Does UT really care about football?

[Hacksaw11]

I'm just looking for one explanation that would cause me to believe they do. You could not screw this situation up as bad as it has been done over the years if you intentionally tried to do so. It was bad enough before Fulmer but now it appears he does not want anyone to overtake his legacy. He may be a nice guy but he is in so far over his head that the results are predictable.

 

[BigSteve09]

Over many decades, we built a great thing filled with success, tradition, pride, bonds. As a byproduct, that great thing started spitting out money. Greedy hands found our great thing and squeezed everything out of it in search of money. All the money came out, and so did everything else with it.

 

['Boro-vol]

The eggheads in the administration do not. At one point the academics found it distasteful that the football coach (Fulmer) was the most powerful man on campus, if not this end of the state. They seized the opportune moment when fan support dwindled to purge him, and the good-ole boy network, from the Hill. They have never fully relinquished control, though hiring Fulmer as AD remains a head-scratcher.

To directly answer the question...they care about the check football can provide, not football. And they certainly don't care about the check enough to relinquish control.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

No they don’t. It’s been clear since Hamilton was allowed to hire a guy who never coached a game in college to take over a still very relevant TN football program after running Fulmer off.

Simply put, if TN actually cared about it’s football program we would never be where we are now.

 

[preacherwebb]

Here's the thing ... if UT doesn't care about UT football, then neither do I. I am slowly coming to a place where I don't need the discouragement and disappointment that has become UT football in my life. I am about this close ...

to being done with UT football. This coming from a life long fan. I know, here come the "Well, Bye" gifs and the "you ain't a real fan" challenge. Truth is, I've been a fan thru thick and thin longer than many on this board have been on the topside of God's green earth, and I can't believe it myself that I'm at this point.

But I am.

That said, I believe it's okay to have other teams you pull for, and enjoy watching. If you only watch and pull for UT, that's fine, but I think you can like other teams as well. I enjoyed watching SC when Spurrier had them rolling. I pulled for them every week but one. If they axe Muschamp, and hire Freeze, while UT sits on their hands, I'll just change the channel and enjoy watching SC.

I just can't do this UT less than mediocre/not competitive/not even competent thing any more.
Maybe I'm becoming a fair weather fan in my old age? Whatever, I just want to be happy, and enjoy life, and UT football is not enjoyable any more.

 

[EconVol92]

EGO's would be my best answer.

You've got Haslam who has the money, but does he really have enough football knowledge to make a good decision?

Fulmer has a good bit of knowledge about football in the 90's and was a good recruiter. I have no doubt that he has a great love for the university, but his ego will not allow him to always do what's best for the university or the football team.

When he hired Pruitt he could have offered the job to either Kiffin or Freeze, but he would not do it. I really think he has issues with Kiffin replacing him and perhaps bringing Majors back in and with Freeze I think that it is either moral issues or as someone noted in another thread could go back to the recruitment of Michael Ohr, I don't know.

Would Kiffin work out in a second go round, I don't know I guess we can watch Ole Miss and see.

Freeze can and will do a good job, but are you willing to take on all of the baggage? I would have an ironclad contract ready for him with quite a few clauses and a huge buyout as the way I look at it is your hiring him as a football coach and not a morals adviser.

I just don't see a good established power 5 coach touching this program right now other than Freeze as I have read that this is his dream job.

Status quo is not working and I can't see a record of better than 3-7 (I would love to be wrong) this year and lord help Pruitt and Fulmer if we were to lose to Vandy this year.

I honestly believe that when this program wins the money would flow in to more than make up for any financial issues that fixing this would take.

 

[coffeevol]

Not as much as they use to. Fulmer will ignore outcry from fans and media about a subpar job and give CJP 5-6 years to accomplish something. Write that down, Fulmer will never make a change, he feels like time to right the ship is the answer and maybe he is right.

 

[cwbytruckers]

The only thing left to do is start removing seats.

 

[orangefloyd]

UT has never cared for the average fan.

