Athletic Department the enrollment would be far less than 20K. That's indirect benefit to the academic side in all the extra students you can overcharge for everything. I agree with you that a healthy AD in no way hurts the academic side, but rather helps it. That's the only point I was trying to make.

 

Then, do that, and don't forego the taking of their $18M donation over the next three years.

Or, take it all, and leave the athletic program as merely a shell, or kill it entirely.

Or, don't.

But pick a direction and go with it. Either they can co-exist for their mutual benefit, or they cannot and one becomes slaven to the other, or just end the program in its entirety and let everyone move on.

I would argue that any problem with the general public over-valuing the athletics over the institution would not be resolved if the athletic department were crippled, or ceased to exist. It's not like that attentive value would simply transfer over to the university, sans athletics, competent or otherwise. If the problem is that too many people are either ignorant or uncaring about how shitty the academics side is now, I can't imagine it would increase their awareness, however casual it may now be, would increase or stay the same. Simply, their attention may be mistakenly applied in an imbalanced fashion now, without athletics, it would evaporate in its entirety, for those people, and likely a great many more.

I would also argue that you could give every penny that the UTAD made - all of it - to UTK right now, and it wouldn't significantly advance their efforts toward becoming a Top 25 research institution, or at least consistently. Their problems extend well beyond and above the UTAD, which is nothing but a gigantic benefit to them now, and every cut they make to it is just another bleeding wound that will ultimately leave them crippled.

My "problem" with it all, if you can call it that, is that they seem to want their cake and eat it, too.

They want all of the revenue, exposure and goodwill that a Top 5 athletics program would be expected to provide - but their demands, financial and otherwise, almost guarantee that it will be relegated to continue to hover around one of the Top 35-50 programs from a production and competitive standpoint.

That disparity won't (can't) endure forever, not even at Tennessee, and we've seen the effects of that rising truth via rapidly declining interest for the last several years. Case in point: the first game against Austin Peay, the home opener for the season and the beginning of a new coaching staff's era - the place should be rocking, even for a shitty opponent - they'll be lucky (LUCKY) if 80k show up. If Oregon hangs 70 on them two weeks later in Eugene, they won't break 70K for any homegame the rest of the season, barring they beat either Florida of Alabama, and even that wouldn't guarantee it.

It is what it is.

 

I just don't see it as an amount that somehow opens doors to new academic success that aren't already open and could be attained if the AD ceased to exist altogether.

 

MTSU has around 26k enrollment. Somehow, I don't think it's because of their great athletic department.

 

Alumni pride and athletic success are correlated. Plenty of examples of huge academic alumni donations that have followed major sporting victories.

 

Plenty of examples of donations only to the AD as well. In fact, I'd venture to say that a huge majority of the "new donations" from sporting victories go to the AD and not the academic program.

 

Proximity to Nashville and low admission standards?

It ain't beautiful Murfreesboro.

 

Probably. It's an insult to Tennessee to say that the only reason it has a high enrollment is because of their AD. I think that's clearly not the case or we'd see enrollment dropping over the last 5-7 years when the program's been in the shitter, and it hasn't.

 

But when you're operating at a $4M budgetary shortfall, after having "given" $21M to the university, then even those donations being earmarked for athletics are being funneled to the university, with the UTAD just being the banker between the two.

And I don't know about you guys, but if the Salvation Army sent my donation to some higher or unintended organization above them, instead of applying toward their mission and that which I intended to support, well, they wouldn't get a dime from me, again.

And that is happening now, too. With donors at all levels, alike.