No statue for Fulmer at Championship corner

#151
#151
zjcvols said:
I posted this last year, but deserves it again. The man does not deserve a statue:

He is by far the most selfish, egotistical scoundrel that has ever crossed this program. He did whatever he could to screw over whoever he could in order to retain power. It started with Johnny Majors, a man who gave him his first big break, and ended with the biggest middle finger to a collegiate fanbase you could find.

After getting a super, duper friendly contract that let him establish "8 wins a year is an automatic contract extension", he became so scared Dave Clawsen would take his job that Phil sabotaged the offense intentionally so Clawsen couldn't run his show, proceeding to go 5-7 with a talented Tennessee roster. He was rightfully fired, took zero responsibility as he let his players cause a scene at the press conference (all without saying a word to restore order) and then had his team no show in Neyland that led to Tennessee losing to FREAKING WYOMING, costing a new coach a chance to get to a bowl and valuable extra practices. This occurred all while taking a $6M buyout on the way, taking no responsibility for the program's shortcomings and putting Tennessee way behind the 8 ball in the SEC.

Say what you want about John Currie, but he had a well-established head coach lined up to take over the program in Mike Leach. In a time where Tennessee fans were fuming, hurt and lost, Phil could have rallied the fanbase or offered public support to the program in a grave time of need after "Schiano Sunday". Instead, like a snake, he weaseled his way with boosters, taking advantage of a chancellor who was over her head and desperately needing some guidance. He spilled lies and led a mutiny (confirmed by Brett McMurphy) to take back power over the football, not in good faith, but because he held a grudge over being fired by an AD that had not been involved with the program in almost a decade. He then took over the AD with no actual experience how to run a modern P5 collegiate program, didn't hire a search firm to help vet or assist in the hiring of a football coach during a critical moment for the program and hired a goober that almost destroyed the program. He then let Pruitt run amok, who could have gotten us severe sanctions if Donde Plowman and Randy Boyd hadn't stepped up. Instead of doing the right thing and take responsibility for his actions, where he could leave with some dignity and with some form of a good name and retire properly, he once again made sure to line up his pockets. He took a $1M buyout and was fired but had enough pull as a former national title winning coach to disguise his firing as a retirement and took the money. Because Phil doesn't care about the University of Tennessee, he only cares about himself and his pockets. He lied about knowing what was going on as Pruitt ran rampant, breaking NCAA rules even though he guaranteed he was going to fix the football program. He had the gall to say he left the program better than what he had, which was a total lie, and couldn't take any ownership in his press conference, not once apologizing to the university or its fans for letting it get as bad as it did.

Not only that, he alienated Rick Barnes (MAYBE THE EASIEST DUDE TO DEAL WITH IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL) so bad Barnes was going to take the UCLA job WITHOUT A COUNTEROFFER. Randy Boyd and boosters actually got involved to retain Barnes because Barnes was so fed up with how Phil did his job. He hired Kelly Harper, who while a good person, had shown she could not win at a P5 school because she was a UT alum and he didn't know enough about women's basketball to know who to actually hire (and once again eschewing a search firm to assist). He did zero in terms of renovations or progress for facilities, somehow made the football program worse from the day he was hired and embarrased the program once again with the disgraceful exit of Pruitt.

He constantly suppressed his coaching staff, perpetually fearing he would get replaced because as a snake, that's how he got the job to begin with. David Cutcliffe carried his water and showed he was a mediocre coach once Cut left. He's a blight on this program and the 1998 National Title doesn't cover his sins. He squandered countless teams while the SEC was down, got his ass handed to him by Steve Spurrier year after year and then by Mark Richt and Urban Meyer. He somehow managed to win just a singular SEC title with freaking Peyton Manning as his QB and in 16 years only managed two. He's a mediocre football coach that lucked into an awesome situation that Johnny Majors built, all while incredibly lucky that David Cutcliffe/John Chavis was already on staff when he backstabbed Majors for the job.

