We are living in a weird time, everyone either wants to be a victim in life or is offended by something silly or wants to naively protect some unnamed victims from some boogieman they created
Another guy who has his own life story and has lived in the public eye for decades convicted through the media for a crime he never committed and was never even remotely connected to by law enforcement officials
People are fucking stupid, my signature says it all
is there one single "man" in this picture? I blame this on our educational system and our criminally corrupt colluding media
Dumbing down America with every distortion they sell
From post 43:
"I believe in the rule of law no matter how politically incorrect that may be"
"to impugn a man's reputation based on hearsay is wrong"
"convicted by a totally uninformed social media mob"
Welcome to America in 2017, our founding fathers can't comprehend how fucking stupid we've become
"I believe in the rule of law no matter how politically incorrect that may be"
"to impugn a man's reputation based on hearsay is wrong"
"convicted by a totally uninformed social media mob"
Welcome to America in 2017, our founding fathers can't comprehend how fucking stupid we've become
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Another Sandusky-Related Victim Of The Abuse Myth
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yAED3JRcRVw/Wh177Qt0UzI/AAAAAAAAE9U/xyH68yTzsgM95sAnlNnJtVZelm0FyamJgCLcBGAs/s1600/SchianoAtPractice.jpg" target="_blank">image: https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yAED3JRc...Zelm0FyamJgCLcBGAs/s400/SchianoAtPractice.jpg
By Mark Pendergrast
for BigTrial.net
The Jerry Sandusky case continues to make news and ruin lives and careers. It is so toxic that even the most blatantly fraudulent hearsay becomes national headline news. Now Greg Schiano, Ohio State's defense coordinator, has been vilified without any justification whatsoever and has become a pariah.
Schiano had been selected as the next head football coach at the University of Tennessee. His hiring was to be announced on Sunday night, Nov. 26, 2017. Instead, after a series of rumor-mongering tweets and political grandstanding, and a graffiti-covered rock on campus proclaiming “SCHIANO COVERED UP CHILD RAPE AT PENN STATE,” he was abruptly dropped like a hot potato.<!--?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = "O" /--><o
for BigTrial.net
The Jerry Sandusky case continues to make news and ruin lives and careers. It is so toxic that even the most blatantly fraudulent hearsay becomes national headline news. Now Greg Schiano, Ohio State's defense coordinator, has been vilified without any justification whatsoever and has become a pariah.
abp="85"></o>Why? Because of Mike McQueary, who changed his memory from hearing slapping sounds in a shower (of Sandusky snapping towels with a 13-year-old boy) to witnessing sexual abuse, ten years after the event. And because McQueary then massaged his memory yet again two years ago in a deposition for a civil case, and recalled someone else (assistant coach Tom Bradley) allegedly telling him that Schiano, who was an assistant coach at Penn State from 1990 to 1995, had supposedly said that he saw Sandusky doing something bad to a boy in a shower. <o
abp="98"></o>So this is 25 years ago he said he said he said he saw something. Both Bradley and Schiano deny ever having heard anything about Sandusky abusing anyone.
That’s because Schiano never said such a thing to Bradley, and Bradley said no such thing to McQueary. <o
abp="117"></o>And Sandusky did no such thing. The real story here is too much for the mass media to acknowledge. The media are invested in the narrative of Jerry Sandusky the serial pedophile, the Monster. But guess what? The imprisoned former Penn State football coach may be an innocent man, a victim of a moral panic fed by the sensationalistic media, police trawling, memory-warping psychotherapy, and greed, as I document in my book, The Most Hated Man in America: Jerry Sandusky and the Rush to Judgment.
