KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The NCAA investigation at his former school lingered over Donnie Tyndall before he ever coached a game at Tennessee, and now his unethical actions at Southern Mississippi have led to his firing after only one season.
The decision to part ways with Tyndall on Friday leaves the Volunteers again searching for someone to stabilize a men's basketball program that has recently been in constant upheaval.
Tennessee Athletic Director Dave Hart said it would be fair to say it was a mistake to hire Tyndall, who Hart said acknowledged deleting emails that could have been relevant to the Southern Mississippi investigation. In his termination letter, Hart states the emails were deleted by Tyndall on or around Nov. 18, less than two weeks after Southern Mississippi announced it was under investigation.
"Knowing what I know now, is that a mistake?" Hart asked. "Probably. ... But, you know, there are a lot of coaches out there that have a transgression in their history somewhere that had an opportunity to do better. I was convinced at the time of the hire that Donnie had learned his lesson from Morehead State. ... Obviously if we'd known [then] what we know now, we would have moved in another direction."
Morehead State went on probation for two years in August 2010 because of violations related to booster activity under Tyndall's watch.
When details surfaced about Tyndall's conduct at Southern Miss, Hart took action, firing Tyndall at a 7 a.m. meeting Friday. Hart spoke at a news conference in the Ray Mears Room of Thompson-Boling Arena with a black curtain hung over a wall to cover a mural of Tyndall.
Tyndall's contract was set to run through March 2020 and pay him $1.6 million annually, but Hart said Friday the terms should prevent the school from owing him any more money. He went 16-16 in his lone season at Tennessee.
Tyndall's Tennessee contract allows the school to fire him for cause if he is found to have committed an NCAA Level I or Level II violation "whether the conduct occurred during [Tyndall's] employment with the university or another NCAA-member institution."
Hart said he would take a different approach in finding a successor. He will use a search firm for this hire, something he didn't do when selecting Tyndall or deciding on Butch Jones as Tennessee's football coach in December 2012. He also said he wouldn't consider anyone with a history of NCAA violations.
Tyndall's successor will become Tennessee's third coach in as many years, and its fourth in six years. Bruce Pearl was fired amid an NCAA investigation in 2011. Cuonzo Martin left for California last year after three seasons.
"One of the things we've strived for is to get stability," Hart said. "We had hoped when we hired Donnie that we'd have that element in our men's basketball program. That is not how it's panned out as we stand here today."
Al Pinkins, an assistant on Tyndall's staff who didn't work with him at Southern Mississippi, will serve as interim coach while Tennessee conducts its search.
Southern Miss revealed it was under investigation in November, about a week before Tennessee's season opener. Southern Mississippi announced in January it had self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2014-15 season.
Tyndall issued a statement through his lawyer, saying he was "extremely saddened by my separation from Tennessee" and apologized to his players, coaching staff and Volunteer fans.
"In the past months, I learned that violations of NCAA rules occurred in the Southern Miss men's basketball program when I was that program's head coach. That surprised and disappointed me," Tyndall said. "During my time at Southern Miss, I believed that our program followed NCAA rules and worked well with the university's administration to maintain an atmosphere of rules compliance.
"NCAA rules prevent me from being more specific. However, as the head coach at that time, I accept ultimate responsibility for violations that occurred. While at Tennessee, I cooperated with the NCAA investigation process, and I will continue to do so."
Southern Mississippi Athletic Director Bill McGillis issued a statement Friday saying the school would not comment on any details of the case.
Sports on 03/28/2015