Keep a Head Coach
This one is for Tennessee’s basketball program and athletic department both. The Vols have had three head coaches in a two year span in basketball all thanks to failures by administration.
Cuonzo Martin was at Tennessee for three seasons but never received a strong backing from the athletic department. Martin certainly had his shortcomings, but AD Dave Hart and company didn’t do much to remedy the situation, and Martin left the Vols for California after the 2013-14 season. Then Hart and his staff hired Donnie Tyndall from Southern Miss without properly vetting him, and it ended up costing them once the NCAA revealed they were investigating Tyndall and his former school for academic misconduct.
After just one season, Tyndall’s contract was terminated and the Vols were in the market for a head coach yet again. Hart lucked into hiring Texas legend Rick Barnes after he and the Longhorns parted ways, but interest in the basketball program is the lowest it’s been since the Buzz Peterson era because of all the attrition.
If Hart and the administration want to keep Vols basketball relevant, they will hold on to Barnes while he can stabilize the program.