 

[give_him 6]

Football is a ghost story at UT. People like to believe in ghost stories.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

When the administration would not budge off a $2MM HC salary for replacing Fulmer, that caused us to be where we are at. As a result of this extremely short-sighted decision, we missed on Patterson for a few hundred K and we signed Kiffin to a contract that had a nomimal buyout because that was the only way we could get him under this $2MM threshold. We then doubled down on stupid by picking Dooley over Patterson (again, for just a few hundred K). Two decisions, each with a nominal price tag doomed us to a decade plus of shi--y football....

 

[Boston Vol]

When the administration would not budge off a $2MM HC salary for replacing Fulmer, that caused us to be where we are at. As a result of this extremely short-sighted decision, we missed on Patterson for a few hundred K and we signed Kiffin to a contract that had a nomimal buyout because that was the only way we could get him under this $2MM threshold. We then doubled down on stupid by picking Dooley over Patterson (again, for just a few hundred K). Two decisions, each with a nominal price tag doomed us to a decade plus of shi--y football....

I’ve never heard anything about Patterson not wanting or accepting the job because of money. Patterson would have taken the job if offered in 2009 and he told us to drop dead in 2010. Money had nothing to do with it.

 

[VOLnVANDYland]

Here's the thing ... if UT doesn't care about UT football, then neither do I. I am slowly coming to a place where I don't need the discouragement and disappointment that has become UT football in my life. I am about this close ...

to being done with UT football. This coming from a life long fan. I know, here come the "Well, Bye" gifs and the "you ain't a real fan" challenge. Truth is, I've been a fan thru thick and thin longer than many on this board have been on the topside of God's green earth, and I can't believe it myself that I'm at this point.

But I am.

That said, I believe it's okay to have other teams you pull for, and enjoy watching. If you only watch and pull for UT, that's fine, but I think you can like other teams as well. I enjoyed watching SC when Spurrier had them rolling. I pulled for them every week but one. If they axe Muschamp, and hire Freeze, while UT sits on their hands, I'll just change the channel and enjoy watching SC.

I just can't do this UT less than mediocre/not competitive/not even competent thing any more.
Maybe I'm becoming a fair weather fan in my old age? Whatever, I just want to be happy, and enjoy life, and UT football is not enjoyable any more.

If you re going to jump ship (and I can’t really blame you) please respect and care for yourself enough to pick a better program than South Carolina.....

 

[Mrgro]

Ill watch the big orange till my dying day but, it will not be the center of my attention every fall anymore until i see that the University etc care as much as i do.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

I’ve never heard anything about Patterson not wanting or accepting the job because of money. Patterson would have taken the job if offered in 2009 and he told us to drop dead in 2010. Money had nothing to do with it.

Had a TCU booster (whose family let my wife live with them her junior and senior year of HS) contradict some of that. He declined in 2010 because he did not think our administration was serious enough about football (i.e. money). We were low-balling so bad his representation could not even get a raise out of TCU (they did take care of him later).

There were issues about assistants as well and that's why Justin Fuente will never coach here and has never been even remotely considered for past openings here. I think with the timing, the issues with assistants, and the bad taste in his mouth after missing out the year before would have been tough to overcome, we made it a very easy decision for him when it came to money. Having Andy Dalton plus knowing Mike Sherman was stinking up the joint at A&M also made it easy since that was also a logical next step for Patterson (although by the time A&M came open, he had built TCU even more and got into P5 conference)

 

[05_never_again]

I think the biggest misconception about our football program is that the boosters, admin, etc. "don't care about football." That makes precisely zero sense, as they'd all have something to gain from a good football program.

I think that all parties involved do care about football, but they want success in football to come on their terms. In other words, they want success in football to come because it was their idea that got followed. They have gigantic egos, and care deeply about who gets the credit, both within the university and in the public.

 

[CAVPUT]

We'll find out soon enough. If we have any real interest in turning this around, the folks in Knoxville are working back channels to sign Freeze for next year. Might be why Liberty bumped his pay. Hope so.

