Thoughts on Mike Hamilton’s Resignation as Tennessee AD

When the Bruce Pearl was fired as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers a few months ago, we knew that there was more to come.

It wasn’t just a situation where one head coach at a school was being fired for his actions. Oh, no. It was much bigger than that.

The school was one that had already endured the Lane Kiffin era (one year) in football, and had an impending mess on their hands in terms of NCAA violations. Add Pearl’s violations to the mix and you’ve got yourself more than just a problem with two coaches. You’ve got a problem within the athletic department.

So it should come as no surprise that Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton decided to resign today.

No, Hamilton wasn’t the one that committed the violations. But there comes a point where the athletic director has to take some of the blame.

He’s the one that hired Kiffin and he’s the one who hired Pearl. Kiffin brought plenty of buzz (and violations) with him in his only year at the school, and then decided to jet for USC. Even though some fans weren’t happy with the quick exit, it looks like that was probably for the best.

As for Pearl, well, it’s hard to put in words what he meant to the men’s basketball program.

Peal did things that no other Tennessee coaches were able to do. He had them one win away from a Final Four, and at one point, they were ranked as the best team in college basketball. But as we all know, it was more than just on court stuff. The energy and enthusiasm that he brought to the table was unrivaled. He reinvented the entire program.

When the allegations came out concerning the violations that Pearl committed, most of the Tennessee fanbase still supported him. And why not? He had brought that program to unbelievable heights and no one wanted to see that disappear.

So, naturally, when Hamilton made the comments which questioned Pearl’s future at the school before their NCAA opener against Michigan, most thought that it had pretty much sealed his fate at the school.

But it also became obvious that Hamilton would not survive this mess either. There was simply no way that he would get away with undercutting his coach like that before the biggest game of the season. It made no sense at all and was likely the icing on the cake for his exit.

That’s how the business works though.

When Hamilton hired Pearl, while no one knew how quickly things would change for the program, most basketball fans knew that Pearl was going to turn the thing around. It was absolutely, positively, without question the perfect hire for Tennessee at the time.

Therefore, amidst all of this turmoil, you have to remember this: Hamilton was responsible for one of the greatest hires in any sport in the history of the school.

But unfortunately for Volunteer fans, it’s the NCAA that could leave a lasting impact on the Pearl era when Tennessee officials (Hamilton included) go before the NCAA Committee on Infractions in a few days.

Perhaps Pearl’s firing and Hamilton’s resignation will lighten the potential penalties that the program could face. We’ll have to wait and see if the NCAA sees these two events as an acceptable step in the right direction for the school.

Because if not, the tough situation that Cuonzo Martin stepped into could get a whole lot tougher.

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