Ray Tanner on his way out at USC. How does his tenure compare with SEC counterparts

Although Ray Tanner’s time leading South Carolina’s athletic department drew its share of outside criticism, it did display one particular strong suit: stability.

In an athletics world where folks want people fired just about all the time, Tanner was in charge for 12 years. That’s a lifetime in college sports and not the most common among competitors in the SEC.

A look at the state of other SEC athletic departments through Tanner’s tenure (not including new SEC members Texas and Oklahoma):

Alabama

In 2012, Mal Moore was in the final years of a more than decade-long tenure. The man who hired Nick Saban left the position while battling health issues and passed away soon after. Former Bear Bryant player and Tennessee coach Bill Battle took over but retired after four years. The Tide replaced him with a hot national name in Greg Byrne, who had previously worked at Mississippi State and Arizona.

Arkansas

Jeff Long was the Razorbacks AD in 2012, and was already in the middle of a somewhat high-profile tenure. He had hired Bobby Petrino, whose tenure ended in scandal, and Long was fired in 2017. His replacement, Hunter Yurachek, arrived after time at Coastal Carolina and a short but ascendant tenure at Houston (he hired Tom Herman there).

Auburn

Jay Jacobs had been established when Tanner was hired, with a tenure that included some unusual and unpopular coaching hires, one that produced a 2010 football national championship. Jacobs left amid scandal in 2018, with a lawsuit against the school over discrimination, an assistant basketball coach arrested by the FBI and news of inappropriate sexual relationships within the softball program. His replacement, Allen Greene, had a turbulent tenure that included tensions with administration, boosters and coaches in the Tigers’ perpetually dramatic department. After a disastrous coaching search that involved a booster power play, his contract was not renewed. The next man in the job was John Cohen, a very good baseball coach-turned-moderately successful AD at Mississippi State.

Florida

A model of consistency at the position, UF was in the latter end of Jeremy Foley’s long and very successful tenure. When he retired, the school got Scott Stricklin, who was coming off a well-regarded stint at Mississippi State. Stricklin might be in a tough spot at the moment, as he is about to fire a football coach he hired for the second time in four years, this time at enormous cost to the school.

Georgia

Greg McGarity was early in a relatively successful tenure with the Bulldogs in 2012. Most notable under his watch was the firing of Mark Richt to hire Kirby Smart, which led to multiple national titles. McGarity retired in 2020 and was replaced by Josh Brooks, a business-minded administrator who worked his way up through Louisiana-Monroe and one year running a Division III department, then joined the UGA athletics department in 2016.

Kentucky

Mitch Barnhart has been leading the Wildcats since 2002. His tenure included the hiring of a basketball coach who won a title, John Calipari, and one who bombed out disastrously, Billy Gillispie. He brought in the most successful football coach in school history, Mark Stoops, and one who brought a degree of respectability, Rich Brooks, but also oversaw the not-successful Joker Phillips tenure. More recently he had some tensions with Calipari before the Hall of Fame coach left of Arkansas, and Barnhart has recently been named in a lawsuit involving sexual violence within the Wildcats swimming program.

LSU

Joe Alleva arrived in Baton Rouge in 2008 and lasted until 2019. His tenure saw a good bit of success, but he also got a fair amount of flack for his work with the football and basketball programs. After firing Les Miles in 2016, the Tigers got turned down by Tom Herman and settled for Ed Orgeron, whose short tenure involved leading one of the most dominant teams in the sport’s recent history and a spectacular flameout. Alleva also declined to fire Will Wade despite serious allegations of paying players. Alleva was eventually pushed out and replaced by Texas A&M’s Scott Woodward, who has a reputation for showy hires, and made them for both the baseball and women’s basketball teams.

Ole Miss

Ross Bjork came from Western Kentucky to Oxford the same year Tanner took over. His tenure included a fair amount of scandal, often tied to recruiting violations. The school was sued by former coach Houston Nutt during his tenure. Bjork oversaw the Hugh Freeze tenure, which came with success as well as turbulence, rule-breaking and a scandal involving escorts that cost Freeze his job. Bjork left for Texas A&M in 2019, and interim AD Keith Carter, a former Rebels basketball player, eventually took over the job.

Mississippi State

The Bulldogs have been a bit of a farm system for other SEC departments. Scott Stricklin got there in 2010 and left for Florida in 2016. John Cohen, a promoted baseball coach, was around until 2022, when Auburn poached him. In early 2023, MSU hired Zac Selmon, a 38-year-old who played football at Wake Forest and spent most of his career working his way up at Oklahoma.

Missouri

Mike Alden was wrapping a long and successful tenure in 2012, having recently guided the Tigers into the SEC. His replacement, Mack Rhoades, spent less than a year at the job and skipped town for Baylor after a tumultuous football season that included a fan boycott and veteran coach resigning. Jim Sterk’s tenure lasted five years, and involved solving some of the issues of the previous administration before starting some of his own (Gamecocks fans will remember the war of words with Dawn Staley, and the end of the Barry Odom era in football was handled badly). After Sterk was let go, Desiree Reed-Francois lasted three years before leaving for Arizona. Laird Veatch arrived from Memphis to become the school’s fifth AD since 2012.

Tennessee

Dave Hart was early in his tenure in 2012 and was on the way to firing football coach Derek Dooley. Hart hired Butch Jones, whose tenure was pretty good until it suddenly fell apart. Hart also hired Rick Barnes, but Hart retired amid some turbulence around a Title IX lawsuit and other administration machinations. John Currie lasted less than a year and was ousted after the disastrous 2017 football coaching search. He was replaced by Phil Fulmer, who was responsible for the disastrous Jeremy Pruitt tenure and later fired as NCAA violations piled up. Tennessee next turned to Danny White, an opinionated former UCF AD who hired very successful current football coach Josh Heupel.

Texas A&M

The AD situation in College Station was tied deeply to South Carolina in 2012. Eric Hyman left the Gamecocks to take over the Aggies. He lasted until 2016 in a notoriously messy and booster-driven department. His replacement was Scott Woodward from Washington, who made a splash by giving Jimbo Fisher a boatload of money and landing Buzz Williams on the basketball side. When Woodward skipped town for LSU, A&M scooped up Ross Bjork, who extended Fisher and later fired him at enormous cost. The Aggies just landed former Nebraska AD Trev Alberts in a curious hire.

Vanderbilt

David Williams II led Commodore athletics from the early 2000s through 2018. He oversaw some modest football and basketball successes for the perpetually out-manned programs and some dominant baseball runs. They also had a rape investigation around the football program. Williams resigned at the end of 2018 (and passed away soon after). His understudy Candice Storey Lee took over and has run the department since.

This story was originally published September 19, 2024 at 9:17 AM with the headline "Ray Tanner on his way out at USC. How does his tenure compare with SEC counterparts."