A lost generation of Vols fans

[butchna]

Well quit implying that I'm crazy for thinking what's happening could have a potentially long lasting negative effect on the program. I don't see why you seem to think that's incorrect or "crazy" as you said.

But yes, there will always be fair weather fans. I fear our true fans becoming apathetic due to inaction. It's become embarrassing and tiring to be a UT fan lately. But, we must carry on right? lol

TRUE fans won’t. :hi:

 

[Booker512]

Yep. My kids are under 10 and even they know Tennessee sucks. My wife is a clemson alum and came back home the day after they won the natty back in January, and each of them had gold national championship hats on with giant orange tiger paws on the front and my wife had on a brand new tigers hoodie.

I live near Clemson and they just had the whole national championship commemorative soft drink cans and stuff cycle through over the summer....barf....

And I just sat there....miserable...

Yayyyy.....music city Bowl championships of life!

.....thanks Butch......

 

[TNnative]

OP you're absolutely right. I think that's why you are seeing a lot of complacency/settling with a certain generation of Vols fans.


And worse, a good portion of that generation have become bama fans.

It's worse than that. Look at how many people have become soccer fans. Walk into a sports bar and see how many TVs are showing that crap. It's not that bad in towns where the home team means something. Hell we have even had Vols fans who want to start Soccer chants in Neyland. That is abomination. It's past time to fix the program.

 

[STL0611]

Hyperbole. When the right coach is hired and start winning big again, "lost" fans will flock to Neyland.

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

It will pass. You will start caring again once we start winning I’m sure. But you have to claim them during the bad times too. I still wear my tennessee gear regardless.

 

[BowlBrother85]

I disagree with the assertion that because Tennessee isn't very good they are losing a generation of fans. When I became a fan of the Vols in the early 80's, they were just as bad as they are now. My earliest memories involve losing to Georgia 44-0 and USC (the real one with Marcus Allen) 43-7 in back to back weeks and I remember losing to Alabama for an 11 consecutive time. Sound familiar? Not everyone just latches on to the good teams and hops wagons.

 

[VFL1800FPD]

Hyperbole. When the right coach is hired and start winning big again, "lost" fans will flock to Neyland.

That's the problem dude. The point is that the administration has shown that they are not committed to competing on a high level anymore and would rather hire a bargain bin coach to save a buck. What has our AD shown you that makes you think this "right" hire is on the way?

 

[Advol]

I think each Coach has caught some traction. Maybe NOT Dooley. When Kiffie first arrived, with Dad and Coach O....it was enjoyable for a while.
I did feel CBJ was interesting for a while (especially after the Doo) but he lost me in the Okie game for not going for 2 and the W and again at A&M when he didn't go for two and the win. No nads!
My attitude now............" I wuz here when you got here, and I will be here when you leave"

NEXT :hi:

 

[BowlBrother85]

2014, the Vols started 0-4 in SEC play.

It ain’t that long ago.

They also did it in 2010, 2011, 2012

Since Fulmer left, the Vols have started 0-4 in SEC play more often than not starting 0-4 in SEC play.

And yes, some of those years they started 0-5

You know what Tennessee hasn't ever done? Gone 4-8 and lost to Georgia Southern. The Gator boards are somewhere else. :hi:

 

[AM64]

There is no beating around the bush. We have lost an entire generation of Vols fans, and the University leadership is to blame.

I remember 97-03 pretty well. My graduating class at UT (2010) was old enough to remember when UT was a top 10 program year in year out. My first year in Knoxville, we destroyed Cal, and things were looking up. We went to the SEC championship, and then experienced the lows of getting demolished by Wyoming at homecoming, ultimately leading to Fulmer's demise.

Unfortunately, my class was one of the last that remembers the successes. It's not just the W/Ls, it's the national perception of TN being in the discussion every year. Right now, freshman in Knoxville were born in 1999. They were 7 years old when I went to college. They have no memory of success at UT.

This is why we need a complete overhaul in Knoxville. One generation is gone and if we do not make a home-run hire, it will take another decade to right the ship. We are the laughing stock of CFB. From the "Fire Butch Jones" signs, the 5 start hearts, the trash can, etc. - people don't even hate us anymore, they pity us.

For me personally, I have reached the worst possible place as a Vol fan. I simply don't care anymore.

Go Vols

Just a couple of things from someone who graduated a few decades earlier than you.

