Tennessee’s new athletic director has been in office for less than a week, and it’s been a busy first few days. John Currie already said earlier this week he will have an open email policy for anyone who wants to contact him, and now he’s implementing another new tradition: letters to the Vol fan base.
When Currie was the athletic director at Kansas State, he would routinely write letters to the Wildcats’ fan base and keep them up to date on what he was doing and attempt to keep an open dialogue with them. Now that he’s at Tennessee, it appears he will be doing the same with Vol fans.
Currie released his first letter as Tennessee’s athletic director on Thursday. In it, he described his first few days on the job and detailed who all he’s met with in his first few days in office.
One thing Currie made sure to emphasize and point out early on in his letter is the importance of championships and also of coaches and student-athletes. One of the first things Currie mentioned in his letter was meeting track athlete Christian Coleman at the first all-department meeting he attended. Coleman won two NCAA Championships last month, and Currie praised Coleman and the entire track and field program.
Currie also stated he’s met with every major Tennessee head coach or team thus far aside from Holly Warlick and the Lady Vols basketball team. Currie wrote that he’s seen Butch Jones, the men’s basketball team, the baseball team, and the softball team. Currie may have met with Warlick or the Lady Vols basketball team, but he didn’t mention it in his letter.
Tennessee’s current coaches and players aren’t the only people Currie has met with while at Tennessee, though. He’s also seen and spoke with former head coach Johnny Majors and former player Jason Witten in his six days in office.
Currie also mentioned he attended the “Hike the Hill in Heels” event with Chancellor Beverly Davenport. The event is intended to raise awareness of sexual assault
Near the end of his letter, Currie detailed what his “first order of business” is as Tennessee’s AD:
I have been asked a lot the last month about my first order of business. Well, it’s pretty simple. I’m doing a lot of listening. I’m listening to our student-athletes, our coaches, staff and the people that support this program. It’s important to reconnect with folks we have built relationships with, but we are excited about forming new, life-lasting relationships as well.
Currie then went on to reemphasize his open email policy and confirmed he’ll be writing more letters like these in the future.
Be on the lookout for more letters to the Tennessee fan base as Currie continues his endeavors as Tennessee’s athletic director.
