Who wanted to get rid of Fulmer?

#251
#251
Perhaps the better question would be who wanted to keep Fulmer. He wasn't fired for not winning enough games during his tenure. He was fired because he had let the roster get to the level of Vandy and KY on his watch. The last 3 senior classes here proves how bad the roster had got, seeing how Phil knew and was a part of rebuilding with Johnny, it was time for him to go.
 
#252
#252
I thought alot of CPF. Was it time for him to go? Maybe. However, if my car starts tearing up, breaking down all the time, etc., I promise you I will trade it in for a better car. His two successors cant hold a candle to CPF, and everyone knows it. And before someone says no one wanted to come here, bullsh**. Money talks.
 
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#253
#253
The Board of Trustees set the dollar amount on the new coach hire, everyone wants to blame Hamilton but this was not his decision. I am sure if the BOT set the dollar amount they knew the finances better than we do. So many fans think we have unlimited funds because of Haslam. Jim Haslam played football for Neyland, loves UT but all the money he has donated over the years has earmarked very little towards the AD with the bulk going to education.
 
#254
#254
Carl Pickens said:
Smoke and mirrors....
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That is the wheat of your post. I erased the chaff. Now, when you are ready to get a clue as to how you QUALIFY for the SEC title game, there is a website ran by the league that has that information. Look it up sometime. Hint: it does not involve backing anywhere. It does mention something about conference wins though.
 
#255
#255
Big Orange 1 said:
I thought alot of CPF. Was it time for him to go? Maybe. However, if my car starts tearing up, breaking down all the time, etc., I promise you I will trade it in for a better car. His two successors cant hold a candle to CPF, and everyone knows it. And before someone says no one wanted to come here, bullsh**. Money talks.
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Kiffin can, at least relative to what Fulmer did in his final 7 seasons. However, a better opportunity came up so he's not here anymore. Whether Kiffin can take any team to the heights Fulmer took UT in the mid-late 90's remains to be seen.
 
#257
#257
PimpVol said:
That is the wheat of your post. I erased the chaff. Now, when you are ready to get a clue as to how you QUALIFY for the SEC title game, there is a website ran by the league that has that information. Look it up sometime. Hint: it does not involve backing anywhere. It does mention something about conference wins though.
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But the point is that UT's presence in the SECCG in 2007 was not due to UT being an elite team or anything close to it that year. It was much more an indictment on the rest of the East for being so mediocre than it was a testament to Fulmer's coaching abilities. If not for a miraculous fumble recovery, SC and Vandy being unable to hit a field goal and UK gagging away a game they should have won, UT would have been 3-5 in SEC play that year. It was just one of those years where all the crucial breaks seemed to go UT's way.

However, you do have a point. If not for Ainge having a disastrous 4th quarter against LSU, in spite of all that luck we needed, and getting hammered by our two biggest rivals, UT would have been SEC Champions. It was a VERY thin line between great and awful that year.
 
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#258
#258
bleedorange0037 said:
Kiffin can, at least relative to what Fulmer did in his final 7 seasons. However, a better opportunity came up so he's not here anymore. Whether Kiffin can take any team to the heights Fulmer took UT in the mid-late 90's remains to be seen.
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He has had the chance in an easy league with Barkley and Woods and even poached a star running back for this year. Not getting it done so far.
 
#259
#259
bleedorange0037 said:
But the point is that UT's presence in the SECCG in 2007 was not due to UT being an elite team or anything close to it that year. It was much more an indictment on the rest of the East for being so mediocre than it was a testament to Fulmer's coaching abilities. If not for a miraculous fumble recovery, SC and Vandy being unable to hit a field goal and UK gagging away a game they should have won, UT would have been 3-5 in SEC play that year. It was just one of those years where all the crucial breaks seemed to go UT's way.

However, you do have a point. If not for Ainge having a disastrous 4th quarter against LSU, in spite of all that luck we needed, and getting hammered by our two biggest rivals, UT would have been SEC Champions. It was a VERY thin line between great and awful that year.
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If if was a spliff, I would be high. Oh wait, I am :) . His "point" is pointless. We were there. Had another team qualified, they would have went. That whole back in crap is BS. So is smoke and mirrors. And what is elite? Who determines it? What does it qualify you for? A win is a win. Period. Point blank.
 
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#260
#260
And what luck did we need? The season played out and we won. Georgia was the one waiting for luck. They had to HOPE we lost our last league game so the could have went to Atlanta instead of us. So, I guess they could have backed in, but that is still a dumbass premise. Sorry. It is disrespectful of what it takes to win in this league. So I can't respect it, or it's tenents.
 
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#261
#261
PimpVol said:
If if was a spliff, I would be high. Oh wait, I am :) . His "point" is pointless. We were there. Had another team qualified, they would have went. That whole back in crap is BS. So is smoke and mirrors. And what is elite? Who determines it? What does it qualify you for? A win is a win. Period. Point blank.
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I agree that wins are wins, but in retrospect the '07 season wasn't a real accurate indicator of how strong (or weak) our football program actually was at that point in time. Like I said, we were one quarter away from being SEC Champs, but at the same time we were also about 3 bad breaks from a 6-6 season. Looking back, the reality is that we were much closer to the 6-6 team that we almost were than the SEC Champions that we almost were. It just happened to be one of those years where the critical breaks all fell our way.
 
