The Athletic - “The Worst Coaching Search Ever?”

[USAFgolferVol]

The fans didn’t do as much as some media report. There were some high ranking state politicians here in Nashville that tweeted and was reported as being concerned about legalities around Schiano and was demanding answers from the governor about what was up. That’s when he gave his fake “I don’t know anything “ answer. National sports media won’t mention this because it brings legitimacy to the claims about Schiano and that goes against their narrative.

High ranking state politicians? The ones who wanted to make The Bible our official state book?

There were no legalities surrounding Schiano

 

[Biso]

His takeover in 1992 was a good thing. Majors took a team that was ranked in the top five, having upset both Georgia and Florida, and lost to an Arkansas team that had lost to the Citidel at home. Ole Johnny had to go!

Fulmer did not distinguish himself as AD, but at least his heart was in the right place, he truly wanted UT to improve.

You don't think that Tennessee's losses to Arkansas and South Carolina in 1992 might have had something to do with the turmoil that was swirling within the program because Fulmer was actively attempting to take down Majors? If the Fulmer takeover was everything it was alleged to have been, it would have been toxic inside the program by that point.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

You don't think that Tennessee's losses to Arkansas and South Carolina in 1992 might have had something to do with the turmoil that was swirling within the program because Fulmer was actively attempting to take down Majors? If the Fulmer takeover was everything it was alleged to have been, it would have been toxic inside the program by that point.

According to his most loyal followers, Fulmer was going to leave in '92 and take some assistants with him were he not given the job. That's not someone who is thinking about the program. That's someone who was thinking only of himself. I always sort of chuckle to myself when I hear this because it only makes Fulmer look that much worse

 

[Delmar]

From David Ubben (this isn’t random, The Athletic is doing a series on college football coaching searches).

Article: Inside the 2017 search that turned the coaching carousel into a carnival

Nothing completely shocking and seems to be written from a Currie perspective but some interesting stuff.

1) We met and talked with Chip Kelly but was never offered the job.

2) Currie talked with Dave Doeren BEFORE Schiano Sunday.

3) Booster Charlie Anderson talked to JOHN HARBAUGH about the job.

4) According to a source, one head coach wouldn’t take the job because of Fulmer: “And former Vols head coach Philip Fulmer was exerting his influence behind the scenes, attempting to “advise” Davenport and ultimately wrestle control away from Currie — who served as Tennessee’s executive assistant athletic director when Fulmer was fired in November 2008. Fulmer, too, was making calls to candidates before Currie did.

“There was, in my opinion, a group working to discredit John Currie,” a source said.

That source said at least one head coach who was interviewed for the Tennessee job said he wouldn’t take it because of Fulmer’s meddling and the feeling that, with Fulmer pulling strings, the new coach wouldn’t get a fair chance to succeed.

5) Tennessee had a meeting set up with Dan Mullen but he took the Florida job before the meeting. That is when Currie moved to finish it up with Schiano.

6) I don’t know why but Brohm was never mentioned as a serious candidate in the article or mentioned how Hyams broke the news that Brohm was hired.

7) Part of the issue with Currie going to LA? No Wi-Fi on his flight to meet with Leach. He also didn’t check his phone and text Beverly Davenport back because he was interviewing Leach.

Don’t care. Waste of time to even discuss it. Especially anything mentioning Schiano.

 

[DowntownVol]

I remember how people absolutely lost their minds at the prospect of hiring Dave Doeren. Now, in retrospect, given the options on the table and how it wound up, we probably shoulda just gone ahead and done that.

 

[butchna]

Was hoping that guy had moved on...glad I didn’t get around to renewing my subscription.

As soon as he moved on from our beat, I signed up.

 

[butchna]

According to his most loyal followers, Fulmer was going to leave in '92 and take some assistants with him were he not given the job. That's not someone who is thinking about the program. That's someone who was thinking only of himself. I always sort of chuckle to myself when I hear this because it only makes Fulmer look that much worse

That’s career aspirations. Nothing disloyal about it. Heupel took Ellarbe with him to UCF. If you’re drawing the line on departing your alma mater while the iron’s hot? Majors was perturbed at Fulmer’s success while he was recuperating and I doubt he would’ve been retained the next season. Johnny wasn’t shy about booting assistants. Heupel was rewarded for his loyalty by being the sacrificial lamb instead of Stoops brother. Nobility can suck!

 

[Vol49er]

I definitely think that Currie is the source for a lot of this article. Doesn’t mean its bogus, just reads like a guy airing his grievances through Ubben

 

[JoAllan]

Heupel was rewarded for his loyalty by being the sacrificial lamb instead of Stoops brother. Nobility can suck!

sometimes folks just don’t get it.

2013 OK passed for 199 yards per game.
They scored 32.8 points per game.

2014 OK passed for 204 yards per game.
They scored 36.4 points per game.

big problem…..they gave up 26 points per game in 2014.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

That’s career aspirations. Nothing disloyal about it. Heupel took Ellarbe with him to UCF. If you’re drawing the line on departing your alma mater while the iron’s hot? Majors was perturbed at Fulmer’s success while he was recuperating and I doubt he would’ve been retained the next season. Johnny wasn’t shy about booting assistants. Heupel was rewarded for his loyalty by being the sacrificial lamb instead of Stoops brother. Nobility can suck!