It is a fascinating, complex case that richly deserves this book-length treatment. Thus, I am unlikely to convince anyone in an article. (But see this link to a good summary article already available on this website.) Nonetheless, I can’t keep silent when yet another career is being ruined through slanderous triple-hearsay about crimes that never occurred in the first place. <o
abp="146"></o>In the hothouse atmosphere of college football, politics, money, and moral panics, the mere mention of the named Sandusky is enough to tarnish anyone. Tennessee bigwigs fell all over themselves condemning Schiano with zero evidence but plenty of mealy-mouthed hypocrisy. One state representative said, “We don’t need a man who has that type of potential reproach in their life as the football coach. It’s egregious to the people.” On the contrary, his statement is what is egregious. Three gubernatorial candidates hastened to condemn Schiano as well, while another politico tweeted that “a Greg Schiano hire would be anathema to all that our University and our community stand for.” <o
abp="157"></o>And what does the University stand for? Freedom of expression? Innocent until proven guilty? Or avoiding any controversy like the plague? The latter seems to be the current academic approach. Penn State University threw in excess of $100 million at virtually anyone who claimed to be a Sandusky victim, without any investigation, in the same sort of mad rush to keep up appearances. <o
abp="169"></o>We could all be accused via triple-hearsay of a non-existent crime, especially if we ever had anything to do with Jerry Sandusky – or Mike McQueary, it appears.<o
abp="176"></o>--Mark Pendergrast is the author of The Most Hated Man in America and many other books. You can write to him via his website, www.markpendergrast.com.<o
abp="184"></o><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment-->
Read more at http://www.bigtrial.net/2017/11/another-sandusky-related-victim-of.html#8UgLwwfcySswoEPS.99
[h=1]Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy has phone conversations with Tennessee.[/h]
Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy has had phone conversations withTennessee representatives about the Volunteers' head-coaching job, multiple sources have confirmed to ESPN's Chris Low.
Tennessee's interest in Gundy was reported earlier Tuesday by radio station WNML in Knoxville. According to WNML, Gundy has already interviewed with Tennessee.
Sources told Low, however, that Gundy has not met face-to-face with Tennessee officials, but a meeting is planned for Tuesday.
Gundy met with Tennessee officials back in 2013 when the Volunteers hired Butch Jones. A former quarterback at Oklahoma State, Gundy has been at his alma mater for 18 years, the past 13 as head coach.
Tennessee previously targeted Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who informed them that he wasn't interested and plans to remain with the Blue Devils, sources told ESPN on Monday.
Tennessee targeted Cutcliffe after backing out of a deal with Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano on Sunday after both Schiano and Tennessee athletic director John Currie signed a memorandum of understanding. The news of Schiano's impending hiretriggered an angry response from Vols fans and state politicians, and Tennessee nixed the deal.
Tennessee has also reached out to Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm and Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele about the Vols' head-coaching job, according to sources.
Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy has had phone conversations withTennessee representatives about the Volunteers' head-coaching job, multiple sources have confirmed to ESPN's Chris Low.
Tennessee's interest in Gundy was reported earlier Tuesday by radio station WNML in Knoxville. According to WNML, Gundy has already interviewed with Tennessee.
Sources told Low, however, that Gundy has not met face-to-face with Tennessee officials, but a meeting is planned for Tuesday.
Gundy met with Tennessee officials back in 2013 when the Volunteers hired Butch Jones. A former quarterback at Oklahoma State, Gundy has been at his alma mater for 18 years, the past 13 as head coach.
Tennessee previously targeted Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who informed them that he wasn't interested and plans to remain with the Blue Devils, sources told ESPN on Monday.
Tennessee targeted Cutcliffe after backing out of a deal with Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano on Sunday after both Schiano and Tennessee athletic director John Currie signed a memorandum of understanding. The news of Schiano's impending hiretriggered an angry response from Vols fans and state politicians, and Tennessee nixed the deal.
Tennessee has also reached out to Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm and Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele about the Vols' head-coaching job, according to sources.
Here We Go Again
by Jay Paterno on November 30, 2017 5:00 AM
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Click photo for gallery
"By the time someone gets here in 2014, it will be just a distant memory" -- Former Penn State Board of Trustees Chair Karen Peetz in 2012.
Just weeks from 2018 the “it” Karen Peetz was talking about resurfaced with a vengeance from an unlikely place—Knoxville, Tennessee. So much for this all being “just a distant memory.”
The narrative set in motion in 2011, no matter how false, remains a threat that’s always just around the corner. For those in Tennessee and around the country just joining us, the conspiracy charges and cover-up narrative were refuted by legal experts and more importantly rejected in the courts.
But we have entered a time in America where any and all slanderous arrows aimed at people of great character find their mark if it fits our agenda. We no longer weigh the credibility of the accuser versus that of the accused. If we want to believe it, we do.
This past Sunday another example emerged. Tennessee’s plan to hire Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano as the Volunteers’ head coach exploded when some fans protested on campus and on social media using a discredited story from the Sandusky scandal. Not surprisingly, opportunistic politicians jumped in too.
