David Blackburn was this close, thisclose, to escaping his Chattanooga Quarterback Club appearance unscathed Monday afternoon.
Having spoken to the group for more than 30 minutes at Finley Stadium, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga vice chancellor and athletic director was about to wrap up his talk when he made the mistake of answering one more question.
“David,” the questioner began, “when do you report to Knoxville?”
The elephant in the room was silent no more. Unless he delivered a “no comment” – which rarely has been Blackburn’s style during his three-plus years running the Mocs program – he finally would have to address the runaway rumors that he is about to succeed retiring University of Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart.
Said Blackburn: “No one has asked me to report to Knoxville. I’ve not been asked to interview. If I am asked, I will (interview). I won’t lie to you. I was there (as a UT athletic department employee) for 28 years. My name is going to be mentioned because of my tenure. But (when I left UT for UTC) I didn’t run from something. I ran to something.”