Dance with the one that brung you...

#1
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dimera23

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#1
"Dance with the one that brung you and you can't go wrong." My grandmother used to say that. I never understood exactly what it meant until recently.

Suffering from some close, but still disappointing, losses this season--and especially with Obamamania and its undefined mantra of "change" sweeping the nation--it's easy to understand why, in the heat of the moment, some fans react on emotion and demand that the Vols find a new head coach. However, if we simply step back, take a pause and look objectively at the situation, we'll soon see that this isn't all that bad, it certainly isn't unprecidented and we are much stronger as a program with Coach Fullmer than without him. Change isn't always good. Change for change's sake almost certainly never is.

Coach Fulmer brings stability.
Year in and year out, players can count on the fact that Coach Fulmer will be walking the sidelines in Knoxville. This is an underappreciated strength in our program. Players come to UT from all over the country. They leave behind their homes, friends and families for an entirely foreign experience and a brand new way of life. Some of them didn't have fatherly influences in their lives. Coaches become father figures. These kids choose to come to Tennessee because they know they can count on Coach Fulmer to keep his promise and see them through their college careers.

Nick Sabin and Bobby Petrino may be driving the flashiest sports cars on the block right now, but they've got a proven record of speeding off at the drop of the hat to chase whatever shiny new thing catches their eye. These coaches will be a kid's best friend when they're flying high, but they're nowhere to be found when times are tough. Coach Fulmer is stable and reliable. Kids know he'll be in Tennessee because he doesn't want to be anywhere else.

Coach Fulmer brings consistency.

In his 16 years at the University of Tennessee, Coach Fulmer has had exactly one losing season (05). He has won a national championship. (98) he won back to back SEC Championships (97-98) He has won the SEC East seven times (93, 97, 98, 01, 03, 04, 07) He has finished out of the top two in the East only twice (02, 05). He has coached top 25 teams 14 out of 16 seasons and taken his team to a bowl 15 out of 16 years. He has one of the highest winning percentages of any active coach in the NCAA and is very close to becoming the winningest coach in UT history.

What more can we possibly ask of him? We can't win them all, but Coach Fulmer wins a whole lot more than he loses. Coach Fulmer has never let this program down. It saddens me that so many supposed Vol fans want to turn their backs on him and on our team at a time when they need us the most.

Our UT family is going through a rough patch right now. We've been punched in the mouth. Now is not the time to lay down and splinter. It's time to come together, stand behind our team, our players and our coach. This season isn't lost and this program certainly isn't dead.

I'll be in Knoxville with my dad this Saturday, just like we are every time there's a UT home game. Hope to see you and a crowd of real Vol fans there.
 
Last edited:
#2
#2
In 2005 that all made sense to me. In 2008 it's gotten a little stale.
 
#3
#3
Here is what I expect out of Fulmer. 2 SEC titles every ten years. Just like MH said he expected. You don't do your job as described by your boss you get the axe. Simple.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#4
#4
Consistency? Please! Over the past 7 years he has been consistently mediocre. And most of the kids don't care about stability. They want a coach who will develop their skills to the fullest. Quite frankly, that isn't our current coach.
 
#5
#5
Well, I definitely have to agree with you about Saban and Petrino, and yes, Fulmer has been a stabilizing force for 16 years and has accomplished some great things- no question there. But, with all the talent we have, shouldn't we be better than this? How long do we continue to slide? I think we should be better than this, and ultimately, that is the coach's responsibility.
 
#6
#6
Yeah I married my high school sweetheart.... it was great in the beginning..then good and then went to the point where we were basically roomates finally after 16 years we decided enough was enough and we both agree it was the best decision we could of made. Looking back we had just "settled" on each other and why take a risk of finding true love and happiness when things at home weren't all that bad. It could have been worse or could it?
 
#7
#7
What do you do if you want to keep dancing and the one that brought you can't dance anymore do you quit dancing or do you find a new dance partner that is the question.
 
#12
#12
Well Coach Fulmer, thanks for registering and posting your opinion.

But at this point the only "consistency" we see is losing to Florida every year, starting slow and then doing enough to "save the season". Except for 2005, and apparently this year. If that's your definition of "consistency", then you must have really, really low standards.
 
#14
#14
cd12 said:
Yeah I married my high school sweetheart.... it was great in the beginning..then good and then went to the point where we were basically roomates finally after 16 years we decided enough was enough and we both agree it was the best decision we could of made. Looking back we had just "settled" on each other and why take a risk of finding true love and happiness when things at home weren't all that bad. It could have been worse or could it?
Click to expand...

