University of Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton resigned on Tuesday, just four days before the school appears before the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
For most Vols’ fans, Hamilton’s resignation was long overdue. His tenure at Tennessee was highlighted by failures rather than successes, and ultimately the man responsible for hiring the coaches that landed the university before the Committee on Infractions took the fall.
Whether the committee will view this as a positive step is open to debate. Some believe that Hamilton erred when he didn’t immediately fire former basketball coach Bruce Pearl after lying to NCAA investigators.
And it was on Hamilton’s watch when former Vols football coach Lane Kiffin came under NCAA scrutiny for possible recruiting violations.
In hindsight, Kiffin’s departure has proven to be a blessing for Tennessee now that the NCAA has focused its attention on him rather than the Vols football program.
However, the real cost of Hamilton’s eight-year run is in actual dollars. His contract with the university calls for a $1.335 million buyout, an amount of money that would appear to be chump change for a major university.
But as the Tennessean reported on May 25, all of the coaches that have been fired during Hamilton’s tenure has cost Tennessee more than $9 million in buyouts.
Coupled with Hamilton’s buyout, the university will have spent $10.405 million to cover buyouts for former Vols’ coaches Phil Fulmer, Pearl, Todd Raleigh, Buzz Peterson and Rod Delmonico.
The total amount of the buyouts represents more than one-third of the annual profits Tennessee generates from its football program.
According to Forbes, the Vols generated a profit of $29 million in 2009, an increase of $11.7 million from 2007.
Had Tennessee not generated a substantially larger profit over the past few years, the Vols would have spent nearly all of their earnings on buyouts.
Like most universities, Tennessee is wholly dependent on the football program to generate revenue to fund its athletic department.
In the Vols’ case, a portion of the revenues generated from athletics is used to fund the university’s academic departments as well.
In 2009, Tennessee was one of 14 Football Bowl Subdivision schools to turn a profit from it’s athletic programs out of a total of 120 universities.
Some would argue that Hamilton’s tenure was at least successful in generating increased revenues and profits, but the potential sanctions the university will receive far outweigh any positives he created.
And considering the mess that Hamilton has left within the University of Tennessee athletics program, only the negatives will be remembered.
