My college buddy is the son of one of the big time boosters so what Im about to say came from him and I dont know how accurate this is.
The Contract Extension
To give you the full flavor, lets go back to the contract extension in the spring. Hamilton did not want to extend the contract. He told the boosters that if they wanted Fulmers contract extended, they would need to pony up the money for the extension but UT would not pay for it. Fulmer and a lot of the boosters go way back and they wanted to give him the extension for 2 reasons: 1) They felt a loyalty to Fulmer. They knew things werent going well and if things didnt pan out this year, giving Fulmer the extension would ensure he was going to get a good going away package for his years of service to UT. 2) Not giving Fulmer an extension would look really bad after he took them to the SEC Championship game last year.
The Season
As many had feared, things didnt go well. The biggest concern was the lack of discipline on the team. This was the same issue as in years past but without some of the assistant coaches that were there in the past to reign it in, it got out of control. Hamilton had no confidence in Fulmer to correct the problem since this was a recurring theme. Hamilton wanted to pull the trigger on Fulmer after the Georgia game but he couldnt get the boosters to pony up on the buyout and make the commitment for the new coach. The boosters finally got off the fence after the Bama game and made the commitment. The decision could have been announced last week but they needed another week to get all of the details worked out. After S. Carolina, all their ducks were in a row so the deed was done.
The Search
Now that Fulmer has been taken care of, the issue is the new coach. There will be no official contact between UT and any coach until after the season. Here is the way this works. The AD has hired an independent firm and given them a list of names. I dont know all the names on the list but I was told that it included 4 current head coaches (all division 1 coaches, no NFL coaches), 2 assistants, and 1 not currently coaching. They are to contact the coachs agents and determine their interest in the job. This way, there is plausible deniability for the administration and the prospective coach. If things go well, they could have a new coach already committed by the end of the season. UT is desperately trying to avoid a public coaching search. They dont want the bad publicity of a coach turning them down and making them look foolish. After much prodding, I was finally given a few of the names of the current coaches and one of the assistant coaches (Butch Davis, and Will Muchamp). The coach that is not currently coaching is Dennis Franchioni. I was also told that Franchioni contacted UT several weeks ago to expressed interest in the job if it came available. I dont know the other 3 current coaches or the other assistant.
Thats all I know so you can take it for what its worth.