Spoken like a man with a new "head coach" in his life!
 
#15
#15
It's been said and is probably a cliche, but the only consistency we have is being consistently inconsistent.

Make no mistake about it, I still like Fulmer a great deal. I'm just no longer convinced he's the right guy to take us back to the mountaintop.
 
#17
#17
The original poster is correct in that change for change sake is usually never good. But you have to look at the circumstances of each individual situation and make a good faith assessment of what should be done.

Fulmer was great for Tennessee football. He has added to the history of the program.

But any reasonable objective observer can see that there are major problems that could be beyond his power to correct. The fans I meet of other SEC schools always ask how long Tennessee is going to keep him around. I guess everyone else in the country can see it except for the people who have the power to make a change at UT.

I want Tennessee football to be great. But there needs to be a change.
 
#18
#18
dimera23 said:
"Dance with the one that brung you and you can't go wrong." My grandmother used to say that. I never understood exactly what it meant until recently.

Suffering from some close, but still disappointing, losses this season--and especially with Obamamania and its undefined mantra of "change" sweeping the nation--it's easy to understand why, in the heat of the moment, some fans react on emotion and demand that the Vols find a new head coach. However, if we simply step back, take a pause and look objectively at the situation, we'll soon see that this isn't all that bad, it certainly isn't unprecidented and we are much stronger as a program with Coach Fullmer than without him. Change isn't always good. Change for change's sake almost certainly never is.

Coach Fulmer brings stability.
Year in and year out, players can count on the fact that Coach Fulmer will be walking the sidelines in Knoxville. This is an underappreciated strength in our program. Players come to UT from all over the country. They leave behind their homes, friends and families for an entirely foreign experience and a brand new way of life. Some of them didn't have fatherly influences in their lives. Coaches become father figures. These kids choose to come to Tennessee because they know they can count on Coach Fulmer to keep his promise and see them through their college careers.

Nick Sabin and Bobby Petrino may be driving the flashiest sports cars on the block right now, but they've got a proven record of speeding off at the drop of the hat to chase whatever shiny new thing catches their eye. These coaches will be a kid's best friend when they're flying high, but they're nowhere to be found when times are tough. Coach Fulmer is stable and reliable. Kids know he'll be in Tennessee because he doesn't want to be anywhere else.

Coach Fulmer brings consistency.

In his 16 years at the University of Tennessee, Coach Fulmer has had exactly one losing season (05). He has won a national championship. (98) he won back to back SEC Championships (97-98) He has won the SEC East seven times (93, 97, 98, 01, 03, 04, 07) He has finished out of the top two in the East only twice (02, 05). He has coached top 25 teams 14 out of 16 seasons and taken his team to a bowl 15 out of 16 years. He has the highest winning percentage of any active coach in the NCAA and is very close to becoming the winningest coach in UT history.

What more can we possibly ask of him? We can't win them all, but Coach Fulmer wins a whole lot more than he loses. Coach Fulmer has never let this program down. It saddens me that so many supposed Vol fans want to turn their backs on him and on our team at a time when they need us the most.

Our UT family is going through a rough patch right now. We've been punched in the mouth. Now is not the time to lay down and splinter. It's time to come together, stand behind our team, our players and our coach. This season isn't lost and this program certainly isn't dead.

I'll be in Knoxville with my dad this Saturday, just like we are every time there's a UT home game. Hope to see you and a crowd of real Vol fans there.
Click to expand...

"He has the highest winning percentage of any active coach in the NCAA"

Not true
 
#19
#19
dimera23 said:
Coach Fulmer brings consistency.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right.

For 10 consecutive years now, Coach Fulmer has consistently underachieved. He has consistently failed to deliver a conference championship. And he'll consistently continue to do so for as long as he remains head coach at Tennessee.
 
#20
#20
dimera23 said:
"Dance with the one that brung you and you can't go wrong." My grandmother used to say that. I never understood exactly what it meant until recently.

Suffering from some close, but still disappointing, losses this season--and especially with Obamamania and its undefined mantra of "change" sweeping the nation--it's easy to understand why, in the heat of the moment, some fans react on emotion and demand that the Vols find a new head coach. However, if we simply step back, take a pause and look objectively at the situation, we'll soon see that this isn't all that bad, it certainly isn't unprecidented and we are much stronger as a program with Coach Fullmer than without him. Change isn't always good. Change for change's sake almost certainly never is.

