Tennessee Fires Basketball Coach Donnie Tyndall

Faces Serious Penalties For Violations At Southern Miss

  • Friday, March 27, 2015
  • Special to Chattanoogan.com

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee has fired men’s basketball coach Donnie Tyndall.

The decision was made based on information the university received during the NCAA's investigation of another institution.

The university concluded that Tyndall will likely be held responsible for serious violations of NCAA rules that occurred during his tenure as head men's basketball coach at another institution.

"It is disappointing that we have to take this action." Athletic director Dave Hart said. "It is highly likely that coach Tyndall will face significant penalties at the conclusion of the NCAA's infractions process. We believe that this decision is in the best interests of the University of Tennessee."

The NCAA has been investigating Tyndall for months for alleged violations when he was coaching at Southern Miss.

During the investigation, Tyndall deflected questions about the inquiry, but said he was cooperating with the NCAA.

The NCAA sanctioned Tyndall’s Morehead State basketball program for an incident that involved a booster offering illegal benefits to prospective recruits. When Tennessee hired Tyndall, the coach said his situation at Morehead State had been a “learning experience.”

Hart conducted a press conference at 11 a.m. and discussed the firing of Tyndall:

(Opening Statement)
"Obviously, it is very disappointing to be standing before you to talk about the termination of the contract of our head basketball coach, Donnie Tyndall. I want to say up front that because of the public disclosure bylaw within the NCAA, and (Associate AD) Jimmy Stanton can certainly direct you to that if you cannot get there on your own, there will be times – I’m going to open this up to any questions that you have – but there will be times that I won't be able to elaborate very much (regarding) the question that you may have. But, I will do my very best within those parameters to answer any and all questions that you might have.

“This is not the outcome that we had hoped for when we stood before you a year ago. I had the opportunity this morning at 7 a.m. to meet with Donnie, and subsequent to that meeting I had an opportunity to meet with the team, which for me is always the most difficult component of the transition, regardless of the reasons for the transition because they are young kids. For some of them, they have just gone through this a year ago.

“One of the things we have strived for is to get stability, and we had hoped when we hired Donnie that we would have that element in our men's basketball program. That is not how it has panned out as we stand here today.

“Having said that, this decision was the right decision for the University of Tennessee. It is never easy, regardless of the circumstances. I also met with Donnie's staff, and that is also a tough meeting. Assistant coaches are basically tied to the fate of the head coach, good, bad or indifferent. But, those meetings were frank and professional. We are now moving past that to the opportunity for all of you to ask any questions, and I know you have many questions that might be on your mind.

“As I said, I will do my very best to give you as candid of a response as I can within the parameters of the public disclosure bylaw. Most of you, if not all of you, have either seen or have a copy of the termination letter. That letter basically outlines as well as it can be outlined the potential, and we think very likely, scenarios. I won't reference that or speak to that, but that is in your possession. With that, I am going to open it up to your questions and answer those as they come.

“Let me say, too, that I will be here as long as you want me to be here to answer your questions. I want you to feel like you have had every question answered to the best of my ability. Afterwards, though, we won't do any one-on-one (interviews), so if you have a question, please feel free to ask it now." 

(On wishing he had vetted Tyndall more during the hiring process)
"Very fair question. I think we vetted that very well. It was very similar to any search I've ever been involved in in terms of the vetting. Let me try to describe that just a little bit more in detail. When we vet a candidate, we talk to the president of the university. We talk to key people on the campus – the athletics director, the president, the compliance people. We vet, also, within the industry, people that know the candidate, people that have either worked for or coached against or know the candidate.

“We vetted with the NCAA. We say, `Are there any issues at the institution that this individual is working at?' We knew about Morehead State. We read the report. We talked to Morehead State. The president had nothing but very, very gracious, kind and positive things to say about Donnie, as did Southern Miss, his prior institution. We vetted that in a standard process way that you would vet that. Knowing what I know now, I think what you are asking – and trying to be kind with your question – is knowing what I know now, was that a mistake? Probably. That is a fair assessment. There are a lot of coaches out there that have a transgression in their history somewhere that had an opportunity to do better, and I was convinced at the time that Donnie had learned his lesson from Morehead State. That is my honest response to that."

(On if the aforementioned "mistake" was in the vetting process or the hiring process)
"No. not the vetting. I am very comfortable with the vetting. But what I assumed the question was, is that if you had known all this now – obviously, if we had known what we know now, we would have moved in another direction."

(On the process of learning of Tyndall's potential violations)
"I can't speak specifically to that, but I can tell you that we have had legal representation in those interviews--a member of our council here at the university from our staff who also serves as a legal liaison. We also had an individual listen to those interviews the two times that (the NCAA) came to campus. We have also had dialogue when appropriate through those two individuals. Yes, recently I had a first-hand opportunity to engage in specific dialogue relative to what we could attain from those conversations."?

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44) 

 

 

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