Football Coaching Shake-up a Boon for College-Town Realtors

 

Regardless of whether Sun Tzu was the first to observe that opportunities arise from chaos, Sharon Bailey can testify to it from personal experience. Bailey is a certified REALTOR®in Knoxville, Tenn., home of the Volunteers. Over much of the last decade, UT’s athletic department has functioned as a revolving door of high-paid employees—there have been six head football coaches since 2009, and four head men’s basketball coaches, and five athletics directors since 2011.

 

While the constant churn has been a source of agitation for UT fans and alums—of which Bailey is both— it has been a boon for her bottom line. “Sometimes we laugh and say we need a coaching turnover in order to help with some of these big houses,” Bailey said in a recent telephone interview. “They typically do.”