When the hiring of John Currie as Tennessee’s athletic director was announced, social media was lit ablaze with opinions about UT’s newest AD. Everyone from national media pundits, local media members, former Vol players, and those connected to Currie at Kansas State weighed in on Tennessee’s hire.
Bruce Feldman, a reporter for FOX Sports and New York Times best-selling author, believes the Vols made a strong hire with Currie.
After all the talk about possibly making Phil Fulmer the new AD, #Vols landing John Currie, a proven AD, is a very good get for Tennessee.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 28, 2017
Dan Wolken, a writer for USA Today who also has ties to covering athletics in the state of Tennessee, also mentioned Fulmer in his analysis of Tennessee’s hiring of Currie.
Tennessee did the smart thing by hiring John Currie as AD. Fulmer would have been a fiasco and Blackburn wasn’t ready. It’s a big job.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) February 28, 2017
Darren Rovell, a sports business reporter for ESPN, had glowing remarks about Currie.
Poaching Kansas State athletic director John Currie is a huge move for Tennessee. One of the best in the business.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 28, 2017
A national college columnist for Yahoo Sports, Pat Forde, likens the hiring of Currie to Alabama’s recent hire of Greg Byrne to their AD position.
Another SEC school makes good AD hire: Tennessee grabs Currie from K-State. Follows Byrne from Zona to Bama. League importing sharp minds
— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) February 28, 2017
Bill Reiter, a national columnist for CBS Sports, didn’t have as many positive things to say about Currie as an AD.
Took longer than I thought, but John Currie successfully use, and hurt, K-State to get the job he wanted. From 2012: https://t.co/P6Qx171Umr
— Bill Reiter (@sportsreiter) February 28, 2017
Chris Low, a college football writer for ESPN who also used to cover Tennessee athletics, offered some interesting tidbits about the Currie hiring.
One of the ironies of the Currie hire at Tennessee is that he was part of the regime there that pushed Fulmer out as head coach.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) February 28, 2017
Currie is widely respected in AD and administrative circles, but his hiring will be polarizing for a lot of people at Tennessee.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) February 28, 2017
Will be interesting to see how strongly Peyton Manning endorses the Currie hire, especially given that Manning was on the search committee.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) February 28, 2017
Although a bit cryptic, former Vol Leonard Little tweeted this shortly after the hiring of Currie was announced.
SMH…
— L. Little (@DBL_L_01) February 28, 2017
Charles Davis, another former Vol who now works for FOX Sports, was optimistic after Currie’s hiring was announced.
Welcome Home @John_Currie ! Looking forward to seeing you in a address Big Orange Country w/your vision on Thursday…Congrats! Go Vols!
— Charles Davis (@CFD22) February 28, 2017
Jon Morse, the managing editor for Bring on the Cats, the SB Nation site that covers Kansas State, had this to offer about Currie:
K-State fans happy he’s gone, Vawls with long memories pissed that he’s back.
All you need to know. https://t.co/sa3BR0KuUU
— Jon Morse (@jonfmorse) February 28, 2017
And as Chad Fields, a local graphic designer, pointed out, Kansas State fans didn’t seem too upset about Currie leaving the Wildcats.
Kansas State fans sure are upset at Currie leaving. pic.twitter.com/TNWV8t9daE
— Chad Fields (@CfieldsVFL) February 28, 2017