He's a disgrace to the university and the athletic department and they should rename Phillip Fulmer Way, instead calling it David Cutcliffe Road. I hope he never gets honored at the university again. He's a selfish con artist who cared more about himself and used his status as an alumni and "aw shucks" demeanor as a ruse to step on people and destroy careers to get what he wanted.
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But, he worked like heck!
 
#152
#152
zjcvols said:
You have a case of selective memory. Majors was 29-6-2 the previous 3 years with two SEC titles, along with 3 straight NY6 bowls and two wins. He deserved his contract extension and Fulmer was playing backdoor politics the entire time which hurt the team.
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Who was his OC during those years? Fulmer’s record without Cut was far better than Johnny’s without Fulmer as OC, fwiw.

The man won the only national championship you will ever see and won 75% of his games. He was pivotal in Majors having his best run. He won SEC Championships as a player, assistant, and head coach. He deserves respect for that.
 
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#153
#153
Here is the deal:

Majors built Tennessee from absolutely nothing.

Fulmer took over an already established program.

To measure or compare their W/L records is ludicrous.

When Fulmer took over, we all wanted him as head coach. All of us did. He beat Florida and Georgia. Yes, Fulmer worked behind the scenes but, we didn’t care. We wanted a coach who would win and that’s what we got!

Though recognized as a trader, Dickey was a good AD. He and Majors were definitely not friends. Therefore, Majors had no backing except from a few boosters. Dickey turned it over to Joe Johnson. He reached out to the board of trustees and boosters. They are the ones who decided to let Majors go.

Fulmer took the program to heights not seen since Neyland. Though not at the level of Neyland it was the best since.

Fulmer only beat Spurrier at Florida three times in ten years. We are not counting USCe because, well, it’s USCe and not Florida. The state of Florida has always had more talent than almost any other state. Even with the left over talent after Miami and Florida State got the premier athletes, Spurrier’s coaching was unsurpassed. However, just like Fulmer, Spurrier seemed to lay an egg each year.

Fulmer was Tennessee and Tennessee football was Fulmer. He is orange through and through. All of the millions we paid him was deserved. He brought us our only NC any or most of us have known. When he was winning, we were very glad to have him. To us, it was worth the money. So much so, we paid him a thank you tribute. It was also worth it.

His downfall was a myriad of things. One, he was still using an almost two decade old offense and was a couple to a few years late in changing. He was trying but ran out of time. Two, the SEC overall upgraded coaching staffs. Three, he didn’t grasp the change in temperature of Volnation and like Majors, thought all were on his side except the legion's of the miserable.

As AD, he wanted the best for Tennessee. He chose a coach that all of us would have chosen. It was basically a lack of options. Pruitt turned out very bad but, his resume was very good. I remember most of you (sunshine pumpers mostly) being ecstatic over the hire thinking our program was going to be on the level with Bama because of what Smart did with Georgia.

Last, we should have just given Fulmer a sabbatical.
 
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#156
#156
LAVol1 said:
You have some facts, but you don't have them all. I loved coach Majors, but when it was all said and done, there was no one to blame but himself when he got fired. The dramatic change in team morale and performance when Fulmer took over was just the final nail in the coffin. In 1992 with Fulmer at the helm, the #21 ranked Vols went 4-0 with wins at #14 UGA and vs.#4 UF a week later. Majors lost to an unranked Arkansas team at home, at #4 Alabama (Majors was 4-6 career vs. Bama) when an offense led by Heath Shuler and James Stewart only scored 10 pts., and to unranked South Carolina. Consider the Vols preseason ranking of #21 in 92. That's the Vols lowest preseason ranking until 14 years later. Consider also that Fulmer was the top recruiter in the SEC and would very likely have landed a head coach position elsewhere in '93. History clearly shows the Board of Trustees made the correct decision in making CPF the head coach.
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Fulmer coached the first three games and then the bowl game after Majors left. When was this dramatic change in morale and performance when he took over supposed to have happened?
 