While those fans congratulated themselves for turning back the hire, they ignored that their voices raised a lie that attacked a man of character. I understand why they may believe that lie. Penn State’s administration has acted repeatedly in ways which aided that flawed rush to judgment.
Although Tennessee’s administration knew the story wasn’t true, they chose to heed the virtual pitchforks and torches.
The story that resurfaced Sunday was hearsay in a deposition from Mike McQueary involving former Penn State assistant coaches Tom Bradley and Greg Schiano. Both Bradley and Schiano issued denials over a year ago. The allegation was looked into during the attorney general’s investigation and deemed to lack credibility.
Knowing and having worked with all three men, I firmly believe those denials, and for good reason. In the same deposition, Mike McQueary mentioned me in a statement that is not true.
Yet on Sunday, someone painted an allegation of a cover-up of child rape at Penn State on a big rock on Tennessee’s campus. Everything painted on that rock was a lie.
But we have come to a time and place in America where often the truth no longer matters. We demand that people we dislike offer proof beyond all reasonable doubt that they are innocent of every slanderous statement ever uttered about them.
Due process? Innocent until proven guilty? Gone.
The vocal masses believe the armor of alleged victimhood gives one ultimate credibility over the rights of the accused. In this age, anyone can post allegations on social media, blindsiding the accused and destroying their presumption of innocence.
To illustrate the attitudes of some in America, consider that on Nov. 11, activist and writer Emily Lindin tweeted “I’m not actually concerned about innocent men losing their jobs over false sexual assault/harassment allegations.”
That statement denying the founding values of this country got more support than you’d hope. Some offered half-baked rationales of support.
Innocent men who lived lives of integrity should never lose their careers over false accusations. The lies impact them and their families. They’ll see their names and lives dragged through the mud. If you’ve ever been on the wrong side of false allegations, you understand my outrage.
A reputation of integrity and honesty built across generations is a treasure more precious than gold. It takes hard work and character to build. But it can be gone unjustly in the blink of an eye by the utterance of false words. And the damage endures. The stain is nearly impossible to ever wash from your life, while the mob walks away unscathed to the next outrage.
Today’s social media mob is no more intelligent than the forces that overran Salem or those behind vigilante lynchings in this country. Across centuries human nature has changed little, but the tools of attack are more wide-reaching than before.
In 2011 and now in 2017 the problem was and remains compounded by the rabbit ears of people in positions of leadership. How can we ever hope to lead when reactionary leaders retreat from the core values of due process and right and wrong in the face of unjust social media outrage?
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King summed it up best on Monday: “Innuendo won. The witch hunters won. It is a sad day in America.”
Peter King is right. But the sad days at Penn State began years ago and they continue. The reputations of many good people have been assaulted by innuendo and witch hunters. Greg Schiano is just the latest to have to face these unfair attacks based on lies.
Almost four years after Karen Peetz promised “it” would be a distant memory the specter still rises.
Only the strong will stand to defend truth. What happened here is an example of what is happening nationwide. In America the ranks of those brave enough to withstand the surge of social media outrage are thinning.
That is not something we want trending.
http://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/here-we-go-again,1474639/#
by Jay Paterno on November 30, 2017 5:00 AM
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Click photo for gallery
Just weeks from 2018 the “it” Karen Peetz was talking about resurfaced with a vengeance from an unlikely place—Knoxville, Tennessee. So much for this all being “just a distant memory.”
The narrative set in motion in 2011, no matter how false, remains a threat that’s always just around the corner. For those in Tennessee and around the country just joining us, the conspiracy charges and cover-up narrative were refuted by legal experts and more importantly rejected in the courts.
But we have entered a time in America where any and all slanderous arrows aimed at people of great character find their mark if it fits our agenda. We no longer weigh the credibility of the accuser versus that of the accused. If we want to believe it, we do.
This past Sunday another example emerged. Tennessee’s plan to hire Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano as the Volunteers’ head coach exploded when some fans protested on campus and on social media using a discredited story from the Sandusky scandal. Not surprisingly, opportunistic politicians jumped in too.
While those fans congratulated themselves for turning back the hire, they ignored that their voices raised a lie that attacked a man of character. I understand why they may believe that lie. Penn State’s administration has acted repeatedly in ways which aided that flawed rush to judgment.
Although Tennessee’s administration knew the story wasn’t true, they chose to heed the virtual pitchforks and torches.
