Cut on leaving in 98

[VolForLife83]

Cutcliffe still can't talk about his final meeting with '98 Vols

 

[Iam4utalways]

Thanks for posting.

I like hearing good things about our guys.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

I'm so glad it worked out for us in spite of Cut leaving right before the national championship game. But I have to be honest, I think it's really unfair for coaches to leave their teams like that right before the post-season, especially a team that's about to play for a championship. IMO the NCAA should pass a rule that states that no coach can even be interviewed by another school until AFTER bowl season. Now I know some would say that puts the hiring school too much behind the 8-ball for recruiting that year. To that I say tough $hit. That's the price you pay for coaching turnover. Coaches should not be allowed to bail on their teams like that. If we had lost that game against Florida State, I believe attitudes around here towards Cutcliffe would be very different.

 

[kbear01]

I'm so glad it worked out for us in spite of Cut leaving right before the national championship game. But I have to be honest, I think it's really unfair for coaches to leave their teams like that right before the post-season, especially a team that's about to play for a championship. IMO the NCAA should pass a rule that states that no coach can even be interviewed by another school until AFTER bowl season. Now I know some would say that puts the hiring school too much behind the 8-ball for recruiting that year. To that I say tough $hit. That's the price you pay for coaching turnover. Coaches should not be allowed to bail on their teams like that. If we had lost that game against Florida State, I believe attitudes around here towards Cutcliffe would be very different.

I think Cut could see that nothing was going to keep the Vols from the NC. Not even bad play calling by an interim OC. We didn't play a great game(4 turnovers, very conservative play calling, missed FG, etc). Yet, we were never in any real danger of losing. I never felt that FSU was a real threat, after I saw our defense against their offense.

 

[livefaith]

I'm so glad it worked out for us in spite of Cut leaving right before the national championship game. But I have to be honest, I think it's really unfair for coaches to leave their teams like that right before the post-season, especially a team that's about to play for a championship. IMO the NCAA should pass a rule that states that no coach can even be interviewed by another school until AFTER bowl season. Now I know some would say that puts the hiring school too much behind the 8-ball for recruiting that year. To that I say tough $hit. That's the price you pay for coaching turnover. Coaches should not be allowed to bail on their teams like that. If we had lost that game against Florida State, I believe attitudes around here towards Cutcliffe would be very different.

Never thot of it. But, it would be a huge narrative that people accepted as general fact. And yes, those would not be happy thots by many.

 

[kcvols1]

I never felt that FSU was a real threat, after I saw our defense against Marcus Outzen.

FYP.

Our defense was great, but we all owe gratitude to Chris Weinke for paying proper attention to his neck injury and sitting that one out.

Hope he can actively get us back to that level as part of the staff, of course.

 

[XknoxvolsX]

He was either hired as HBC for Ole Miss because we just beat their number one rival or so that Eli Manning would go there! Had to be one of those two reasons!

 

[SD189]

FYP.

Our defense was great, but we all owe gratitude to Chris Weinke for paying proper attention to his neck injury and sitting that one out.

Hope he can actively get us back to that level as part of the staff, of course.

Coach Weinke would be deceased if he would have suited up against us.

 

[08Vol]

He was either hired as HBC for Ole Miss because we just beat their number one rival or so that Eli Manning would go there! Had to be one of those two reasons!

I get the blue font, but Ole Miss fired him one year after Eli left. Ole Miss brought Cut in for one reason and one reason only. Cut screwed us out of Eli and almost a national championship. If he stayed we probably repeat as champions in 99. I am thankful for what he did for UT, but at the end of the day I’m a UT fan, not a coach Cut fan. Him leaving in 98 and again in 07 are 2 of the reasons our program is where it is today.

 

[XknoxvolsX]

I get the blue font, but Ole Miss fired him one year after Eli left. Ole Miss brought Cut in for one reason and one reason only. Cut screwed us out of Eli and almost a national championship. If he stayed we probably repeat as champions in 99. I am thankful for what he did for UT, but at the end of the day I’m a UT fan, not a coach Cut fan. Him leaving in 98 and again in 07 are 2 of the reasons our program is where it is today.

I remember Fulmer offering Eli Manning a scholarship when he was in Junior High. One has to know that he was brought in just to make sure the youngest Manning ended up at Ole Miss.

I do agree that with Cut leaving it hurt us and hurt us badly. Especially after '07!

 

[secking]

I get the blue font, but Ole Miss fired him one year after Eli left. Ole Miss brought Cut in for one reason and one reason only. Cut screwed us out of Eli and almost a national championship. If he stayed we probably repeat as champions in 99. I am thankful for what he did for UT, but at the end of the day I’m a UT fan, not a coach Cut fan. Him leaving in 98 and again in 07 are 2 of the reasons our program is where it is today.

OR he was one of the reasons UT made it to that level. There is no denying the difference in Phil’s tenure at UT with and without Cut. OM will still tell you they made a mistake firing him.

 

[Volle]

Cut should have been our “coach in waiting”. I wish Fulmer had an exit plan that included stepping down, say in 2005, and handing over the reigns to Cut. Fulmer multipled that error by promoting Sanders, which pretty much cost us in recruiting Leak and Simms.

 

[Remy]

I like Coach Cutcliffe, think he's a great coach. But he did us dirty leaving not coaching in the 1998 NC game. It turned out okay, but delivering a blow, taking another job is always hard, but to compound it, NOT coaching in the title game??? That's on par almost with what Doug Dickey did to us with his Pearl Harbor in support of Florida.

