Tennessee Top Spender In Football Recruiting Among SEC Schools

Univ. Of Tennessee Spent Average Of $1.15M In Football Recruiting From '06-08

The Univ. of Tennessee (UT) is the "runaway spending leader" in football recruiting in the SEC, according to Gentry Estes of the HUNTSVILLE TIMES as part of the newspaper's investigation into recruiting costs among the 11 public schools in the conference. UT spent an average of $1.15M from '06-08, with Auburn ranking second with an average of $705,125. LSU ($662,773), Florida ($599,818) and Georgia ($521,174) rounded out the top five schools. Vanderbilt, a private university, is not subject to open records laws and declined to release its information. Auburn was a "clear pacesetter in recruiting spending" when combining football, basketball and baseball, but no other public school "spent within $300,000 of the Vols during any of the three years examined" on football. UT spent $1.31M on its '07 recruiting class, "more than double every other SEC program that year except Auburn ($756,880)." UT AD Mike Hamilton declined comment, but previously said recruiting expenses are "almost all" travel. Estes noted recruiting budgets "typically cover travel for coaches, travel and hotels for recruits on official visits, complementary tickets and other expenses such as postage and media guides" (HUNTSVILLE TIMES, 7/19).

SPENDING REWARDED: Estes on Monday noted Ole Miss and Mississippi State (MSU) rank 11th and 12th, respectively, among the 12 SEC schools in overall revenue. Estes: "It can't be considered a coincidence that the two SEC programs that have never won a national championship in any sport also are the lowest in overall revenue." Meanwhile, Florida is on the "other end of the scale," as it has a budget "more than three times that of MSU." Estes noted Florida owns "national titles in nine sports, the most of any SEC school" (HUNTSVILLE TIMES, 7/20). The newspaper's four-day series, ending today, not only examined spending in the SEC, but also addresses "some of the tougher questions that exist in the current do-or-die atmosphere, such as: Just where is today's recruiting monster ultimately headed?" (AL.com, 7/19).