152 - 52

[igotworms]

You're talking about the greatest coach UT has had in your lifetime. You need to learn some respect. Or go troll another board!

Nothing about that was disrespectful
Getting your panties in a bunch does not equal disrespect

 

[onevol74]

Game passed him by? Run the ball, and play great defense. I think this is still what everyone wants to do.

You're out of your mind if you think nobody called him! He is a Tennessee boy. Spent his entire life here. His heart wouldn't let him go anywhere else!

I don’t remember Fulmer talking positive about the program in 2010 when we were trying to hire a coach after the Kiffin disaster. In fact he was playing the glorious victim against the big bad UT. What a great legend?

 

[whobethis16]

I think it's closer to 300,000 posts, and over 10,000,000 views! I'm not sure why you hate on Gruden? No matter what your opinion. He would be thought of as a grand slam hire. By the entire football world. Do you make money evaluating coaches? I guess you're just smarter than 99.9% of the football community.

Because the guy's experience is so old that it is completely irrelevant to the current game. Without his name, and just those credentials, this board would go mattress burning crazy if we hired a guy like that. Hell, they don't want a guy who's won titles at the college level in the last 5 years, but want a guy who's never been a play caller or head coach at this level. Ridiculous.

And I was one of the very few who hated the Kiffin hire because I thought he was a sleaze, despite the vast majority of the football community liking that hire. So, the popular opinion is not always the right one.

 

[onevol74]

I never said he was offered a job. I said he got calls. Which he said thank you, but I'm happy here in Tennessee. You really believe that NOT 1 school in the country wouldn't have hired him, or at least called?

The evidence speaks for itself.

 

[butchna]

Got to wonder what the OP’s purpose was for this thread. If it was to create a row of opposing opinions that are pretty deeply set in...it’s been done.

 

[vols1221]

Nothing about that was disrespectful
Getting your panties in a bunch does not equal disrespect

Yea should have fired him sooner was, in fact disrespectful!

 

[onevol74]

Have no smelled that level of success since and may not for years to come...

What do you expect when you make incompetent hires. The problem was not firing Fulmer but the guy making the hires after that.

Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina was eating Phil’s lunch when we was fired.

 

[Firebirdparts]

In-conference, LSU went from Gerry DiNardo to Nick Saban and then Les Miles. Bammer went from Mike DuBose and Dennis Franchione to Nick Saban. South Carolina went from Brad Scott to Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier. Auburn went from Terry Bowden to Tommy Tuberville. Arkansas went from Danny Ford to Houston Nutt.

This is interesting list of names to me. What's interesting about this is all these coaches who were better than Fulmer also failed, except of course for Saban.

I think there is a connection between Saban and how bad the SEC is. By creating discontent and firings everywhere that's not Alabama, Saban's competition has gotten dramatically worse since 2008. Obviously people will try to compete, and sometimes it works, like it's working at Georgia now. We can post over and over about whether or not the firings make better football. It seems like once in a while.

 

[vols1221]

Because the guy's experience is so old that it is completely irrelevant to the current game. Without his name, and just those credentials, this board would go mattress burning crazy if we hired a guy like that. Hell, they don't want a guy who's won titles at the college level in the last 5 years, but want a guy who's never been a play caller or head coach at this level. Ridiculous.

Yes we would go crazy if they hired a super bowl winning coach. What coach that won the NC in the last 5 years is even on the radar?

 

[TheManFromTenn]

What do you expect when you make incompetent hires. The problem was not firing Fulmer but the guy making the hires after that.

Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina was eating Phil’s lunch when we was fired.

Was on the bandwagon. Hindsight 20-20. Dumb move

 

[vols1221]

What do you expect when you make incompetent hires. The problem was not firing Fulmer but the guy making the hires after that.

Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina was eating Phil’s lunch when we was fired.

96-34 record in the SEC disagrees with you!

 

[vols1221]

The evidence speaks for itself.

Fulmer was a strong candidate for the University of Louisville head coaching job. He stated in many interviews that he was interested in the job and also had a phone interview with Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich.

EVIDENCE!

 

[Ohio Vol]

Bla-bla-bla... You have NO idea what you're talking about! Look at his record Vs. all those teams! It was FL that was his weakness. They costed him at least 2 more NC games (95-96).

Against Georgia, Fulmer was 4-0 against Ray Goff and 3-1 against Jim Donnan (7-1 total). He was 3-5 against Mark Richt's teams.

Against Brad Scott's South Carolina teams, he was 4-0; against Lou Holtz's, he was 6-0 (10-0 combined). Against Spurrier's, he was 2-2.

Against LSU before Saban, he was 2-0. Against Saban, 1-2. Against Les Miles, 1-2.