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#262
#262
PimpVol said:
And what luck did we need? The season played out and we won. Georgia was the one waiting for luck. They had to HOPE we lost our last league game so the could have went to Atlanta instead of us. So, I guess they could have backed in, but that is still a dumbass premise. Sorry. It is disrespectful of what it takes to win in this league. So I can't respect it, or it's tenents.
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The absurdly lucky fumble recovery on the tying drive against USC? Their future NFL kicker missing a 40 yard FG when he's already hit from much further out? Vandy blowing a 15 point 4th quarter lead and then banging the winning chip-shot off the upright as time ran out? UK not being able to get a chip-shot FG over the line for the win in the 2nd OT?

Edit: After a quick check, the Vandy game wasn't actually a chip-shot nor did it happen as time ran out. Nevertheless, two inches to the right and UT loses that game.

I agree with you that to some extent you make your own luck, but don't act like we didn't catch a lot of big breaks that year. It was basically the Bizzarro 2010, where every close break went against us.
 
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#263
#263
bleedorange0037 said:
I agree that wins are wins, but in retrospect the '07 season wasn't a real accurate indicator of how strong (or weak) our football program actually was at that point in time. Like I said, we were one quarter away from being SEC Champs, but at the same time we were also about 3 bad breaks from a 6-6 season. Looking back, the reality is that we were much closer to the 6-6 team that we almost were than the SEC Champions that we almost were. It just happened to be one of those years where the critical breaks all fell our way.
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:unsure: of what that means. I guess you feel like you feel and that's cool with me. :thumbsup:
 
#266
#266
I wanted Fulmer gone long before it actually happened. He got complacent and we lost the recruiting battle. Not to mention I hated how he would mess around and let teams get back into the game. Play the full 60 minutes, don't get a lead and then handoff the ball constantly!
 
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#269
#269
I can honestly say I was all for firing Fulmer but having gone through what we have gone through the last several years, (NAIVE TO THE FACT IT COULD ACTUALLY GET MUCH WORSE), we would have been better off to have kept him at least up to now. No doubt he would have had a better record. The problems really began with Fulmer when Cutcliffe left imo.
 
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#270
#270
You can if and but every close game every year. The 2007 season was a rollercoaster for sure. We won games we shouldn't have. But hell, I think we've made up for those losses over the last 4 years, however. Lol.
 
#271
#271
utfantilidie said:
I can honestly say I was all for firing Fulmer but having gone through what we have gone through the last several years, (NAIVE TO THE FACT IT COULD ACTUALLY GET MUCH WORSE), we would have been better off to have kept him at least up to now. No doubt he would have had a better record. The problems really began with Fulmer when Cutcliffe left imo.
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I'm not sure we'd be any better if Fulmer was still here. I think we as fans get nostalgic at times in remembering all the good thing he did for us, but 2005 and 2008 were awful seasons, and the fault lay squarely at Phil's feet. He was given a chance to make up for 2002 and 2005, and gave us a few good seasons along with 2008. He lost discipline when he lost Cutcliffe, and that was his undoing.
 
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#272
#272
I love when even our own "fans" say we backed into the '07 SECCG. If you're one of those, please do me a favor. Next time you see an Alabama fan, (and they'll be plenty in Knoxville next week) ask them if they feel bad about "backing" into the NC game last year. Geez, they didnt even win their conference. Also, ask a NY Giants fan if theyre ashamed of their conference record from last year or if they appreciate the Lombardi Trophy.
 
#273
#273
Big Orange 1 said:
I love when even our own "fans" say we backed into the '07 SECCG. If you're one of those, please do me a favor. Next time you see an Alabama fan, (and they'll be plenty in Knoxville next week) ask them if they feel bad about "backing" into the NC game last year. Geez, they didnt even win their conference. Also, ask a NY Giants fan if theyre ashamed of their conference record from last year or if they appreciate the Lombardi Trophy.
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Most of our fans have more pride in themselves than that and know it would be remarkably stupid to ask such a question to fans of the national champion or Super Bowl. You seem to forget we were barely in the top 25 at the time. And we lost the SECCG. So we didn't win any championship.

Winning the Super Bowl and national championship are quite different than winning a conference division, but please, embellish and twist it into something else. First of all, Alabama didn't back into the national championship game. They didn't get blown out by their biggest rivals along the way. They were legitimately ranked #2. Stupid comparison

The NY Giants had to go on the road and beat quality teams to get to the Super Bowl. Then they won the Super Bowl. Another amazingly stupid comparison.

Thanks, though, for reinforcing the informed opinion that most of our University of Fulmer fans are, well, not the sharpest tools out there. :birgits_giggle:
 
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#274
#274
Big Orange 1 said:
I love when even our own "fans" say we backed into the '07 SECCG. If you're one of those, please do me a favor. Next time you see an Alabama fan, (and they'll be plenty in Knoxville next week) ask them if they feel bad about "backing" into the NC game last year. Geez, they didnt even win their conference. Also, ask a NY Giants fan if theyre ashamed of their conference record from last year or if they appreciate the Lombardi Trophy.
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I though it was entirely wrong for Bama to play in the NCG last year. Even Saban said several times that is documented " No team that doesnt win their conference should be considered for the NC". Of course, that was at LSU when the Oklahoma debacle happened and he had to split it with Pete Carrol at USC. Perspective has a way of changing when you are on the giving end as opposed to the receiving end.
 
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