Of course there's nothing wrong with ambition and career aspirations, BUT you don't threaten your current employer about leaving and taking people with you as some sort of leverage. That is you don't do it if you truly care about the program. Leaving isn't disloyal at all when done in a professional manner. Threatening to leave and take key assistants with you is self serving and disloyal, especially when doing it for the top job. Fulmer knew the team was loaded. He also had no experience not just as a head coach, but as a first time head coach who had no idea how to rebuild a program. Just look at his last 8 years as head coach.

He was never going anywhere else. He had an offer at East Carolina to be their head coach. A sure thing at UT was much more lucrative than a rebuilding job at a mid major. His most ardent supporters will say, "he brought us a national championship", and "he was a great head coach". A great head coach would have had us in the national title hunt more often. In the current playoff format, we would have made the playoffs in two years. 1997 and 1998

 

[ShoalCreekVol]

Ubben…the gift that keeps.

Good ol' Flubben Ubben.

 

[VolBallGuy]

Not tarnished. He won a national championship. Unless he pokes a girl in the butt while telling me he was trying to spend time with his wife and grand children, then he will go down as not a great AD. But that’s all. He owns one of our two national championships.

Damn dude that’s quite the non-sensical scenario you imagined yourself in the middle of.

 

[08Vol]

Is it normal business practice that in a coaching search, boosters are reaching out to those they would like to have as coach? I would think maybe they would contact the AD with a list they would like to see in the job, but to actively be contacting them? Seems to me like that would be the epitome of meddling.

Not sure if it’s normal but if a booster knows other coaches it doesn’t seem that strange. Also a good way to avoid the embarrassment of the ESPN headline “Coach XXX turns down Vols job to stay at current school.” I can see a booster talking to another coach kinda like “We got a mess in Knoxville now that the coach is gone. Any chance you would be interested? I’ve got a bit of pull over there so if you are I’m sure I can get you a meeting with the AD.”

 

[ptgrbn]

yeah, Derek Dooley was worse. But Pruitt was still pretty bad.

Both were ineffectual autocrats that set us back years. The only thing that sets Pruitt apart was he was an absolute moron who got caught cheating.
Conspiracy theorists could speculate that it was a lifelong Bammer’s attempt to ruin TN football forever. They almost succeeded…..

 

[USAFgolferVol]

Both were ineffectual autocrats that set us back years. The only thing that sets Pruitt apart was he was an absolute moron who got caught cheating.
Conspiracy theorists could speculate that it was a lifelong Bammer’s attempt to ruin TN football forever. They almost succeeded…..

Or, as unlikely as it might seem, Fulmer hired that hilljack intentionally. Either that or he is a moron too

 

[onevol74]

Or, as unlikely as it might seem, Fulmer hired that hilljack intentionally. Either that or he is a moron too

Fulmer hired a rookie coach so he could control him.

 

[ftsandersvol]

78 teams who can award themselves *1941 Alabama National Titles*

Bama started it. We joined the bandwagon. They are not legitimate, they are school claimed National Championships. There is a difference. Look if you choose to not google NCAA nationa champions then read the list that’s ok. But we are listed on there twice.

You are only referring to the AP poll. Tennessee has been named national champions 6 times from major NCAA selectors, not the school itself.

You have to remember that there was a severe bias against southern teams in the ‘30s, ‘40s, and even the ‘50s. This bias was never more obvious than in 1956 when Paul Hornung, playing on a 2-8 ND team, beat out Johnny Majors, who led the Vols to a 10-1 record, for the Heisman Trophy. This seemed to be the tipping point as the northern sportswriters soon realized they could no longer continue to justify their obvious bias to the American public.

 

[GoVols64]

Fulmer defenders will always try to rationalize his narcissistic actions. From 1992 coaching takeover until his incompetent stint as AD

Who is defending him? If you actually pay attention to what I wrote it was quote the opposite.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

Who is defending him? If you actually pay attention to what I wrote it was quote the opposite.

The post wasn't in response to any of your posts. Sorry if it appeared in that manner

 

[SmokeVol]

Sounds like Devine intervention. If it took 3 years of Pruitt to demolish the previous athletic department then I’m happy with what happened.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

This article, more than anything, shows a couple of two things.

First and foremost, it emphasizes the glaring lack of unified institutional direction and control inside Tennessee's football program and athletics department. A program with a cohesive power structure wouldn't let its dirty laundry out to air in that fashion. And that dirty laundry demonstrates a vacuum of power at various levels (for whatever reasons it existed) which is pretty clear in the post-mortem. In that vacuum, we can see a lot of people vying to achieve their personal and professional goals through whatever means they thought necessary. A stronger power structure would place tighter barriers around those ambitions, and guide people to work within the system, rather than tear it down from outside.

