KNOXVILLE - More than six months after Dave Hart announced he was stepping down, Tennessee finally hired a replacement for the outgoing athletic director.
Despite months of bluster and misinformation, the search process really only lasted a few weeks before Tennessee hired Kansas State's John Currie on Tuesday.
New chancellor Beverly Davenport, confirmed in December as Jimmy Cheek's replacement, didn't officially move into her post until the middle of February, a couple of weeks after the university hired Turnkey Search firm and formed a six-member committee to aid Davenport in a search she led.
"Turnkey worked with us and for us," Davenport explained Thursday when Tennessee introduced Currie at Thompson-Boling Arena. "Turnkey looked for candidates for us throughout the entire process, and they had been working with us. They took candidates to our search committee. Our search committee took candidates to me. That's how it worked."
Davenport said the search committee - former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, Cleveland Browns owner and Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam, two members of the university's board of trustees and two current administrators - met and talked with candidates, though not all of them were involved in Currie's selection and interview.
Not all of the committee members were present Thursday, though Manning and Haslam were. Nor was every member of the university's board of trustees present. Hart was in Greenville, S.C., where he watched the Lady Volunteers basketball team lose to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference tournament.
"We truly believe," Davenport said, "we found someone who meets all of those criteria that we were looking for."
The first conversation between Davenport and Currie happened Monday afternoon.
North Carolina's Bubba Cunningham emerged at the beginning of last weekend and was reportedly trending toward becoming the favorite before removing his name from consideration, as he did with the Florida AD job last year.
Former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer met with Turnkey and members of the committee, while UT-Chattanooga vice chancellor and athletic director David Blackburn only met with Turnkey and did not receive a formal interview.
"I knew when I accepted this position that finding a new athletics director was my first priority," Davenport said. "That was clear. To say that there has been some interest in who I was going to hire or who I should hire might be quite an understatement. But our goal has never changed.
"We wanted the best athletic director for the University of Tennessee, and from the beginning people asked me what I was looking for. Those of you who have heard me know that I have stood (steadfast) about that. I continued to say I wanted a sitting AD at a Power Five (conference) school. These are complex jobs. Experience matters.
"I wanted someone with unwavering integrity; a commitment to compliance; a person with a vision who understands how to manage and lead the entire enterprise; someone who makes the success of the student-athlete a priority; someone who will be a partner in the entire university enterprise; and of course, someone who's committed to winning."
Fulmer reportedly pushed for the job so Currie, who was part of the regime that fired him before the 2008 season ended, would not get it, but Currie already appears to be making attempts to mend that fence. He began rehashing memories from his first stint at Tennessee by recalling his first taste of the traditional football rivalry with Alabama.
"Coach Fulmer gave us the greatest run in the modern era of Tennessee football," Currie said.
Davenport denied speaking with Currie when he was in Knoxville when Kansas State's men's basketball team lost to Tennessee on Jan. 28.
She flew to Manhattan, Kan., for an in-home visit with Currie and his family. She noted the Curries serving her water out of a Tennessee glass and the orange throughout house. Davenport said the meeting "reassured" her that hiring Currie back was the right choice.
"He's honest. He's transparent. He's high energy. He's pretty intense," she said. "He has a strong history with the University of Tennessee and Tennessee athletics. He's worked in some tough situations, (and) he thrived in that role."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.