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The roller coaster ride through 2017 sports in Tennessee

UT sports had a lot of changes in leadership during 2017. It was a smokin' hot Tennessee summer for ice hockey but not so much for Vol football.

In the Volunteer state, the 2017 year in sports will be most remembered for the drama that took place off the field.

It began with a new face in charge of Tennessee sports. John Currie was introduced as Tennessee's new athletics director in March.

MORE: A timeline of John Currie's brief tenure at UT

"I would not be here if I didn't believe that this was a place that can be the very best athletics program in the country," Currie said.

He hired a new baseball coach in Tony Vitello and returned the Lady Vols name to its rightful place. For the moment, all seemed right in the UT sports world.

In June, during a smokin' hot Tennessee summer, ice hockey became coolest sport in town.

Watch parties in Nashville and Knoxville brought in thousands of new fans.

The Nashville Predators tried their best to hunt down the Penguins, but lost to Pittsburgh in the Stanely Cup Finals.

Unfortunately, when football season rolled around, things never heated up.

"We are standing here because we haven't won enough," Currie said after firing Tennessee head football coach Butch Jones following the team's loss at Kentucky.

Brady Hoke was named interim head coach, and the Volunteers finished winless in the SEC for the first time in program history. Little did anyone know, the worst was yet to come.

"An exhaustive search is underway for a person of the highest integrity and character with the skills and vision to propel Tennessee to championships," says Currie.

Easier said than done. On Dec. 1, after a coaching search that brought both local and national scrutiny, Currie was put on paid suspension.

Less than a week later, former Tennessee coaching great Phillip Fulmer was named his replacement.

"Our football program has the history, the facilities, the tradition and the resources to play with anyone any time, and that's what we're going to do again," Fulmer said at his introductory press conference.

In a matter of days, Fulmer hired Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as Tennessee's new head football coach.

"We want to be a big, fast, dominating, aggressive, relentless football team that no one in the SEC wants to play," the Alabama native said.

In brighter news, the "Sheriff," Peyton Manning, captured a spot in college football's hall of fame, and another type of football scored big in the Music city.

Nashville was named one of the cities to receive a Major League Soccer team.

Hopefully, next year, we will talk about everything that was accomplished on the field.

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