Coach Fulmer brings stability.
Year in and year out, players can count on the fact that Coach Fulmer will be walking the sidelines in Knoxville. This is an underappreciated strength in our program. Players come to UT from all over the country. They leave behind their homes, friends and families for an entirely foreign experience and a brand new way of life. Some of them didn't have fatherly influences in their lives. Coaches become father figures. These kids choose to come to Tennessee because they know they can count on Coach Fulmer to keep his promise and see them through their college careers.

Nick Sabin and Bobby Petrino may be driving the flashiest sports cars on the block right now, but they've got a proven record of speeding off at the drop of the hat to chase whatever shiny new thing catches their eye. These coaches will be a kid's best friend when they're flying high, but they're nowhere to be found when times are tough. Coach Fulmer is stable and reliable. Kids know he'll be in Tennessee because he doesn't want to be anywhere else.

Coach Fulmer brings consistency.

In his 16 years at the University of Tennessee, Coach Fulmer has had exactly one losing season (05). He has won a national championship. (98) he won back to back SEC Championships (97-98) He has won the SEC East seven times (93, 97, 98, 01, 03, 04, 07) He has finished out of the top two in the East only twice (02, 05). He has coached top 25 teams 14 out of 16 seasons and taken his team to a bowl 15 out of 16 years. He has the highest winning percentage of any active coach in the NCAA and is very close to becoming the winningest coach in UT history.

What more can we possibly ask of him? We can't win them all, but Coach Fulmer wins a whole lot more than he loses. Coach Fulmer has never let this program down. It saddens me that so many supposed Vol fans want to turn their backs on him and on our team at a time when they need us the most.

Our UT family is going through a rough patch right now. We've been punched in the mouth. Now is not the time to lay down and splinter. It's time to come together, stand behind our team, our players and our coach. This season isn't lost and this program certainly isn't dead.

I'll be in Knoxville with my dad this Saturday, just like we are every time there's a UT home game. Hope to see you and a crowd of real Vol fans there.
Click to expand...

welcome to VN
 
#21
#21
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
Consistency? Please! Over the past 7 years he has been consistently mediocre. And most of the kids don't care about stability. They want a coach who will develop their skills to the fullest. Quite frankly, that isn't our current coach.
Click to expand...

Over the past seven seasons, Coach Fullmer is 63-27 with four SEC East Titles, one top five ranking, four top 15 rankings, five top 25 rankings, six bowl appearances and three bow wins.
 
#22
#22
dimera23 said:
Over the past seven seasons, Coach Fullmer is 63-27 with four SEC East Titles, one top five ranking, four top 15 rankings, five top 25 rankings, six bowl appearances and three bow wins.
Click to expand...

Any championships?

Four SEC East titles? Uh, no. If you don't represent the East in Atlanta, you're not the East division champ.
 
#23
#23
dimera23 said:
Over the past seven seasons, Coach Fullmer is 63-27 with four SEC East Titles, one top five ranking, four top 15 rankings, five top 25 rankings, six bowl appearances and three bow wins.
Click to expand...

Now show me our record over the past 7 years against our rivals (AL, GA, FL, LSU, AU)?

Then calculate over the past 7 years how many Championships they have compared to ours? I will help you out a little (TN = 0).
 
#24
#24
alavolfan said:
Well, I definitely have to agree with you about Saban and Petrino, and yes, Fulmer has been a stabilizing force for 16 years and has accomplished some great things- no question there. But, with all the talent we have, shouldn't we be better than this? How long do we continue to slide? I think we should be better than this, and ultimately, that is the coach's responsibility.
Click to expand...

We're breaking in a new quarterback. We've hired a new Offensive Coordinator and we're acclimating an offensive line to his entirely new system. We have to expect some growing pains.

Crompton hasn't proven himself at the NCAA level. He may not be all that he was hyped up to be coming out of high school.

Clawson's new system calls for the O-line to rotate from left to right depending on the formation. This is a very difficult transition to make. It creates a situation where linemen don't get enough reps on either side of the line which can create some problems in pass protection?

Hurries, pressures and sacks are up dramatically this year. Defenses are getting in Crompton's face and forcing him to make quicker decisions. He isn't handling that well right now. He's making poor decisions and missing reads. He's also played against two of the best defenses in the SEC.

Coach Fulmer's game plan has put us in a position to win every game this year. We have failed to execute when given the opportunities. Fumbles, Interceptions, missed routes and poos decisions in the red zone have hurt us bad this year. It isn't the play calling, it is the execution.
 
#25
#25
dimera23 said:
Fumbles, Interceptions, missed routes and poos decisions in the red zone have hurt us bad this year. It isn't the play calling, it is the execution.
Click to expand...

Isn't execution on Saturday a reflection of the coaching that's done in practice?
 
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