Second, the backroom wheeling and dealing between various parties happens at every Power 5 school. The stuff about various people talking to other various people - it happens. That doesn't really phase me. What I do note, again, is that the lack of organized authority allowed those conversations to disrupt the process more than they would at a more unified program. Boosters, state officials, money men, school figureheads - it would be interesting to talk to people who are in the know, who could explain where and how people outside the department destabilized the program.

Finally, it is a little sobering that think that the same person involved with removing and replacing Johnny Majors in 1992 was also involved in circumventing and replacing Tennessee's athletic director in 2017.

I loved Majors, in fact my favorite uncle in law was in the same backfield with him at Huntland, but he wrote his own ticket out of the HC job by compounding some personal issues with his handling of his contract negotiations and bungling the season after his return to the sidelines. He was out of here Fulmer or not..

Currie too had made his own bed and that is what led to CPF's coming in to assist the Chancellor oversee the processes. The Pirate Fiasco was simply the final straw and was not CPF motivated.

That said, he put his own HC job in play with his two losing seasons, and if Hamilton had a decent short list all could have gone MUCH BETTER. He also put his AD job in play and was wise enough to seek a quick path out of the turmoil. Two HORRIBLE hires, Clawson and Pruitt cost him both jobs. On the other hand, folks seem to forget after his first losing season he followed them with 9 and 10 win seasons. I was all for a homerun hire replacement. Pruitt for sure damaged the bell cow program... on the other hand CPF put enough smart folks in place that the dang hear every other program on campus was better off than it was the day he took over by hiring some new faces and keeping the good ones.... White pretty much validated that with his recent massive rehire of the coaches CPF left behind.

The NC and the overall level of the program during his HC years will be tough to duplicate, but he will be called back to celebrate 98', and Al Wilson made it real plain in some interviews he still values CPF, warts and all. Bet a lot of winners dressed in Orange do and always will. He earned the street and both exits. However any net plus minus calculation will remain on the plus side if White and Co. can mitigate the damage by Pruitt within a few years.

Like many folks he will always have a mixed legacy and those that can only see or value one side or the other lack reason in their logic.

 

[TartanTurff]

In my opinion, the sh7tsh0w Fulmer orchestrated to climb back into the UT money trough and show us how ill equipped he was as an AD cost him the respect of the fan base, the current administration, the current AD, the college football media, and I would suspect many well healed boosters, particularly once the million dollar report gets sunshined and Tennessee takes it in the chops with Fulmer's pin head hire in front of the NCAA infractions committee.

The shine and glory of 1998 wore off with the 2001 SEC Championship collapse, the lazy recruiting effort for the next 7 years, the losing conference records in 2005 and 2008 and the constant meddling in the program, the struggle for relevance after he was terminated ("equity in the program"), never giving the program a fresh start while he continued to work the system for a position and cash, never coached after 2008, never drew a paycheck in athletics after 1980 except at Tennessee, every other program, saw what was really there,

The program now has a Fulmer free fresh start for the first time in decades, White is probably here for 3 or 4 seasons, let us learn from and be reminded of the misery and selfishness of the past, such that we are not condemned to live it again

 

[jim pique]

If David Ubban and the other "stellar"writers have nothing more to write about during the middle of a college football season than last coaching searches,then their subscribers should.dTnrop them and have those same writers to go work for the Star or National Enquirer for articles.

 

[TNnative]

Fulmer is as devious as they come.

Not on his own. There are alot of ways to look at it. And depending on who you talk to, and how you feel about them, it is not all black and white. There is every shade of gray in between. A whole lot of moving parts, and people doing what they thought was right. I have called it akin to "Game of Thrones". And it pretty much was, just with fewer deaths, and no swords or dragons.

Way I see Fulmer, I gotta thank the guy. He brought us the only national championship I got to see with my own eyes. However, had he done a few things better in the years after that? He could have contended for more. And he damn well should have, had he truly had the programs best interests as his goal. Instead, he wanted what he thought was what was best for the program. And he and his buddies were half of the problem. The other half was people who were too impressed with their monetary contributions, or too afraid to face them down. Money talks, and people listen to it. Even when you know the guys throwing it are most likely full of crap.

I hope to God, as to people overseeing and running the program, that they are now actually the adults in the room. And not a bunch of clowns. If you want to be a clown, wear the makeup and funny shoes. Make kids laugh. What they have done over the past few years? Not funny.


Just my guess, but the coach that cited Fulmer's meddling? My money is on Gundy.

 

[TNnative]

This whole thing is probably more sour grapes from Curry. He always was Haslams puppet. Schiano wasn’t targeted by anyone as a head coaching hire except Haslam for some weird reason. Schiano destroyed the Bucs in just a few short years, no one wants him. If you look at his current record with Rutgers and the pirates record at Miss State we are better off now. Curry thought he finally was getting his moment in the sun and it turned into a storm. He is still angry. We are better off without people like him.

Oh, Please! Schiano was not mentioned as a candidate, until 36 hours before Currie landed in Columbus. It was mentioned by some here, and the whole Penn State/Sandusky rumor was discussed at length by others. On this site, and several others. Sour grapes? No. This whole article just kind of fills in some the missing pieces. They fit. And in a few years? There will probably be a bunch more.