Frederick Breedon / Associated Press
Former NFL defense player and Tennessee Volunteers alumnus Albert Haynesworth accused the school of systemic racism and encouraged people to boycott the university after the football program hired Josh Heupel as its head coach without interviewing the former – defender and current coach of the recipients, Tee Martin.
Haynesworth wrote on Facebook:
“TENNESSEE BOYCOTT FOR SYSTEMATIC RACISM !!!!!
“Obviously, Tennessee Vols don’t value Tee Martin! Why does it hurt him, what the hell did he even reduce his salary for when he didn’t need it? Is it because he’s black? I bring race in that because UT went through on top of good qualified black coaches like Kippy Brown and others in those previous coaching polls. Most of your players are African American, why not put an African American coach to lead them, especially the one who won a championship in Tennessee? You give everyone a chance, except qualified blacks! That said, I will not watch any games or support until I see a change at the university I love so much! I hope my fellow black students from Tennessee do follow me in the boycott university to show how serious we are about not feeling equal to our fellow qualified black coaches !!! “
Former Tennessee recipient, Peerless Price, also spoke out against Martin not being interviewed:
Unmatched price @PeerlessTheVol
I just hung up the phone with my Quarterback Tee Martin and told my guy that his pain is an understatement! My brother, if my vision has ever been blurred, I have a clear vision of everything you sacrificed for our University. Damn the pain in my brother’s voice that I’ve never heard before!
Duke’s current women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson, a former Tennessee student, said in June that the school’s athletics department needed to improve its lack of diversity.
“I would encourage all members of the board, the chancellors, the president, to look at the diversity or lack of it of the senior teams in our athletic departments. … It’s not just impressive, it doesn’t exist,” she said, by Monica Kast of Knoxville News Sentinel. “When I look at my alma mater, Knoxville, there is not a single African American coach at that institution. This is not the same for most of the SEC.”
By Will Backus do Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee had exactly three black head coaches in its history: male basketball head coach Wade Houston from 1989 to ’94, the men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin from 2011 to ’14 and athletics JJ Clark from 2001 to ’14.
The school also has no senior black staff members in its sports department.
The school’s new athletic director, Danny White, came from UCF and brought Heupel with him. Heupel was 28-8 in three seasons at the helm of the Knights.