Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Could Heath Shuler take over Tennessee Athletic Director job?

Heath Shuler/R-N.C
((ht: washington post))

Hmmm. This is an interesting thought/idea. The Edge Radio's Tony Basillo (Knoxville station), brings up that Heath Shuler's name is being bandied about as a possible Athletic Director at the University of Tennesse and that Shuler has some interest.

You can read Basillo's blog RIGHT HERE (Scroll down once you open link)

The Washington Post thought the idea was interesting enough to follow up with an inquiry to Congressman Heath Shuler, of North Carolina's office. And the office didn't deny it, but said that Shuler is focused on the 2012 election.

Read the Washington Post story RIGHT HERE

While we don't hold Tennessee in high regard of late, we think that Shuler would be an inspired choice, if he were so interested. The school right now has all kinds of image problems in athletics and is facing an almost certain NCAA punishment for the dealings of now former basketball coach Bruce Pearl and former football coach Lane Kiffin.

Shuler would be someone who would go a long way towards restoring his alma mater's reputation. From his days as an All-american quarterback to the successes he's had in Congress, he's highly thought of in many communities.

The school, for their part, has been somewhat close lipped about the search for Mike Hamilton's replacement, though current Georgia Tech AD Dan Radakovich's name has been mentioned. We don't believe that he'd seriously take the job however.

We wish both sides of this courtship well. Tennessee, we'd be very impressed if you truly can pull this off. But considering the mis-steps of the past 10-years or so, we are very skeptical that you'll be able to do it.

While well thought of as a Congressman, Shuler didn't garner much respect in the NFL. Here's a story on the reason for that:

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