The story that resurfaced Sunday was hearsay in a deposition from Mike McQueary involving former Penn State assistant coaches Tom Bradley and Greg Schiano. Both Bradley and Schiano issued denials over a year ago. The allegation was looked into during the attorney general’s investigation and deemed to lack credibility.
Knowing and having worked with all three men, I firmly believe those denials, and for good reason. In the same deposition, Mike McQueary mentioned me in a statement that is not true.
Yet on Sunday, someone painted an allegation of a cover-up of child rape at Penn State on a big rock on Tennessee’s campus. Everything painted on that rock was a lie.
But we have come to a time and place in America where often the truth no longer matters. We demand that people we dislike offer proof beyond all reasonable doubt that they are innocent of every slanderous statement ever uttered about them.
Due process? Innocent until proven guilty? Gone.
The vocal masses believe the armor of alleged victimhood gives one ultimate credibility over the rights of the accused. In this age, anyone can post allegations on social media, blindsiding the accused and destroying their presumption of innocence.
To illustrate the attitudes of some in America, consider that on Nov. 11, activist and writer Emily Lindin tweeted “I’m not actually concerned about innocent men losing their jobs over false sexual assault/harassment allegations.”
That statement denying the founding values of this country got more support than you’d hope. Some offered half-baked rationales of support.
Innocent men who lived lives of integrity should never lose their careers over false accusations. The lies impact them and their families. They’ll see their names and lives dragged through the mud. If you’ve ever been on the wrong side of false allegations, you understand my outrage.
A reputation of integrity and honesty built across generations is a treasure more precious than gold. It takes hard work and character to build. But it can be gone unjustly in the blink of an eye by the utterance of false words. And the damage endures. The stain is nearly impossible to ever wash from your life, while the mob walks away unscathed to the next outrage.
Today’s social media mob is no more intelligent than the forces that overran Salem or those behind vigilante lynchings in this country. Across centuries human nature has changed little, but the tools of attack are more wide-reaching than before.
In 2011 and now in 2017 the problem was and remains compounded by the rabbit ears of people in positions of leadership. How can we ever hope to lead when reactionary leaders retreat from the core values of due process and right and wrong in the face of unjust social media outrage?
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King summed it up best on Monday: “Innuendo won. The witch hunters won. It is a sad day in America.”
Peter King is right. But the sad days at Penn State began years ago and they continue. The reputations of many good people have been assaulted by innuendo and witch hunters. Greg Schiano is just the latest to have to face these unfair attacks based on lies.
Almost four years after Karen Peetz promised “it” would be a distant memory the specter still rises.
Only the strong will stand to defend truth. What happened here is an example of what is happening nationwide. In America the ranks of those brave enough to withstand the surge of social media outrage are thinning.
That is not something we want trending.
http://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/here-we-go-again,1474639/#
The name picking up steam for Tennessee is Mike Leach.
Tennessee athletic director John Currie has parted ways with the university after meeting with school officials, including chancellor Beverly Davenport, on Friday morning, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Philip Fulmer named new AD....Blast from the past
Game of Thrones Meets Tennessee Athletics.
I am posting the live Outkick the Show I just did to explain what has been going on at Tennessee right here.
I’d encourage all of you to watch it as most in the media are still missing the larger stories at play inside the University of Tennessee. But here are some key details that I think should be public to help make sense of what’s transpiring.
Here we go:
In 2008 Phil Fulmer is fired as Tennessee’s football coach. He’s fired by athletic director Mike Hamilton. Who is Hamilton’s top disciple when this decision is made? John Currie.
I wrote a book about Fulmer’s final season at Tennessee, it’s called “On Rocky Top,” and it’s a damn good read. I don’t believe this was in the book, but I asked Phil Fulmer about his firing and whether any boosters could have stopped it and he told me back then that only one booster had that power — Big Jim Haslam. (Big Jim Haslam is the father of Bill, the current governor of Tennessee, and Jimmy, the current owner of the Cleveland Browns). Big Jim is 86 years old and played football for Tennessee on the 1951 national championship team for General Neyland. He founded Pilot Oil in 1958 and he became a billionaire. As his wealth grew his influence in Tennessee athletics grew to the point where he and his family came to make many big hiring and firing decisions at the University.
Fulmer tells me that Big Jim didn’t step in and stop Hamilton from firing him.
Okay, fast forward now to 2017, Dave Hart steps down as athletic director and Phil Fulmer desperately wants to become athletic director at Tennessee.