 

[savannahfan]

I get the blue font, but Ole Miss fired him one year after Eli left. Ole Miss brought Cut in for one reason and one reason only. Cut screwed us out of Eli and almost a national championship. If he stayed we probably repeat as champions in 99. I am thankful for what he did for UT, but at the end of the day I’m a UT fan, not a coach Cut fan. Him leaving in 98 and again in 07 are 2 of the reasons our program is where it is today.

No. His being here was a big reason for our results in 98 and 07.

 

[EZE]

I get the blue font, but Ole Miss fired him one year after Eli left. Ole Miss brought Cut in for one reason and one reason only. Cut screwed us out of Eli and almost a national championship. If he stayed we probably repeat as champions in 99. I am thankful for what he did for UT, but at the end of the day I’m a UT fan, not a coach Cut fan. Him leaving in 98 and again in 07 are 2 of the reasons our program is where it is today.

You can never fault a coordinator for leaving to take a head coaching job. It is a move up in stature and money.

And, at that time, coaches didn’t stay to coach the bowl game of their former team. Win, lose or draw against FSU, I would hold no ill will against Cut for taking his first head coaching job. I just appreciate they great things he did at UT...which made him attractive to Ole Miss and Duke.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

You can never fault a coordinator for leaving to take a head coaching job. It is a move up in stature and money.

And, at that time, coaches didn’t stay to coach the bowl game of their former team. Win, lose or draw against FSU, I would hold no ill will against Cut for taking his first head coaching job. I just appreciate they great things he did at UT...which made him attractive to Ole Miss and Duke.

I would never begrudge any assistant coach for taking a head coaching job. I dont think anyone else here would either. But i do think its wrong for coaches to skip out on their teams a week prior to them playing in the national championship game, or any post-season game for that matter. Those teams busted their butts to earn the right to BE in those games and they deserve to be given every chance they can to comptete in those games at the best of their ability. Losing your coordinator prior to playing in a bowl game is a huge disruption to the team. Im simply saying that measures should be put in place so coaches arent allowed to do that to their players. Its not right and its not fair to the kids who worked so hard to get there.

 

[08Vol]

No. His being here was a big reason for our results in 98 and 07.

Both are true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 90’s. However the flip side of that is also true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 2000s. If Cut was still here in 99 we repeat as champions. In 01 we don’t lose to UGA and probably beat LSU, would still lose to Miami. In 04 our QB situation is handled better and we beat Auburn for the SEC. In 05 we compete for a national championship.

 

[EZE]

I would never begrudge any assistant coach for taking a head coaching job. I dont think anyone else here would either. But i do think its wrong for coaches to skip out on their teams a week prior to them playing in the national championship game, or any post-season game for that matter. Those teams busted their butts to earn the right to BE in those games and they deserve to be given every chance they can to comptete in those games at the best of their ability. Losing your coordinator prior to playing in a bowl game is a huge disruption to the team. Im simply saying that measures should be put in place so coaches arent allowed to do that to their players. Its not right and its not fair to the kids who worked so hard to get there.

Coaches seem to stick around for those games anymore. Back in the late 90s, though, I think their new employers expected them to start work.

I agree with you that this is a good development. But, many on here would disagree, because they were very unhappy with Pruitt for finishing up with Alabama after he was hired here (I had no problem with him for that).

 

[EZE]

Both are true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 90’s. However the flip side of that is also true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 2000s. If Cut was still here in 99 we repeat as champions. In 01 we don’t lose to UGA and probably beat LSU, would still lose to Miami. In 04 our QB situation is handled better and we beat Auburn for the SEC. In 05 we compete for a national championship.

Cut’s return in the mid-00s, and the corresponding turnaround, absolutely confirmed everything you said. He was a HUGE part of Fulmer’s success.

 

[hexnut]

Is this the same bunch who racked Coach Pruitt over the coals for staying and coaching in the national championship for Bamma?

 

[Remy]

Is this the same bunch who racked Coach Pruitt over the coals for staying and coaching in the national championship for Bamma?

Not me, I had no problem with it at all.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Both are true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 90’s. However the flip side of that is also true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 2000s. If Cut was still here in 99 we repeat as champions. In 01 we don’t lose to UGA and probably beat LSU, would still lose to Miami. In 04 our QB situation is handled better and we beat Auburn for the SEC. In 05 we compete for a national championship.

Quite the hypotheticals you throw out there. When you say our QB situation is handled better in 04 do you mean our roster is different and Ainge, Schaeffer and Clausen would never have played? We weren’t beating Auburn that year. Period.

Whether Cut left in 98 for Ole Miss or not he was leaving for the right situation when it presented itself eventually. He was too highly coveted to not take a HC job. There’s a lot of blame to go around about why our program is what it is, but i’ve Never heard anyone blame Cut for anything. Quite the opposite actually.

 

[LibertyVol]

Both are true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 90’s. However the flip side of that is also true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 2000s. If Cut was still here in 99 we repeat as champions. In 01 we don’t lose to UGA and probably beat LSU, would still lose to Miami. In 04 our QB situation is handled better and we beat Auburn for the SEC. In 05 we compete for a national championship.

Agree, except Tennessee beats Miami.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Agree, except Tennessee beats Miami.

Nobody was beating Miami that year.

 

[savannahfan]

Both are true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 90’s. However the flip side of that is also true. Without Cut, Fulmer doesn’t build the UT of the 2000s. If Cut was still here in 99 we repeat as champions. In 01 we don’t lose to UGA and probably beat LSU, would still lose to Miami. In 04 our QB situation is handled better and we beat Auburn for the SEC. In 05 we compete for a national championship.

Either way, Cut had the most effect (good or bad) on UT football (other than Fulmer) over the years after Majors. I personally wish he could have had an "effect" over the last 10-15 years. Could you imagine Fulmer and Cut still running the show. Not many dual coaching pairs , if any, have ever been heard of.