You should remember that Fulmer was canned before the WY game. Things like that do have an impact on the team; whether Fulmer was physically still there is largely immaterial - Hammy's damage was done.

You should also consider that the administration acted because fans including students decided Fulmer should be gone. If you look around (requires experience that few students actually have), you'd see that many times when a coordinator is changed, there is a significant drop in performance the following year. TN was up and down with Cutcliffe in and out, and then Clawson happened. But the disruption at the OC position had to have been all Fulmer's fault - right, and no way it could have rebounded the following year.

However, in a way I do agree with you. When Dickey retired, the university - probably aided and abetted by boosters with more money than common sense - decided the next AD should be a bean counter (one of their own kind) rather than someone with actual experirnce in making team sports work. It's been pretty much downhill for UT sports since that point. Another Dickey or Woodruff or Battle as AD could have helped Fulmer through the OC transition - not so much a bean counter. But that's the thinking that universities and business schools perpetuate - no need to know the business to run it - baking cookies is just like baking airplanes; or as Butch would have it, "It's a process.".

Perhaps instead of putting all the blame on the administration, a lot of "fire Fulmer" types have gotten what they asked for. The instant gratification just didn't go in quite the intended direction.

 

[DuckinVol]

Unfortunately, I believe you to be absolutely correct, OP.

It’s taken a lot of persistence on my part to turn my 11, and 16 years old sons in to VFL’s.

Almost none of the kids they go to school with are Vol fans, which was common place when I was their age. They give my kids are hard time over their Vol gear, and common thought is “Tennessee sucks! Why do you like them. “

Fortunately, I did my part and we’ve plucked 2 fans from this generation.

Time to right the ship, and get our National respect, and relevance back.

My son is a Junior at BHS, and I know exactly what you mean. He's caught hell for years over being a UT fan, but he's picked up some good responses from me. It's been a little odd dealing with Memphis fans lately, but no we just suggest they should pull for UT to win big. They ask why, and we tell them "we might just hire their coach away. I figure he could be a good position coach at UT, and it would be a promotion."

 

[AM64]

Hyperbole. When the right coach is hired and start winning big again, "lost" fans will flock to Neyland.

And then the instant gratification "what have you done for me lately" crowd will at the slightest drop turn negative and help destroy it all again. You are a Vol fan or you aren't - period.

 

[slickvol]

The athletic department has been crap since Dickey left. But, it's not just the athletic department. I am an alumnus of UT, as is my wife (alumna for the grammer police). Our oldest is in school there now, and our youngest two will start there next year. I am personally disappointed in many things we do as a university. The current problems with football and athletics should not be a great surprise to anyone. It's the Tennessee way. And, it looks as though Currie is going to carry on the tradition just fine.

 

[GreveHaller]

And then the instant gratification "what have you done for me lately" crowd will at the slightest drop turn negative and help destroy it all again. You are a Vol fan or you aren't - period.

exactly. Its not just a coincidence that we were successful when we had 2 coaches in 32 years but as soon as the immediate gratification came around and we have 3 coaches in 9 years we tank

 

[DaUndergroundMan]

The estrogen is strong in this one.

Not really he's calling it like he sees it. You still buying into the brick thing, he's not.

Getting over butch's con game is like waking up from a coma. You look around saying, did I miss something? Oh Tennessee sucks now? But, but, Butch had us rebuilt brick by brick, the future was finally bright, what happened?

 

[Doberman]

Hyperbole. When the right coach is hired and start winning big again, "lost" fans will flock to Neyland.

The premise isn’t about lost fans coming back.

It’s about fans you never developed because you sucked for the last 15 years.

They ain’t coming back, because they were never there to begin with.

 

[Doberman]

My son is a Junior at BHS, and I know exactly what you mean. He's caught hell for years over being a UT fan, but he's picked up some good responses from me. It's been a little odd dealing with Memphis fans lately, but no we just suggest they should pull for UT to win big. They ask why, and we tell them "we might just hire their coach away. I figure he could be a good position coach at UT, and it would be a promotion."

My son is also a junior at BHS.

 

[NUMBER1VOLFAN]

I know there are others like me on VN- old guys. I started in '68. Celebrated the end of the Al streak of that era w/Dickey, and then broke another w/Majors, and then began a streak w/Fulmer. So, I've seen the roller coaster a bunch, but never seen nuttin like this (was a bus. major). Never have I seen Vandy & Ky beat us with such regularity, never. Hamilton started this down swing and if Currie doesn't right the ship, I don't know if it ever will be before my mind is gone. Other schools can turn it around and I don't know if we ever will. The AD and the others have to loosen the purse strings make the right choice. Don't blow it, again.