#157
#157
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
Who was his OC during those years? Fulmer’s record without Cut was far better than Johnny’s without Fulmer as OC, fwiw.

The man won the only national championship you will ever see and won 75% of his games. He was pivotal in Majors having his best run. He won SEC Championships as a player, assistant, and head coach. He deserves respect for that.
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You're overlooking Majors having to rebuild the program starting in 77.
 
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#159
#159
adam.vol said:
The hoe found out he wasn’t worth anything without his football job. Was no longer worth legal action.

The verdict really didn’t affect me. The headlines were the important part.
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Wow, so to you the allegation matters more than the evidence or the verdict? If I'm ever on trial, I hope you're not on the jury!
 
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#160
#160
BREAKING NEWS

Last evening, the Board of Directors of Shoney's Big Boy, located at 1717 Elm Hill Pike in Nashville TN, announced that they have a tentative agreement in principal with former University of Tennessee Football coach Philip Fulmer, for a NIL contract that will allow all 58 Shoney's locations to erect a new statue of Shoney's iconic Big Boy with the likeness of Coach Fulmer. According to CEO David Davoudpour and Chief Marketing Officer Gill Duff, both UT graduates, "we felt Coach Fulmer deserved a statue for his fearless leadership as UT's head football coach during his tenure at Tennessee and, for his bravery beyond measure for leading the 1998 University of Tennessee's Men's Football Team to an historic National Championship".

For additional coverage on this breaking story, go to www.ESPN.com

1760092834780.png​
 
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#162
#162
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
Who was his OC during those years? Fulmer’s record without Cut was far better than Johnny’s without Fulmer as OC, fwiw.

The man won the only national championship you will ever see and won 75% of his games. He was pivotal in Majors having his best run. He won SEC Championships as a player, assistant, and head coach. He deserves respect for that.
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Fulmer was the OC on the 1985 team? Was Fulmer's OC on Majors' 1976 Pitt championship team?

Majors had way more success with Fulmer, than Fulmer did without Cut. By far
 
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#163
#163
EasternVol said:
You're overlooking Majors having to rebuild the program starting in 77.
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Nobody wants to talk about Fulmer, outside of Kirby Smart, Les Miles and Urban Meyer, having as good a set up for an SEC coach as anyone over the last 40 years of the conference.
 
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#164
#164
#1fulmerite said:
Here is the deal:

Majors built Tennessee from absolutely nothing.

Fulmer took over an already established program.

To measure or compare their W/L records is ludicrous.

When Fulmer took over, we all wanted him as head coach. All of us did. He beat Florida and Georgia. Yes, Fulmer worked behind the scenes but, we didn’t care. We wanted a coach who would win and that’s what we got!

Though recognized as a trader, Dickey was a good AD. He and Majors were definitely not friends. Therefore, Majors had no backing except from a few boosters. Dickey turned it over to Joe Johnson. He reached out to the board of trustees and boosters. They are the ones who decided to let Majors go.

Fulmer took the program to heights not seen since Neyland. Though not at the level of Neyland it was the best since.

Fulmer only beat Spurrier at Florida three times in ten years. We are not counting USCe because, well, it’s USCe and not Florida. The state of Florida has always had more talent than almost any other state. Even with the left over talent after Miami and Florida State got the premier athletes, Spurrier’s coaching was unsurpassed. However, just like Fulmer, Spurrier seemed to lay an egg each year.

Fulmer was Tennessee and Tennessee football was Fulmer. He is orange through and through. All of the millions we paid him was deserved. He brought us our only NC any or most of us have known. When he was winning, we were very glad to have him. To us, it was worth the money. So much so, we paid him a thank you tribute. It was also worth it.

His downfall was a myriad of things. One, he was still using an almost two decade old offense and was a couple to a few years late in changing. He was trying but ran out of time. Two, the SEC overall upgraded coaching staffs. Three, he didn’t grasp the change in temperature of Volnation and like Majors, thought all were on his side except the legion's of the miserable.

