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Currie ready to "give all" for Tennessee

The car door opened and there it sat, for Chancellor Beverly Davenport to clearly see. A sign that John Currie had taken with him from Rocky Top to the Little Apple of Manhattan, Kansas. A sign that Tennessee fans are familiar with with the inscription, "I will give my all for Tennessee today" painted across a wooden plank shaped like the state of Tennessee. Sure it was meant to make an impact and it opened the door to not only a car ride, but to the next phase of Currie's life.

"He asked me if I wanted anything to drink," Davenport said of her visit in the Currie family kitchen later that Monday afternoon. "I told him I'd take some water and he pulled out a Tennessee glass. It was a clear glass with a power T on it. He had orange at his house. I think he had more Tennessee things than I do."

The clear glass symbolizing a transparent path to a job he has always coveted. The bold and confident Currie saw the seconds and minutes with Davenport and his family turn into hours. Not always talking shop, but in the end the talk did center around what he could do for this University.

"We had a fantastic visit," Currie said. "The chancellor pulled out that piece of paper after a few hours and all I could think about was maxim #2 Mr. (Jim) Haslam. Play for and make the breaks and when one comes your way, score. So I pulled out that pen and signed that paper real fast."

All of this has happened just like Currie signing that memorandum of understanding. The plane ride with his wife and kids by his side was smooth and fast. He hit the ground running today as he met with coaches and staffers in what is a different looking athletic department that he left almost eight years ago. Quick to call on familiar faces during his hour in the spotlight, Currie impressed many including former Lady Vol athletic director Joan Cronin.

"He was young when he was first here," Cronin said. "I remember thinking that is what the future athletic directors are going to look like. They are interested in athletics and the sport and winning. But they are also very knowledgeable with the business side.

"It's an exciting day. He loves the culture and the people. He felt he is already back a part of the group and that was evident today. I'm really looking forward to him being our athletic director. I'm excited about the future and he has the ability to listen and do great things."

Currie is back in the Southeastern Conference and he'll lead Tennessee athletics against some of his good friends in the business.

"I have a couple of buddies that have taken over programs that we like to compete with," Currie said. "My boy, Greg Byrne at Alabama and Scott Strickland at Florida. Those are two of my closest friends and I can't wait to beat those guys."

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