Against Auburn, he was 3-0 against Tommy Bowden and 1-4 against Tommy Tuberville.

Against Goff, Donnan, Scott, DiNardo, Hallman, Bowden, and poor Holtz, Fulmer was 22-1. Against Richt, Spurrier, Saban, Tuberville, and Miles at those very same schools, Fulmer was 8-15.

Yeah, Florida was an ongoing issue. Let's not ignore everyone else.

 

[TheManFromTenn]

Just saying 🏈

 

[vols1221]

Against Georgia, Fulmer was 4-0 against Ray Goff and 3-1 against Jim Donnan (7-1 total). He was 3-5 against Mark Richt's teams.

Against Brad Scott's South Carolina teams, he was 4-0; against Lou Holtz's, he was 6-0 (10-0 combined). Against Spurrier's, he was 2-2.

Against LSU before Saban, he was 2-0. Against Saban, 1-2. Against Les Miles, 1-2.

Against Auburn, he was 3-0 against Tommy Bowden and 1-4 against Tommy Tuberville.

Against Goff, Donnan, Scott, DiNardo, Hallman, Bowden, and poor Holtz, Fulmer was 22-1. Against Richt, Spurrier, Saban, Tuberville, and Miles at those very same schools, Fulmer was 8-15.

Yeah, Florida was an ongoing issue. Let's not ignore everyone else.

You realize 2 of those coaches are top 5 all time right? They have like 9 NC's between them. Tommy should have one to. I mean it's hard to win against all-time greats!

 

[vols1221]

Against Georgia, Fulmer was 4-0 against Ray Goff and 3-1 against Jim Donnan (7-1 total). He was 3-5 against Mark Richt's teams.

Against Brad Scott's South Carolina teams, he was 4-0; against Lou Holtz's, he was 6-0 (10-0 combined). Against Spurrier's, he was 2-2.

Against LSU before Saban, he was 2-0. Against Saban, 1-2. Against Les Miles, 1-2.

Against Auburn, he was 3-0 against Tommy Bowden and 1-4 against Tommy Tuberville.

Against Goff, Donnan, Scott, DiNardo, Hallman, Bowden, and poor Holtz, Fulmer was 22-1. Against Richt, Spurrier, Saban, Tuberville, and Miles at those very same schools, Fulmer was 8-15.

Yeah, Florida was an ongoing issue. Let's not ignore everyone else.

After a closer look your numbers are made up! Boo this man!

 

[Ohio Vol]

You realize 2 of those coaches are top 5 all time right? They have like 9 NC's between them. Tommy should have one to. I mean it's hard to win against all-time greats!

In the nine seasons where Fulmer at UT and Richt at Georgia overlapped, UT played in exactly three SEC championship games and won zero of them. SEC East teams not named Tennessee were 5-1, SEC East teams named Tennessee were 0-3. UT is also the only team to lose a rematch game, with a national championship spot on the line in 2001.

When we were busy bemoaning the stagnation of UT football, was it tempered by the knowledge that everyone else had some great coaches now? Or did it simply expose the fact that Fulmer's, and UT's, record was artificially inflated in the early years by pummeling a putrid conference?

Look at Urban Meyer with Ohio State. He goes into a conference loaded with bad coaches and stagnant programs and proceeds to destroy them all, week in and week out. Then teams start upgrading....and suddenly OSU, while still dangerous, isn't simply steamrolling everyone.

The difference is that Meyer's OSU teams are still winning recruiting battles in-conference and against major national programs. Fulmer's UT teams weren't. Meyer's OSU teams have produced staggering amounts of high-end NFL talent, Fulmer's UT teams stopped producing NFL talent. Meyer's assistant coaches have moved on to become head coaches elsewhere because they're that good, Fulmer's assistant coaches went nowhere.

UT stagnated because, while everyone else was upgrading, the powers-that-be decided to simply do what they'd always done and then hope for the best. That's a stupid way to do things, as anyone who's ever played or coached a sport can tell you. But that's what passed for a good idea for years with this program.

 

[AM64]

This is interesting list of names to me. What's interesting about this is all these coaches who were better than Fulmer also failed, except of course for Saban.

I think there is a connection between Saban and how bad the SEC is. By creating discontent and firings everywhere that's not Alabama, Saban's competition has gotten dramatically worse since 2008. Obviously people will try to compete, and sometimes it works, like it's working at Georgia now. We can post over and over about whether or not the firings make better football. It seems like once in a while.

The best way to measure how well the HC hiring game has gone just in the SEC is to recognize that Saban has been here the longest, and only Mullin (2009) and Sumlin (2012) predate Butch (2013). In addition Butch will likely be gone this year, McElwain is gone, and the potential for other firings is there. That's thirteen schools just in the SEC who have tried to hire a successful coach, and perhaps GA is the only one that has done so at this point. We'll know in a few years whether GA got it right or not ... could still be a Battle-like 3 years and fizzle.