His final interview occurs in the governor’s mansion. (Yes, the governor’s mansion occupied by Bill Haslam, the governor, and son of Big Jim.) There are only three people present for Phil Fulmer’s interview to become the Tennessee athletic director — Jimmy Haslam, the owner of the Browns, Peyton Manning, and Beverly Davenport, the chancellor of the university.
Fulmer interviews, feels great about his chances, and then a bombshell drops — there’s a secret candidate — John Currie is the hand picked athletic director by the Haslam family. (There’s an interesting debate among the boosters about why Peyton Manning has so closely allied himself with the Haslams. The general consensus is because Peyton, Eli, and Archie want to own an NFL team when Eli’s career is over and the Haslam’s money and connections can help make that a reality.) Regardless, Peyton Manning calls many of the top boosters at the University of Tennessee who have been supporting Phil Fulmer’s candidacy and explains that Fulmer “began the race two touchdowns down and could never make it up.”
So John Currie is installed as the next Tennessee athletic director.
He installs Phil Fulmer as a special adviser for community, athletics and university relations in an attempt to pave over old wounds.
Currie attempts to make amends with all the rival booster factions at Tennessee and reaches out to one of the biggest boosters at Tennessee seeking a meeting.
That booster responds with this message in September:
“John, I don’t need a thing. Like I told the chancellor, don’t mess with my tickets or my parking and I’m good. I hope Butch keeps winning and you don’t fire him. We don’t need another Kiffin or comparable replacement. Appointment of Phillip was great for the university and self serving for you. Good move for you. I’m not giving any more money to UT other than what I’m obligated to for my existing benefits.
John, I’m a straight shooter. I don’t trust or like you or (Mike) Hamilton and that is not ever going to change, ever. I’ll never forgive you for firing Phillip. Worst fucking decision that UT ever made. It scattered a horde of the nation’s best assistant coaches and their families across the country and in an unwanted divorce, it separated a National Championship and Hall of Fame coach from the university that he loved.
Fucking stupid.
You’re set in a good spot in your life and career and so am I. Leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone.”
So long as Butch Jones didn’t collapse, a battle seemed unlikely.
But then Butch Jones collapsed.
When Butch was fired John Currie, significantly, did not hire a search firm. Many inside Tennessee became nervous about this decision. What was Currie trying to pull off, why was he not involving more people? Then came the leaking of the Greg Schiano news.
The news landed like a grenade inside the athletic department and the state of Tennessee. Tennessee officials were aghast, immediately recognizing that this was the Haslam family’s hand picked choice. They pointed to an SI interview about Jimmy Haslam interviewing Greg Schiano in 2014.
“Bill Belichick and Urban Meyer were strong in recommendations for fired Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano—Belichick called twice—and here’s where I hear there was a major rift in the organization. Banner wanted nothing to do with Schiano. Haslam was intrigued with him after the over-the-top recommendation from Belichick. The group flew to Tampa to interview Schiano, and one source said Banner was cold to Schiano, not participating much in the interview. Banner likely thought Schiano would be a disastrous hire, given all the negatives in recent Cleveland history. He was probably right, but the owner was open to it, and when the owner’s open to it, the man running football operations should at least consider it.”
Why, many asked, was the man in the midst of a 1-27 run with the Cleveland Browns being allowed to hand pick Tennessee’s coaching hire?
The ensuing fan outrage over Schiano blew up the hire. Furious with their choice being shot down, John Currie and the Haslams begin leaking information to the national media blaming the fan base for being a bunch of ignorant rednecks who don’t know any better.
Not content with that story being spread, Jimmy Haslam even begins calling Tennessee legislators who had Tweeted their disapproval of the hire with this message, “You don’t make the Tennessee hire, we do.”
The national media eats up the fan mob story line peddled by Currie and his alliese — the stupid, impractical Tennessee fans, look at them, how dumb they are. As if that weren’t enough, many media also decide they have to defend Greg Schiano and Ohio State to remain in good graces with Urban Meyer and Schiano’s agent, Jimmy Sexton.
So these media become obsessed with the idea that fans pointing out Greg Schiano’s being mentioned in a court transcript watching a boy being raped and doing nothing about it is somehow character assassination. (Seriously, since when has linking an accusation made under oath, whether its hearsay or not, about the man who would become the highest paid public employee in a state not fair grounds to discuss?) Even if Schiano denies the story, as he does, this story angle provides cover for Currie and the Haslams mistake in ever hiring Schiano in the first place. If the story turns into a battle over what Schiano knew about Penn State and how dumb the fans are the larger issue is masked — Schiano was an awful hire for Tennessee.
