I respect Fulmer a little more after each game we lose

[volfan2024]

We make a big deal about winning games nowadays he use to win blindfolded. I’m not sure we will ever get back within being 75% of the win production he produced . Recruiting is the key. Must needs. Vol for life , hate losing especially to Georgia.

 

[Orange931]

Fulmer had a losing record the year he was let go. He was no better than Butch Jones from 2002-2008

 

[7maxims]

Other than Florida, the SEC was also at its weakest during his heyday. The incredible Hulco has done more harm than good to the program at this point.

 

[KoachKrab127]

We make a big deal about winning games nowadays he use to win blindfolded. I’m not sure we will ever get back within being 75% of the win production he produced . Recruiting is the key. Must needs. Vol for life , hate losing especially to Georgia.

In his last 4 years, Fulmer was 29-21 with 2 losing seasons. It was time for him to go. I’m not defending the other hiring decisions the university made by saying it was time for Fulmer to go.

 

[Coddlecreek1]

He almost burnt it down

 

[JMSqb11]

Fulmer had a losing record the year he was let go. He was no better than Butch Jones from 2002-2008

Yet he won the division twice and had 3 ten win seasons that time span you are equating him to Butch. Butch literally doesn’t even come close to touching anything Fulmer related.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

In his last 4 years, Fulmer was 29-21 with 2 losing seasons. It was time for him to go. I’m not defending the other hiring decisions the university made by saying it was time for Fulmer to go.

In fairness I think we need to mention that between those two losing seasons he oversaw a 9 win and 10 win season. The recruiting landscape had changed and I don't think CPF or ANYBODY was going to be able to duplicate his best years. I had zero problems with AD considering change based on all the facts available, just like I had no problem with the decision to drop Johnny and go to CPF. Part of the business. I have serious issues with the bean counter that pulled the plug on CPF without a better replacement plan. the THIS IS TENNESSEE mindset, where candidates would line up at the door yielded us Kiffin and his aftermath. Better have vetted list in the top drawer.

Edited to add, I am now hopeful since our new AD has athletic administration and coaching in his family tree and seems to GET IT.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Fulmer had a losing record the year he was let go. He was no better than Butch Jones from 2002-2008

Here are all the ways 2002-2008 (Fulmer's latter years) were better than 2013-2017 (Jones tenure):

• Fulmer's latter record was 57-32. Butch's was 34-29. That's a 64% win rate for Phillip, versus 54% for Butch.
• Fulmer won the SEC East twice in that time period. Butch never won the division.
• Fulmer had three (3) 10-win seasons in that window. Butch never got to double digits.
• Fulmer's worst season was 5-7. Butch achieved a team history worst, at 4-8.
• Ditto in SEC play: Fulmer's worst ever was 3-5. Butch took us to the cellar at 0-8.

There is simply no comparison between the two. Fulmer's worst years were still significantly better than the Butch Jones era, or the Dooley era, or the Pruitt era.

Folks like to hate on Phillip Fulmer, but he was one helluva great coach. Second best in our team's history. You don't get to a lifetime 75% win rate being a scrub.

But, haters gonna hate.

Go Vols!

 

[TheVolsFrog]

Right now, my only thoughts of Fulmer is he brought in the worst coach in UT history that totally wrecked the program.
He should've been fire along with Pruitt instead of giving a golden parachute but it's Fulmer and it's UT soooooo

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Fulmer is a reason why we’re in this mess right now.

Pruitt should have never been hired to begin with.

To make things worse, Fulmer wanted to keep Pruitt for another year.

 

[KoachKrab127]

In fairness I think we need to mention that between those two losing seasons he oversaw a 9 win and 10 win season. The recruiting landscape had changed and I don't think CPF or ANYBODY was going to be able to duplicate his best years. I had zero problems with AD considering change based on all the facts available, just like I had no problem with the decision to drop Johnny and go to CPF. Part of the business. I have serious issues with the bean counter that pulled the plug on CPF without a better replacement plan. the THIS IS TENNESSEE mindset, where candidates would line up at the door yielded us Kiffin and his aftermath. Better have vetted list in the top drawer.

Butch Jones had two 9 win seasons before being dropped as well. I said in my own post that I wasn’t at all defending the hires made after we let Fulmer go, so, I guess we agree??

 

[OrangeEtBlanc]

I do wonder how different our situation would be if we had given Fulmer one more season. Then we don’t have the Kiffin & Dooley debacle, and our program was probably more stable & successful through the 2010s, whether with Fulmer or a better hypothetical hire than what we made.

The Triple Entente of firing Fulmer, Kiffin leaving, and hiring Dooley screwed the program for more than a decade.

 

[VolFan4Life87]

In his last 4 years, Fulmer was 29-21 with 2 losing seasons. It was time for him to go. I’m not defending the other hiring decisions the university made by saying it was time for Fulmer to go.

People commonly seem to be incapable of differentiating the two on this board.

 

[wmcovol]

Move on from Fulmer of 20 yrs ago.

 

[sechamp2012]

We make a big deal about winning games nowadays he use to win blindfolded. I’m not sure we will ever get back within being 75% of the win production he produced . Recruiting is the key. Must needs. Vol for life , hate losing especially to Georgia.

