Vanderbilt's athletics revamp hits a hitch.(Newswatch)

In the wake of President Gordon Gee's stunning, courageous plan to dissolve the athletics department and more fully integrate athletics into the Vanderbilt University TN campus, a hitch developed.

Instead of accepting a new position as special assistant to President Gee on athletics issues, AD Todd G. Turner has resigned.

In a private memo to athletics department staff that The Tennessean obtained, Turner was skeptical:

"As dedicated as I am to making positive changes in the culture of athletics at the Division I-A level, I do not feel the strategy [President Gee] has chosen will produce the results many of us have worked so hard to achieve.

"No doubt, Vanderbilt will continue to do things the right way, but being isolated administratively from Division I-A peers rather than in concert with them will challenge Vanderbilt's credibility and effectiveness when it comes to leadership in Division I-A athletics."

Turner chairs the NCAA panel that is working on a set of rewards and punishments to encourage schools to do a good job in educating their athletes, a role he can continue despite resigning from Vanderbilt.

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