Where do we rate nationally on Offense- 127th out of 132? Has it ever been this bad?

 

[BowlBrother85]

I know there are others like me on VN- old guys. I started in '68. Celebrated the end of the Al streak of that era w/Dickey, and then broke another w/Majors, and then began a streak w/Fulmer. So, I've seen the roller coaster a bunch, but never seen nuttin like this (was a bus. major). Never have I seen Vandy & Ky beat us with such regularity, never. Hamilton started this down swing and if Currie doesn't right the ship, I don't know if it ever will be before my mind is gone. Other schools can turn it around and I don't know if we ever will. The AD and the others have to loosen the purse strings make the right choice. Don't blow it, again.

Where do we rate nationally on Offense- 127th out of 132? Has it ever been this bad?

4 losses to Vanderbilt since 2005 is completely unacceptable and Butch has two of those... but Kentucky has only beaten us once since 1985. (knock on wood)

 

[savannahfan]

I think the LSU debacle that cost Fulmer a shot at a second national title in the SEC title game was the first sign.

Fulmer letting the inmates run the asylum and do things like you alluded to in 2005 really started the down hill slide though.

I was at that UAB game that they squeaked out and him saying they would never apologize for a win was all I needed to hear to know that he was mailing it in as a head coach.

Been getting one tool after another mailing it and cashing a check since him now too.

I have stated it before on this site and YOU ARE RIGHT!!
That LSU championship game was the really big turning point.

After the game, my oldest son call to ask me what I thought. I told him it would take 5-10 years to recover from that performance.
I felt then we would start losing coaches and other staff (not to mention recruits) The way the game was played was a disgrace. From that point on our team has wandered down hill into the darkness we know suffer.

 

[STL0611]

That's the problem dude. The point is that the administration has shown that they are not committed to competing on a high level anymore and would rather hire a bargain bin coach to save a buck. What has our AD shown you that makes you think this "right" hire is on the way?

One example is the way Currie hired our baseball coach. People were all riled up because names being floated about that were not impressive. When the new coach was announced it was someone totally out of the blue. Tony Vitello is considered to be a solid hire, maybe a home run hire.

 

[utmba93]

Hate to say the generation is lost wrt to the Vols. We're the team everyone tells them was once legit, who hasn't been legit, and who throws fingers at Bama when they're beating us down... as if UGA didn't do the same thing to us a few weeks earlier.

Simply put, it's time for a a new era.

 

[UTK]

Some of us have fought through it. I started watching seriously during the 2007 season and I was in the 5th grade. Been watching ever since. Maybe I’m just in masochism though

First season I started watching seriously was 2007 too. Crazy, I remember feeling so disappointed with the 9-3 regular season record. We haven't even got back to that point yet. It's sad.

 

[Catbone]

Good post OP

 

[jakez4ut]

perspective is a lot different today, even for younger fans. as a kid, we weren't on TV every week, so when we sucked, you didn't have to see it. you just got to listen to John Ward, and heck, he made it sound ok. lol.

the only time you got to see TN (for the most part anyway) on TV was in the big games when we were good, so there was this impression left that we were good, and a big deal (cause we were on ABC game of the week).

there was no 24 hour news cycle, message boards, espn, sec network, sds, bleacher report, twitter, that reminded you 24/7 how bad you suck. nor was there as much emphassis placed on the coach being a grand public speaker....you didn't know this player was a 5* recruit three years ago, and he didn't turn out well, or that this player was a 2* that's now an all american. recruiting back then was nothing like it is today from a coverage standpoint, or even recruiting in general for the programs doing it. the information was slower to get around....

you had the local news that would report on our local/regional teams, interview the coaches and palyers and that was that.

you had radio call in shows, so the legion of the miserable ws limited to the 20 or so guys/gals that could get thru on your local am radio station and bi**h. lol.

the local paper was probably the closest thing you'd get to what we see now, at least from an editorial/columnist standpoint.

anyway, the whole landscape is different today, and fans have more outlets to watch, and root for, the teams they decide they like. and if you're 14 years old and live in Nashville, the only thing you know is Bama is awesome, and Tennessee sucks and is a joke on the internet.

so parents, go to work....only you can make a difference. lol.