No wonder Tennessee fans are 'wacko'; look at their leaders

One of the most popular stories on our website last week was pegged to a text between former Tennessee athletic director John Currie and USA TODAY sports columnist Dan Wolken.

The exchange took place after many UT fans expressed outrage on social media over the possible hiring of Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano as their football coach.

“Gonna need some help on the Pr,” Currie texted Wolken. “Our people are wacko.”

Why wouldn’t they be? Look at what they have had to put up with the past 20 years.

Tennessee hasn’t won an SEC championship in football since 1998. And recently hired Jeremy Pruitt as its fifth football coach since 2008.

The Vols have had four basketball coaches since 2011. Two of those coaches left after NCAA investigations.

The once dominant women’s basketball program hasn’t been to the Final Four in 10 years.

A great season for UT baseball is making the SEC tournament.

More: Former Vols AD John Currie says Tennessee people are 'wacko' in text exchange with reporter

More: NCAA tournament exits of UT Vols, Lady Vols treated differently

But to properly evaluate the wackiness, let’s start at the top with recent UT presidents/chancellors.

Remember J. Wade Gilley? He lasted two years (1999-2001) and was forced to resign after hiring an administrator with whom he was having a romantic affair. She also had falsified credentials.

Gilley was succeeded by John Shumaker, who worked tirelessly to improve Tennessee’s relations with Greece. He even served as a trustee at a college in Greece, although he didn’t bother to mention that to the folks who were funding his world tour.

In fact, there probably were a lot of things he didn’t tell UT.

Shumaker resigned in 2003 amid charges that he misused university resources. Wonder whatever happened to that $7,000 Persian rug he bought? Or the $4,822 gas grill?

Compared to his predecessors, John Petersen was an excellent hire. I just remember him for heckling officials at women’s basketball games.

Others remember him for his wife, Carol, who was banned by trustees from talking to UT donors after she made a prominent donor cry.

Neither chancellor Jimmy Cheek nor his wife ever made a UT donor cry, as far as I know. There are no Persian rugs or gas grills to remember him by. And he lasted more years than Gilley, Shumaker and Petersen combined.

Unfortunately, he was on board with former athletic director Dave Hart’s decision to remove “Lady Vols” for all teams except basketball, which qualifies as one of the wackiest decisions in UT history.

And you wonder why Tennessee fans are wacko?

Former basketball coach Kevin O’Neill left UT for Northwestern. Basketball coach Cuonzo Martin left it for Cal. Football coach Lane Kiffin left it after one year for Southern California.

Former football coach Butch Jones won enough games in his first four seasons to give Tennessee fans hope. But by the time he was fired, the Vols were headed for the first eight-loss season in school history and Jones had become a national punchline for introducing “Champions of Life” and “Five-Star Hearts” into our sports lexicon.

The wackiness has been apparent in ventures both big and small.

How is it possible for a school to take three months to remove a fired football coach’s image from the back of its stadium scoreboard? And how about that softball press box?

The Sherri Parker Lee Stadium is often sold out. UT’s softball program is one of the best in the country.

But if you ever get a chance to tour the stadium, check out the press box — from which not all seats have a view of home plate if you are sitting down.

How wacky is that?

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/johnadamskns.