John Currie wasn’t exactly one of the most popular people in Knoxville for a good long while. The former Tennessee athletic director, who was dismissed on December 1, 2017 after the fiasco with the botched football coaching search and attempted hire of Greg Schiano, drew ire from fans who after reportedly calling them “wacko” to a journalist in an email during that process.
However, one thing Currie did that was brilliant was hire Tennessee head baseball coach Tony Vitello back in June 2017. Currie managed to pull Vitello, an Arkansas assistant at the time, away from Fayetteville to take over as the Vols’ new head coach.
What were the goals at the start of his tenure? As Currie noted, reaching 83 home runs was one of them.
