KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Among the many newsworthy things to come out of Tennessee on Monday was the announcement that Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer will be retiring. The coach stepped into the role back in December of 2017 before hiring Jeremy Pruitt to be the school's head football coach less than a week later.
At Monday's press conference, it was made known that Fulmer would be staying on to help bridge the gap until a new director of athletics could be found. There are many different directions that Tennessee's administration could go with their next hire, but we're going to outline a few possibilities along with the reasons why each candidate might make sense.
Jon Gilbert
Jon Gilbert has a lot of ties to Knoxville. A very strong link is that his son Kent is a freshman on the Tennessee Basketball team. Could Rick Barnes have some sort of input on the next hire? If so, Gilbert could be a name to keep a very close eye on. Gilbert is currently at East Carolina University where he has been athletics director since December of 2018. Before his time began at ECU, Gilbert was at Southern Miss. Gilbert knows what it's like to work at an SEC powerhouse. He has served in administrative positions for athletics at both Tennessee and Alabama.
Mark Ingram
Along with Gilbert, Ingram is another name that has been circulating around the Tennessee job since Fulmer's retirement was announced on Monday. As the director of athletics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Ingram has been in charge since 2015. He's got strong ties back to Knoxville as well. Ingram spent five years at Tennessee, he took part in planning a campaign that raised $336 million during his time, according to UAB's website. Ingram is another candidate that would fit Tennessee's need of a veteran who knows what they're doing.
David Blackburn
David Blackburn was the preferred choice for many fans to fill the director of athletics vacancy at the time of Phillip Fulmer's hiring. He was the sport administrator for football at Tennessee. His in-person experience deep inside of the Tennessee football team can't be overstated. He's familiar with athletics across the state. He has spent time at UTC where he hired Will Wade and Jim Foster as men's and women's basketball coaches, and he has been working at MTSU in their athletics department since 2018. While he's probably a ways down the board for many, his name is worth mentioning at the least.
Whit Babcock
Whit Babcock is a popular name in the athletics world. He may be more of a longshot, but he's proven. At Virginia Tech, a move to Tennessee would be a little tougher sell than it would be for others on this list. Compared to other, non-power 5 candidates, a move from Virginia Tech wouldn't be as big of a career jump. Babcock is experienced, having been at the helm at Virginia Tech since 2014. While the hire may not have turned out to be what many expected it to be, he did help the school get Justin Fuente away from Memphis after long time VT coach Frank Beamer's tenure was up.
Doug Gillin
Doug Gillin is the director of athletics at Appalachian State. Admittedly, this is a bit of a shot in the dark as a candidate. He doesn't have many obvious ties to the East Tennessee, but he's been at the top of an athletics department that has fielded a successful football program year after year. One of his previous coaches, Eliah Drinkwitz was hired at fellow SEC East school Missouri in late 2019. Possibly one of the more interesting things linking Gillin with Tennessee is his history with using Parker Executive Search. Gillin talked about his use of the search firm in a Winston-Salem Journal article where he spoke about the positive impression the firm left on him.
Charles Davis
Charles Davis is probably the least experienced athletic department candidate on this list. He's currently an NFL analyst, but is widely respected as an extremely intelligent football mind. He played at Tennessee and is a highly respected name throughout the country. He doesn't necessarily fit the school's need for an experienced director of athletics, but if interested in the job, the Tennessee native could certainly campaign on the notion that his connections in college and in the pro ranks could set him apart when looking for Tennessee's next football coach.
Chancellor Donde Plowman's Connections
Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman appears to be very much in charge of what's going on at Tennessee as the school moves forward. Could she steer the search in a direction we don't see coming? This is certainly a possibility as she's a very connected leader in her own right. Plowman spent the better part of a decade at the University of Nebraska and may be able to cast a net much wider than many have thought.