With the exception of Franklin at Vandy and a retirement or two, pretty much all that turnover has been firings followed by botched hiring. Unless you are under the delusion that all those schools set out to fail, then the thought of moving up by firing and hiring coaches is a very very risky business.

 

[whobethis16]

In the nine seasons where Fulmer at UT and Richt at Georgia overlapped, UT played in exactly three SEC championship games and won zero of them. SEC East teams not named Tennessee were 5-1, SEC East teams named Tennessee were 0-3. UT is also the only team to lose a rematch game, with a national championship spot on the line in 2001.

When we were busy bemoaning the stagnation of UT football, was it tempered by the knowledge that everyone else had some great coaches now? Or did it simply expose the fact that Fulmer's, and UT's, record was artificially inflated in the early years by pummeling a putrid conference?

Look at Urban Meyer with Ohio State. He goes into a conference loaded with bad coaches and stagnant programs and proceeds to destroy them all, week in and week out. Then teams start upgrading....and suddenly OSU, while still dangerous, isn't simply steamrolling everyone.

The difference is that Meyer's OSU teams are still winning recruiting battles in-conference and against major national programs. Fulmer's UT teams weren't. Meyer's OSU teams have produced staggering amounts of high-end NFL talent, Fulmer's UT teams stopped producing NFL talent. Meyer's assistant coaches have moved on to become head coaches elsewhere because they're that good, Fulmer's assistant coaches went nowhere.

UT stagnated because, while everyone else was upgrading, the powers-that-be decided to simply do what they'd always done and then hope for the best. That's a stupid way to do things, as anyone who's ever played or coached a sport can tell you. But that's what passed for a good idea for years with this program.

Pretty sure that was the only rematch SECCG, so there is a 50/50 shot of being the only one.

 

[whobethis16]

Yes we would go crazy if they hired a super bowl winning coach. What coach that won the NC in the last 5 years is even on the radar?

More than 10 years ago. And went 45-51 combined after.

It's Div II, but that thread about the Houston guy. Div II, dealing with recruiting and all, is more relevant than a Super Bowl in 2002.

 

[Ohio Vol]

Pretty sure that was the only rematch SECCG, so there is a 50/50 shot of being the only one.

1999 Bammer beat Florida 40-39 in the regular season and 34-7 in the SECCG

2000 Florida beat Auburn 38-7 in the regular season and 28-6 in the SECCG

2003 LSU beat Georgia 17-10 in the regular season and 34-13 in the SECCG

2004 Auburn beat UT 34-10 in the regular season and 38-28 in the SECCG

2010 was also a rematch (Auburn/South Carolina)

 

[a vol n tears]

I wanted Coach Fulmer gone earlier, but my opinion was always, who are you gonna get that is better. Not any different now, although I think many hires will be better, just not SEC or NC better.
When looking at our past 10 years I was reminded of Oklahoma. Read the Wiki on Oklahoma Football. Lots of similarities between the Vols and Sooners even Coach Fairbanks. The Sooners were great with Wilkinson then dropped for about 10 years and then Switzer had a long run winning over 80% then they went another 10 years with terrible results with 3 different coaches. They then hired Coach Stoops and everything changed. Now is TENN's turn.
Have faith Vol brethren. Every, every program goes through the ups and downs.

 

[vols1221]

The best way to measure how well the HC hiring game has gone just in the SEC is to recognize that Saban has been here the longest, and only Mullin (2009) and Sumlin (2012) predate Butch (2013). In addition Butch will likely be gone this year, McElwain is gone, and the potential for other firings is there. That's thirteen schools just in the SEC who have tried to hire a successful coach, and perhaps GA is the only one that has done so at this point. We'll know in a few years whether GA got it right or not ... could still be a Battle-like 3 years and fizzle.

With the exception of Franklin at Vandy and a retirement or two, pretty much all that turnover has been firings followed by botched hiring. Unless you are under the delusion that all those schools set out to fail, then the thought of moving up by firing and hiring coaches is a very very risky business.

Solid post!

 

[Rgntddybrvol91]

5 wins versus 12 losses against Florida, our biggest rival during the time when Alabama was down. Regrets? Yup, 12 of them.

Yep, this is what killed Fulmer. He couldn't beat Florida, even with Peyton Manning. That and the loss to Vanderbilt.
The LSU loss could be forgotten if he had only managed to beat Florida.

 

[tvolsfan]

Anyone have regrets?

52-159

The combined scores of his last two games vs our two biggest rivals.

Not one regret, except how long we took.