As AD, he wanted the best for Tennessee. He chose a coach that all of us would have chosen. It was basically a lack of options. Pruitt turned out very bad but, his resume was very good. I remember most of you (sunshine pumpers mostly) being ecstatic over the hire thinking our program was going to be on the level with Bama because of what Smart did with Georgia.

Last, we should have just given Fulmer a sabbatical.
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Not true. And that doesn't include him using whatever last leeway he had to announce his firing as a retirement and still taking the $1M+ buyout on his contract, all while championing he did a good job as AD. For that, he should never be forgiven.
 
#165
#165
Brave Volunteer said:
Wow, so to you the allegation matters more than the evidence or the verdict? If I'm ever on trial, I hope you're not on the jury!
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I’m going to backpedal a little. I do not think allegations matter more than justice. The issue was that this sport is followed by people of all ages and getting involved in felonies is the problem.

You are surely as aware as I am that the evidence in these cases is almost always hearsay. I’m not sure that getting a settlement is proof of anything.
 
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#166
#166
zjcvols said:
Fulmer was the OC on the 1985 team? Was Fulmer's OC on Majors' 1976 Pitt championship team?

Majors had way more success with Fulmer, than Fulmer did without Cut. By far
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His best run at UT was 89-92. Well really 89-91. Fulmer was OC. 85 was a great year, but 84 and 86 were not. The Pitt team is irrelevant to what I’m saying, as I am talking UT only, but that was the only really good year he had at Pitt (obviously it doesn’t get better than undefeated national champion).

Majors had more success with Fulmer than Fulmer had without Cut, yes. Without Fulmer as OC though, Majors record was worse than Fulmer’s record without Cut. Majors won less than 60% of his games as head coach. With Fulmer he won the SEC twice and had two other 9 win teams in the 11 regular season game era. He was nearly fired before making Fulmer OC.
 
#170
#170
Fulmer is the ultimate VFL. there's no doubt the contribution he made to tennessee football in his lifetime.

I do think he ultimately needs a statue but right now ain't the time. perhaps in a couple decades or perhaps when he passes away as a way to honor him.

but the way he handled his time as AD was.borderline negligence and it set our program back further than it already was. and I don't know how Fulmer ever brought himself to hire a f#cking mouth breathing hammer. that i will never understand.

in the end, Fulmer's contributions way outweigh his faults but we still need to air out the stink of his time as AD.
 
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#171
#171
Yes, the AD time under CPF was not great.
zjcvols said:
Nobody wants to talk about Fulmer, outside of Kirby Smart, Les Miles and Urban Meyer, having as good a set up for an SEC coach as anyone over the last 40 years of the conference.
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Fulmer had to be good enough to win, or else then he'd be just like the other coaches who apparently made up "as good a setup for an SEC coach" as anyone not named who you named....
 
#172
#172
zjcvols said:
Nobody wants to talk about Fulmer, outside of Kirby Smart, Les Miles and Urban Meyer, having as good a set up for an SEC coach as anyone over the last 40 years of the conference.
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Fulmer, Smart and Meyer were great recruiters and great coaches.

Miles is a little like Brian Kelly, some accomplishments for sure, but more luck and falling upwards than actual great coaching.
 
#173
#173
Rickyvol77 said:
Fulmer, Smart and Meyer were great recruiters and great coaches.

Miles is a little like Brian Kelly, some accomplishments for sure, but more luck and falling upwards than actual great coaching.
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How is Les Miles any different than Phillip Fulmer?
 
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#174
#174
zjcvols said:
Nobody wants to talk about Fulmer, outside of Kirby Smart, Les Miles and Urban Meyer, having as good a set up for an SEC coach as anyone over the last 40 years of the conference.
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Probably because he is not treating people to meals at Shoney's anymore.
 
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