Former Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton has died at the age of 60.
Former Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton passed away on Friday.
He was 60 years old.
According to posts on his Instagram account on July 23 and October 8, Hamilton was battling cancer and was undergoing a liver transplant.
“I received a notification last weekend.
.
I mentioned in a post on October 8th that I was officially on the transplant candidate list.
“I’m in the 1st A position, and UCHealth told me to arrive by the end of this week, so I’m going to go see what’s going on at UCHealth.
We want your prayers.
” Please also pray for my dying family to give me life.
God is good.
”
Hamilton served as Tennessee’s athletic director from 2003 to 2011 and worked in Tennessee State’s athletic department for nearly 20 years.
Hamilton and his wife Beth adopted his five children, including his three from Ethiopia.
They first adopted his daughter Madison and son Matthew, then Nate, Kiya, and Cal.
Hamilton was a devout Christian.
“In my opinion, there’s no one better than Mike Hamilton,” former UT women’s AD Joan Cronan, whose long tenure overlapped with Hamilton, told Knox News.
“He was a special man with strong faith, a great family and colleagues, and loved the University of Tennessee.
” Mike Hamilton’s Tenure as Tennessee Athletic Director Clemson University graduate comes to Tennessee from Wake Forest The development director, who was working there as an assistant,
Hamilton replaced Doug Dickie when he retired in 2003.
Prior to his appointment as AD, Hamilton was a senior associate on Dickey’s staff, where he served as a director.
He worked at the University of Tennessee from 1992 until 2011, when he served as the development and marketing assistant and director of athletics.
Hamilton led an era in Tennessee athletics with success in football in the first half and success in basketball in the second half, including the only Elite Eight in program history in 2010.
His basketball program also won the SEC championship in 2008 and achieved a No.
1 ranking.
First time in program history.
Mr.
Hamilton was at the helm of the athletic department when former football coach Phillip Fulmer was fired in 2008.
He made headlines for hiring football coach Lane Kiffin to replace Fulmer, but Kiffin moved to Southern California after one season and was hired by Derek Dooley.
He fired Rod Delmonico, the coach who led the Vols to the College World Series, and then fired Todd Lowery, whom he hired in 2007.
Hamilton resigned on June 7, 2011 due to NCAA issues with the Vols’ basketball program that resulted in Bruce Pearl’s expulsion for unethical conduct violations.
“In my 26 years on the job, I have never experienced as many challenges and setbacks as I have in the past 18 months,” Hamilton said at a press conference.
“I take responsibility for causing some of these challenges.
At the end of the day, I believe today’s outcome was inevitable given the way college athletics operates today.
” Under Hamilton’s leadership, UT men’s tennis qualified for the national championship in 2010 and finished second in the nation.
What Mike Hamilton has done since his tenure at the University of Tennessee Hamilton was hired in 2018 as executive vice president of Learfield’s University Partnerships Group, which connects universities with corporate sponsorship and branding opportunities.
Hamilton turned to community service after his term in Tennessee ended.
He served as chairman of Engagement at Blood: Water, a non-profit Christian organization in Nashville for three years.
Blood: Water worked with African grassroots workers to tackle and solve Africa’s HIV/AIDS and water crisis.
What Mike Hamilton has done since his tenure at the University of Tennessee Hamilton was hired in 2018 as executive vice president of Learfield’s University Partnerships Group, which connects universities with corporate sponsorship and branding opportunities.
Hamilton turned to community service after his term in Tennessee ended.
He served as chairman of Engagement at Blood: Water, a non-profit Christian organization in Nashville for three years.
Blood: Water worked with African grassroots workers to tackle and solve Africa’s HIV/AIDS and water crisis.
“That’s what I still enjoy in life.
It’s still changing people,” Hamilton told Knox News in 2014.
He worked for four years at Show Hope, a nonprofit focused on improving access to adoption.
The foundation also cares for orphans.
After Hamilton stayed in Tennessee, he also worked in the consulting field.
Chris Thomas contributed to this report.
Mike Wilson covers the University of Tennessee athletics department.
Email michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow us on Twitter @ByMikeWilson.
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