But that awful hire is not ignored inside Tennessee.
Especially not when the school becomes aware of an agreement signed between Currie and Schiano. Wait, many ask, how did John Currie have the authority to bind the university to Schiano without the chancellor or the president also signing the hiring document?
Had Currie exceeded the scope of his authority in effectively hiring Schiano with this document? As this question works its way up to the president and the chancellor, who are now being deluged with angry booster and politician inquiries about the hire, Currie is told he has to rescind the offer to Schiano. Currie, humiliated by the public rejection of his decision making, isn’t even willing to make the call himself to tell Schiano the deal is off.
Currie embarks on a dizzying array of coaching meetings, attempting to save his initial error and make a solid hire for Tennessee. But Mike Gundy says no, the university becomes bogged down over the buyout for Jeff Brohm’s contract, and Dave Doeren decides to stay at North Carolina State. With every misstep, the media coverage becomes more pronounced, the pressure more all encompassing.
With his job status in serious jeopardy, Currie embarks on a hail mary attempt to hire Mike Leach and save his job, finally trying to make a hire that will make the fan base happy.
Currie flies cross country and interviews Leach in Los Angeles. But back home in Knoxville trouble has arrived — the Haslams no longer have Currie’s back. The collapse of the search has finally led to a near universal agreement among Vol power brokers — John Currie has to go.
As Currie flies back cross country from Los Angeles, he’s informed he has a morning meeting with the chancellor. Inside this meeting he’s officially fired.
Now as part of the separation agreement I’m told Tennessee will argue Currie has been fired for cause based on the agreement that he entered into with Greg Schiano. (They may end up settling, but that’s the university position right now.) Currie leaves the meeting and immediately begins calling his friends in the media to put out the story that Fulmer and other athletic department employees undermined him.
But the simple truth of the matter is this — Currie undermined himself with the Greg Schiano debacle. His position had become so tenuous that the same people who ensured he got the job, the Haslams, now recognized that he had to go.
No one had to undermine John Currie to get him fired, they just had to let him hang himself.
Phil Fulmer will be announced as the new athletic director at Tennessee within the next few hours returning to a position of athletic prominence nine years after he was fired as head coach.
Where Tennessee will go from here in its coaching search is unclear. So too is whether Fulmer can finally unite the fractious Tennessee family and find a coach that will win and end the internecine warfare among its boosters.
But one thing is certain, this was Game of Thrones in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.
And John Currie just got fed to the dragons.
Hall of Fame coach Phillip Fulmer to serve as Tennessee athletic director.
Former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer has taken over as the school's athletic director as it seeks a new football coach to stabilize a program thrown into tumult by a challenging search.
Tennessee chancellor Beverly Davenport announced Fulmer's appointment Friday. Sources told ESPN that Fulmer will get a two-year contract.
Tennessee turned to Fulmer, a Hall of Fame coach, after removing John Currie from the AD role earlier Friday. The Volunteers placed Currie on paid leave after a meeting between him and school officials, including Davenport.
The chancellor said at a news conference that Fulmer will be Tennessee's athletic director "for the foreseeable future" and "take the reins of our search." In the meantime, the school is investigating whether it can fire Currie for cause.
"I think with the background that I have here, and as well as we've done at different times here, with the facilities and leadership we have here, I definitely think there will be people that will be interested," Fulmer said at the news conference.
Currie had been leading a troubled search for a new football coach. Tennessee was close to hiring Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano on Sunday, but the deal fell through due to backlash from fans and supporters. Currie had also courted Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Duke's David Cutcliffe,NC State's Dave Doeren, Purdue's Jeff Brohm, new Florida coach Dan Mullen and Washington State's Mike Leach.
The Volunteers are looking for their fifth football coach in the past 11 years after possibly the most disappointing season in school history.
After being ranked in the Top 25 at the start of the season, Tennessee went 4-8 to set a school record for losses. The Vols were winless in the SEC for the first time since the league formed in 1933.
"Our football program has the history, the facilities, the tradition and the resources to play with anyone any time, and that's what we're going to do again," Fulmer said.
