Over at KnoxViews, R. Neal links to a piece at Inside Tennessee raising the question whether Summitt was given no option but to step down. The piece is written by Maria M. Cornelius, a former colleague of mine. I can’t speak to the above question, but I can say while Maria was at the News Sentinel she was very highly regarded and respected. She was known as a tough and thorough journalist.

Maria concludes her interesting read, “What these coaches and every other staff on campus don’t need is Team Turmoil on the administrative side of athletics.

Perhaps Summitt can intervene. Or Cheek. Or the Board of Trustees. Or Hart.

Somebody needs to step up.”

I would be shocked if Summitt were fired, told not to come back, or however you want to characterize it. The PR and legal backlash to such a move would be monumental. One can easily infer that a lawyer is getting a bit carried away with the claim.