Bates on Basilio's Website : Kiff & The Future

#1
Lexvol

Lexvol

I'm Your Huckleberry
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#1
Tennessee Hall of Famer Bill Bates just appeared on the show and this is what he said!

I was on the sidelines for the Florida game because my company provided Tennessee some cold seats to keep the guys cool. I was surprised by what I saw as that game went along. There was too much pointing fingers on bench @ Florida game. I was surprised to see that from a Phillip Fulmer Coached team.

It didn't seem right. I wanted to reach across and grab some of those players and say 'what are you doing? Come on man!'

What must Kiffin do short term
Tennessee must Increase speed on offense: Florida was noticeably better. I was on the sideline during that game.

It's vital to get these guys on the same page

The one thing I learned is that it's the work that you do as an athlete in the off-season and those things you do as a team and a leader and being able to pull guys who maybe great athletes without great work ethics who are standing on the fence. You have to be able to pull those guys over to your side and get them to work.

NFL to College:
I hope it helps. I love Coach Fulmer and great respect for him. The fans at the stadium wanted change. And we got change. We have to embrace Coach Kiffin. He's the Head Coach at UT. There will be rocky moments that's going to happen. He has the ability to bring us championships and that's what we should expect.

It won't take Monte Kiffin long at all. You have to maximize the time you're given to teach and put things together. Monte will be able to do that. I have confidence in him. It's football. It's blocking and tackling.

On Kiffin
I like the hire. I'm a positive guy. I tend to not look back. I learned that in Dallas. We need to support this guy.

The guys returning better be getting ready.

Bottom line is players make it happen!!!

I don't agree you can't win at Tennessee. There are certain things UT's been able to do. Sabans at Alabama? Birmingham? What is that? It's prettier in Knoxville? Florida has warm weather and population advantages. But at Tennessee you can't tell me that it can't be done.

One at Northwestern Graham. I love that Fitzgerald guy. He has old school mentality with a smile. it works. In these days you have to have a hold on your team. You have to old school with a smile.....
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Interesting notes. I have been pleasantly surprised by the lack of information about dysfunction of last year's team. At one point I feared that there would be airing of dirty laundry. For the most part there has been a cap on negative comments.

So far the worst I've heard have been the comments about the team never buying into Clawson.

Bates hits the nail on the head in a couple of areas.
 
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#2
#2
Love Bill Bates. Its a shame that his most famous highlight is getting trucked by Herschel.

They actually played professional football for exactly the same amount of time; 1983-1997. I think they must have had an interesting conversation or two in Dallas!
 
#3
#3
Great post. Sure wish Bill Bates was in coaching. Guy had a motor like no other.
 
#5
#5
I went to the same middle school and high school as Bates.
 
#9
#9
Love Bates, always had that motor running and never ever gave up!
 
#10
#10
It is pretty clear by what Bates said was going on on the sidelines that Fulmer had lost control of this team. There was no discipline. This is why we went 5-7 this year and 5-6 in 2005. Cut brought discipline back for two years and things were improved temporarily. Again, Fulmer is a nice person. A great guy. The players loved playing for a father figure. Bottom line is, that doesn't produce wins today in the SEC.
 
#11
#11
tennisguy said:
It is pretty clear by what Bates said was going on on the sidelines that Fulmer had lost control of this team. There was no discipline. This is why we went 5-7 this year and 5-6 in 2005. Cut brought discipline back for two years and things were improved temporarily. Again, Fulmer is a nice person. A great guy. The players loved playing for a father figure. Bottom line is, that doesn't produce wins today in the SEC.
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I agree. The players were getting used to playing for grandpappy Fulmer. Player accountability was declining more and more throughout this past season. Veek Veek! :ermm:
 
#15
#15
Great comments from B Bates. I'd like to see him around the program more... we need more influence on these kids from former players, especially those with his work ethic and attitude. Hopefully Kiffin will do a much much better job of getting our kids to work than fulmer did.
 
#16
#16
discipline issues not withstanding prior to the season.........Fulmer didn't "lose" this team.

there are three games that proved this to me: MSU, Vandy and KY.

and no, i'm not getting excited about beating those three or whatever, but i am saying if the players didn't care or had lost it concerning that coaching staff, you'd of seen it how they played. even in a loss against USC, the effort was there.

the Wyoming game was bad timing for the reaction to Fulmer's dismissal.

anyway.....in the interest of giving credit where credit is due, even in a horrible year, one thing i thought was remarkable is that he never lost this team. they didn't give up on him.
 