To get there quickly we would have to talk teams into getting rid of their HC's. Then hiring coaches like Sparky Woods, Mike Shula, Jim Donnan etc... The coaches across the board are so much better than they were in the 90's. It was Fulmer Spurrier and the rest. We had the best players( most to NFL) and Spurrier did more with less but also had great players but he didn't recruit like Fulmer. The coaching competition is tremendous in the SEC, that's why this is a hard climb.

 

[vol05]

Other than Florida, the SEC was also at its weakest during his heyday. The incredible Hulco has done more harm than good to the program at this point.

Yeah not many folks think about that,
especially once Richt came into the SEC

 

[Orange931]

Here are all the ways 2002-2008 (Fulmer's latter years) were better than 2013-2017 (Jones tenure):

• Fulmer's latter record was 57-32. Butch's was 34-29. That's a 64% win rate for Phillip, versus 54% for Butch.
• Fulmer won the SEC East twice in that time period. Butch never won the division.
• Fulmer had three (3) 10-win seasons in that window. Butch never got to double digits.
• Fulmer's worst season was 5-7. Butch achieved a team history worst, at 4-8.
• Ditto in SEC play: Fulmer's worst ever was 3-5. Butch took us to the cellar at 0-8.

There is simply no comparison between the two. Fulmer's worst years were still significantly better than the Butch Jones era, or the Dooley era, or the Pruitt era.

Folks like to hate on Phillip Fulmer, but he was one helluva great coach. Second best in our team's history. You don't get to a lifetime 75% win rate being a scrub.

But, haters gonna hate.

Go Vols!

I understand all of that, but how long had Fulmer been here compared to Butch? He wasn’t gonna win another Natty, he backed into both of those East division titles in that time period.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I understand all of that, but how long had Fulmer been here compared to Butch? He wasn’t gonna win another Natty, he backed into both of those East division titles in that time period.

You clearly do not understand all of that, or you would never have said that Fulmer's latter years were "no better" than Butch's tenure.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

Here are all the ways 2002-2008 (Fulmer's latter years) were better than 2013-2017 (Jones tenure):

• Fulmer's latter record was 57-32. Butch's was 34-29. That's a 64% win rate for Phillip, versus 54% for Butch.
• Fulmer won the SEC East twice in that time period. Butch never won the division.
• Fulmer had three (3) 10-win seasons in that window. Butch never got to double digits.
• Fulmer's worst season was 5-7. Butch achieved a team history worst, at 4-8.
• Ditto in SEC play: Fulmer's worst ever was 3-5. Butch took us to the cellar at 0-8.

There is simply no comparison between the two. Fulmer's worst years were still significantly better than the Butch Jones era, or the Dooley era, or the Pruitt era.

Folks like to hate on Phillip Fulmer, but he was one helluva great coach. Second best in our team's history. You don't get to a lifetime 75% win rate being a scrub.

But, haters gonna hate.

Go Vols!

He wasn't "one helluva of a great coach" or he would have won more than one national championship with all the talent that was on his teams. Great recruiter and good coach

 

[Arrested Devolopment]

We make a big deal about winning games nowadays he use to win blindfolded. I’m not sure we will ever get back within being 75% of the win production he produced . Recruiting is the key. Must needs. Vol for life , hate losing especially to Georgia.

Fulmer was a great recruiter, to be sure, and that talent led him to having some of the best teams ever fielded by the Vols. However, the game passed him by when Saban entered the picture. Fulmer, imo, was a "line em up and let em play" coach, figuring all the coaching happens from Sunday - Friday, and on Saturday hard-hitting and talent would win the game.

That used to work fine (except against Spurrier) until Saban, a tactician who adjusts to exploit weaknesses in teams with superior talent. Saban knew Fulmer's tendencies, and beat him in 4 out of 5 games using lesser talent and superior coaching. In one game at Neyland (2008?) Saban ordered an onside kick for the opening kickoff and recovered. Fulmer was completely out of his depth at that point.

I see a lot of similarities between Heupel and Saban in terms of their approach, e.g. Heupel's use of a high speed spread offense to make mismatched games competitive. Did you see Saban's face in the 3rd quarter against the Vols this year? Expect that to get worse as Heupel gains better recruits.

It's too early to call, but there's a possibility Heupel will do to Saban what Saban did to Fulmer: force him to retire.

 

[SouthpawTN]

Some of you people are so delusional and or unrealistic. You expected to beat the #1 team in the country with the roster we have?? This is part of the reason the program is in the shape it is. Unrealistic expectations. I guess the other thread got deleted but damn we have some true morons for fans.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

What respect I had for Fulmer went out the window last January. He's a huge part of why we are in the mess we are right now.

 

[UT Hill Man]

Phil is/was a selfish human, who put HIS interests first and used his school, and the people that supported him, to get what HE wanted, from stabbing Johnny in the back to gain head coaching position to later his coup against John Currie.

 

[Cartervol]

Fulmer's stubbornness and ego hurt us in his last few years. The league wasn't the same as when he started. Talent was spread out more, TV money was getting spread out more. Far cry from when he started, when you could count the good teams on one hand, and half of them weren't even on TV much. The times passed him by and he never adapted and I don't think he thought he needed too. Stubborn to a fault and it set this program way back..

 

[OrangeTsar]

Fulmer’s last few seasons are when losing (especially against ranked teams) began to be “acceptable”. Don’t be pining to go back to the Doctor who let you become ill in the first place and did nothing about it.