Tennessee athletic fundraising drops by 25% - WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - After years of record giving to the University of Tennessee athletic department that helped fuel new building projects, donations and the number of people who gave to the department fell by more than 25% last year.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/11zeomz ) that the $10 million drop in donations followed coaching shake-ups and poor performance on the football field. In the last two years, UT has lost or fired head coaches in football, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball.

The biggest drop came in capital gifts, which dropped by half last year to $8.5 million.

Chris Fuller, UT's senior associate athletic director for external operations, said the department has not met standards in recent years and some donors and fans vote with their wallets.

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