#17
#17
jakez4ut said:
discipline issues not withstanding prior to the season.........Fulmer didn't "lose" this team.

there are three games that proved this to me: MSU, Vandy and KY.

and no, i'm not getting excited about beating those three or whatever, but i am saying if the players didn't care or had lost it concerning that coaching staff, you'd of seen it how they played. even in a loss against USC, the effort was there.

the Wyoming game was bad timing for the reaction to Fulmer's dismissal.

anyway.....in the interest of giving credit where credit is due, even in a horrible year, one thing i thought was remarkable is that he never lost this team. they didn't give up on him.
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I agree they didn't give up on Fulmer but I do think that they gave up on themselves, the offensive side of the ball anyway.
 
#18
#18
I talked to the HC from Nease High School (he's a neighbor) who coached with BB the last few years. He told me that Kiffin had the goods, and will be able to recruit at UT because even kids in Florida start out with UT on the short list.

Bill Bates told him that once Kiffin fixes QB, then look out.

He got to know Kiffin when he was recruiting Tebow and the OL that committed to USC. The lineman ended up going to UF when Kiffin went to the NFL.
 
#22
#22
jakez4ut said:
discipline issues not withstanding prior to the season.........Fulmer didn't "lose" this team.

there are three games that proved this to me: MSU, Vandy and KY.

and no, i'm not getting excited about beating those three or whatever, but i am saying if the players didn't care or had lost it concerning that coaching staff, you'd of seen it how they played. even in a loss against USC, the effort was there.

the Wyoming game was bad timing for the reaction to Fulmer's dismissal.

anyway.....in the interest of giving credit where credit is due, even in a horrible year, one thing i thought was remarkable is that he never lost this team. they didn't give up on him.
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No, they didn't give up on him. I think it speaks to something that we realize - Fulmer almost always had the respect of his players. There are very few former players that speak negative publicly about him. And I don't think any of our better known players have.
 
#23
#23
justingroves said:
I disagree. The offense was terrible
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You will get no argument from me that the offense was terrible, the worst I've ever wittnessed at UT, but I don't think it was because they quit on Fulmer and staff in so much as they quit on themselves. I honestly think they had a serious confidence problem esp after the UF and Auburn games, they looked to me like they thought hey, we suck and we aren't going to get any better so what's the use, they played like they were fully expecting to screw up at any given moment.
 
#24
#24
Lexvol said:
Interesting notes. I have been pleasantly surprised by the lack of information about dysfunction of last year's team. At one point I feared that there would be airing of dirty laundry. For the most part there has been a cap on negative comments.

So far the worst I've heard have been the comments about the team never buying into Clawson.

Bates hits the nail on the head in a couple of areas.
Click to expand...

Interesting, good read.
 
#25
#25
JOEY'S ALL VOL !!! said:
I agree they didn't give up on Fulmer but I do think that they gave up on themselves, the offensive side of the ball anyway.
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more frustration that giving up.
justingroves said:
I disagree. The offense was terrible
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yep. worst i've seen since i can honestly remember in my lifetime.

General Jack said:
No, they didn't give up on him. I think it speaks to something that we realize - Fulmer almost always had the respect of his players. There are very few former players that speak negative publicly about him. And I don't think any of our better known players have.
Click to expand...
agreed.
JOEY'S ALL VOL !!! said:
You will get no argument from me that the offense was terrible, the worst I've ever wittnessed at UT, but I don't think it was because they quit on Fulmer and staff in so much as they quit on themselves. I honestly think they had a serious confidence problem esp after the UF and Auburn games, they looked to me like they thought hey, we suck and we aren't going to get any better so what's the use, they played like they were fully expecting to screw up at any given moment.
Click to expand...
that is true, but that had to do with two things:
1. they didn't grasp the Clawson offense
2. the coaches scaled everything back due to the inability of the offense to do anything productive.

i don't think they gave up at all. i thnk they were disappointed and very frustrated that they couldn't do more.

but think about it this way......despite all that......despite the confidence issues (in themselves adn the confidence level of the coaches in them)......when they scaled it back and leaned on the running game the last couple of weeks......the excecuted.....they went out and played anyway.

and got a couple of w's along the way.

i mean if you're looking for a silver lining in this big black cloud of a season, i think this is it.
 
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