The public nature of Tennessee's inability to find a coach frustrated a fan base already angry about the Vols' poor 2017 season. People chanted "Fire Currie" on a handful of occasions Monday night during a wrestling show on campus, and again Wednesday night during the Tennessee men's basketball victory overMercer.
Currie took over as Tennessee's athletic director in April and had agreed to a five-year contract worth at least $900,000 annually. According to the terms of Currie's contract, the school would owe him $5.5 million if he is fired without cause.
Fulmer coached the Volunteers from 1992 to 2008, going 152-52 overall and leading Tennessee to the 1998 national title.
Tennessee announced in June that Fulmer had been named a special adviser for community, athletics and university relations. The part-time position paid Fulmer $100,000 annually and was seen as a way to unite a fan base divided over whether he should have been chosen as athletic director when Currie was hired.
Davenport said her decision wasn't related to a single coaching candidate and was due to a "series of events" rather than a single tipping point.
"It has indeed been a difficult week," Davenport said. "It's been a difficult road to get to where we are. This has not been an easy process for any of us. I want you to know that I regret deeply any hurt that's been caused."
Fulmer ruled out the possibility of returning to coaching by appointing himself as Jones' replacement, but he believes his experience can help him choose an ideal candidate.
"I hope to be a stabilizing and unifying force through this just because we do have some gray hair and a lot of experience at this place," Fulmer said. "Sometimes it's when you're younger that you've screwed it up so bad that you figure it out later and you don't make the same mistakes again."
Former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer has taken over as the school's athletic director as it seeks a new football coach to stabilize a program thrown into tumult by a challenging search.
Tennessee chancellor Beverly Davenport announced Fulmer's appointment Friday. Sources told ESPN that Fulmer will get a two-year contract.
Tennessee turned to Fulmer, a Hall of Fame coach, after removing John Currie from the AD role earlier Friday. The Volunteers placed Currie on paid leave after a meeting between him and school officials, including Davenport.
The chancellor said at a news conference that Fulmer will be Tennessee's athletic director "for the foreseeable future" and "take the reins of our search." In the meantime, the school is investigating whether it can fire Currie for cause.
"I think with the background that I have here, and as well as we've done at different times here, with the facilities and leadership we have here, I definitely think there will be people that will be interested," Fulmer said at the news conference.
Currie had been leading a troubled search for a new football coach. Tennessee was close to hiring Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano on Sunday, but the deal fell through due to backlash from fans and supporters. Currie had also courted Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Duke's David Cutcliffe,NC State's Dave Doeren, Purdue's Jeff Brohm, new Florida coach Dan Mullen and Washington State's Mike Leach.
The Volunteers are looking for their fifth football coach in the past 11 years after possibly the most disappointing season in school history.
After being ranked in the Top 25 at the start of the season, Tennessee went 4-8 to set a school record for losses. The Vols were winless in the SEC for the first time since the league formed in 1933.
"Our football program has the history, the facilities, the tradition and the resources to play with anyone any time, and that's what we're going to do again," Fulmer said.
The public nature of Tennessee's inability to find a coach frustrated a fan base already angry about the Vols' poor 2017 season. People chanted "Fire Currie" on a handful of occasions Monday night during a wrestling show on campus, and again Wednesday night during the Tennessee men's basketball victory overMercer.
Currie took over as Tennessee's athletic director in April and had agreed to a five-year contract worth at least $900,000 annually. According to the terms of Currie's contract, the school would owe him $5.5 million if he is fired without cause.
Fulmer coached the Volunteers from 1992 to 2008, going 152-52 overall and leading Tennessee to the 1998 national title.
Tennessee announced in June that Fulmer had been named a special adviser for community, athletics and university relations. The part-time position paid Fulmer $100,000 annually and was seen as a way to unite a fan base divided over whether he should have been chosen as athletic director when Currie was hired.
Davenport said her decision wasn't related to a single coaching candidate and was due to a "series of events" rather than a single tipping point.
"It has indeed been a difficult week," Davenport said. "It's been a difficult road to get to where we are. This has not been an easy process for any of us. I want you to know that I regret deeply any hurt that's been caused."
Fulmer ruled out the possibility of returning to coaching by appointing himself as Jones' replacement, but he believes his experience can help him choose an ideal candidate.
"I hope to be a stabilizing and unifying force through this just because we do have some gray hair and a lot of experience at this place," Fulmer said. "Sometimes it's when you're younger that you've screwed it up so bad that you figure it out later and you don't make the same mistakes again."
