Tennessee not getting enough credit for boosting local economy

The University of Tennessee’s economic impact on Knoxville is so obvious that it often goes unmentioned. But it no longer will go unmentioned here.

When one local resident wins a lottery or gets fired by UT, the entire city benefits from the influx of more money. It's basic economics.

UT hasn’t received nearly enough credit for stimulating the local economy. Instead, it’s being criticized for fiscal irresponsibility.

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None other than U.S. Rep. Jimmy Duncan has been one of its critics. In Duncan’s December newsletter, he ripped UT for the exorbitant buyouts it’s paying to failed coaches and administrators in recent years.

Tennessee’s generosity is nothing new. But Duncan apparently felt compelled to comment after UT’s recent contributions to the well-being of former employees.

Fired coach Butch Jones and his staff could receive an estimated $13.7 million in buyouts after working tirelessly to try and put UT football out of business. Even though the buyout probably will be reduced because some of those coaches already have been hired elsewhere, the payout is still incredibly high, even for a school as historically generous as Tennessee.

Duncan also wasn’t excited about the possibility that athletic director John Currie could receive as much as a $5 million buyout after playing a prominent role in what is now regarded as the worst coaching search in the history of our planet.

In fact, Currie hasn’t even been fired yet. He’s just suspended, which means he’s having to get by on about $17,000 a week. But when Tennessee finally gets around to firing him, he won’t get his salary and a buyout. Or, as the frugal administrators at UT like to say, “You can’t have your salary and buyout, too.”

It’s probably worth noting that Duncan isn’t the only one who thinks the school would have fared better financially if someone’s pet turtle had been involved in the contract negotiations with its coaches and athletic directors.

Super-agent Jimmy Sexton, a UT alumnus with a history of steering clients toward his alma mater, probably begins negotiations with something like: “Let’s make it rain!”

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But let’s put this in perspective. Buyouts aside, UT isn’t on the verge of bankruptcy. Buildings keep getting built. The athletic department is spending money as though it’s printing $100 bills around the clock.

And boosters don’t seem bothered that the subject of their contributions might as well be setting their hard-earned tax write-offs on fire.

Maybe it’s not all good. But it’s better than some shortsighted critics think.

After all, how can you properly evaluate the effect UT’s extravagant buyouts are having on our local economy?

Things might be different if Jones and Currie already had fled the scene. However, they’re supposedly still here. Perhaps Currie has no choice. Since he’s still officially on the UT payroll, maybe UT’s shrewd negotiators included a clause in his contract that requires him to stay in the city limits while he’s still drawing a salary.

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Jones has no restrictions. He’s free to go anywhere and spend his $8 million parting gift from Tennessee. But he’s here, with time and money on his hands, putting more money in circulation locally.

Let others criticize. I say, "Thanks, UT."

Reach John Adams at john.adams@knoxnews.com or 865-342-6284 and on Twitter @johnadamskns.