| OK, there are more names being thrown out than in a heated conversation with the wife. First I would like to say that while the recent history of Tennessee football has not been anything to write home about, Coach Fulmer devoted this entire adult life to the Big Orange and for that I would to say Thank You. I have not always agreed with your play calling or you schemes employed or even your assistant coach picks. With that said, I would like to now put my two cents in on some candidates to restore the Vols to their rightful place, at the head of the SEC table.
1) Lane Kiffin, I am not sold on this guy. Everyone is quick to point out two main factors for their love and affection for this young man. First, people point out that he was there in the building of what is today a power house at USC. Second, people point out the he was picked to coach Oakland at such a young age. Well, let’s not forget that Kiffin and Sarkisan (current USC OC) we co-coordinators after Norm Chow left and the Sarkisan was actually Oakland’s first pick. Sarkisan turned the job down and they went with option two. I understand that he recruited well and he has the bloodline with his dad, but he was a catalyst in the locker room in Oakland and could very likely bring the baggage with him. Not to mention that he maybe overhyped, but it is not like that kind of thing happens at USC.
2) Butch Davis, solid coach but I am not sure that his best years are ahead. He is in a nice hotbed for recruiting as he was in Miami and that may not carry over to Tennessee. Also, if he leaves UNC for UT, how long before he leaves for green pastures. Then we have coach instability that could take a decade to overcome.
3) Mike Leach, short and sweet. If Crabtree does not pull the pass in and score, Texas Tech loses and how many people are breaking their limbs to jump on the Leach Bandwagon, enough said.
4) Jon Gruden, solid coaching choice but this is a guy who runs a very complicated offense that may take seasoned Juniors and Seniors to run. If this is the case, then you are 8-4 for two seasons and 10-2 the other two. If you do the math, that is a record of 90-30 over ten years which gives you a .750 winning percentage. That number sounds really familiar.
5) Will Muschamp, This guy scares the heck out of me. First, his defense at Texas has looked like an arena football league prevent. I know, “ he is so fiery and spits a lot and hates wimps”. OK, hire a drill sergeant, he will come cheaper. I know his defenses at Auburn were tough but lets look at some history. Gene Chizik ring a bell. Former Auburn DC and Texas DC who went on to take the job at Iowa State. Did anywhere see where Iowa State was at in the latest rankings. Somewhere around 60<SUP>th</SUP>. This is after two season, but there appears to be no light at the end of the cyclones tunnel unless it’s the next train. I am just saying, the Tennessee HC is a large responsibility and we have to put some real thought behind it before we start throwing names out.
6) Chris Peterson, I like this one. He has went 31-3 over his first three season. I know “they don’t play anyone”. I have two points to make to that thought process. First, Urban Myer has a very impressive record at Utah as well and I do not believe Utah was in any BCS conference. Secondly, I watched a game in the Fiesta Bowl a couple of years ago when a Chris Peterson team beat a Bob Stoops team with execution and a lot of testicular fortitude. The only thing about going with a coach from a non-BCS conference, he records and results have got to be impressive and I believe Chris Petersons record speaks for itself. Oh, and if anyone pulls the “this was Dan Hawkins team “ crap I have two more points to make. First, Peterson was a two time Broyles award finalist “top assistant coach in the country” so I would argue that some of Hawkins success came from Peterson. Secondly, I would like to stat that even Hawkins never had anything close to the record that Petersons had.
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Other names I would like to see at least looked into:
1) Chip Kelly (Oregon OC) Tremendous Offensive mind and a heck of a recruiter.
2) Steve Spurrier (South Carolina HC) You want to win or not?
In the end, I wish Coach Fulmer and his family only the best and hope Hamilton weighs his options well and makes a decision we can all get behind. | 
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