If we blow this again and he ends up at another SEC program while we head into next year with Pruitt and perhaps JG, the answer to the original question is obvious. And if they don't give a chit, why should fans?

 

[05_never_again]

Had a TCU booster (whose family let my wife live with them her junior and senior year of HS) contradict some of that. He declined in 2010 because he did not think our administration was serious enough about football (i.e. money). We were low-balling so bad his representation could not even get a raise out of TCU (they did take care of him later).

There were issues about assistants as well and that's why Justin Fuente will never coach here and has never been even remotely considered for past openings here. I think with the timing, the issues with assistants, and the bad taste in his mouth after missing out the year before would have been tough to overcome, we made it a very easy decision for him when it came to money. Having Andy Dalton plus knowing Mike Sherman was stinking up the joint at A&M also made it easy since that was also a logical next step for Patterson (although by the time A&M came open, he had built TCU even more and got into P5 conference)

I appreciate the TCU connection, and that's interesting, but that isn't what Patterson himself told ESPN.

"Tennessee didn't think I could handle the big stage," Patterson said. "My wife and I went to dinner with them, and I could tell they had already decided on Kiffin. It was the same with Nebraska. I interviewed and could tell they had already decided on Pelini. I think a lot of these ADs now are more interesting in hiring guys who're going to win the podium than they are in hiring football coaches, and there's a lot more to it than that if you're going to win championships."

I never got the impression that money (or lack thereof) was an issue with Patterson. Hamilton had a choice between him and Kiffin, and he simply chose Kiffin.

The best coach in Texas doesn't want to leave TCU

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

I appreciate the TCU connection, and that's interesting, but that isn't what Patterson himself told ESPN.



I never got the impression that money (or lack thereof) was an issue with Patterson. Hamilton had a choice between him and Kiffin, and he simply chose Kiffin.

The best coach in Texas doesn't want to leave TCU

A lot of the "handling the big stage" was concerns about the assistants. We had concerns that a "Co-OC" setup would not work in the SEC and that Fuente wasn't ready for the OC chair. That's why you've never see Fuente's name attached to our potential openings.

Yeah, I think Hammy flat out chose Kiffin because he was the opposite of Fulmer and the fact that he could get Kiffin in cheap and Monte's salary would roll off (and O would take Monte's spot) in a couple of years. The nominal buyout in Kiffin's deal is what put us on this track more than anything. Had we had anything resembling a reciprocal buyout, USC likely never approaches Kiffin...

 

[tnvols72]

We'll find out soon enough. If we have any real interest in turning this around, the folks in Knoxville are working back channels to sign Freeze for next year. Might be why Liberty bumped his pay. Hope so.

If we blow this again and he ends up at another SEC program while we head into next year with Pruitt and perhaps JG, the answer to the original question is obvious. And if they don't give a chit, why should fans?

I am almost certain that UT will blow this again. UT loves that season ticket money come rolling in around April and that is all they care about. The product on the field ,they could careless about.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

I think the Admin cares about FB because its the moneymaker for all other sports and academic programs. Everyone benefits from FB $. They just want it on the cheap cost wise so they get more money. Majority of the $ comes from the SEC share and TV $ so we get that money no matter our record.

 

[05_never_again]

I am almost certain that UT will blow this again. UT loves that season ticket money come rolling in around April and that is all they care about. The product on the field ,they could careless about.

If the product on the field sucks, the less season ticket money that rolls in. You've seen less and less of it the past couple years.

Of course they are about football being good - they just care about who gets credit for it even more. The UT football program doesn't stink because of apathy amongst the decision-makers. If anything, it stinks because of the egos of the people who run it.

 

[preacherwebb]

If you re going to jump ship (and I can’t really blame you) please respect and care for yourself enough to pick a better program than South Carolina.....

Eh ... I live here, and it won't be Clemson for me. SC is fun when they're good, at least living here.
I do like Ohio State ... been enjoying them since the days of Eddie George.

 

[preacherwebb]

Ill watch the big orange till my dying day but, it will not be the center of my attention every fall anymore until i see that the University etc care as much as i do.

 

[tnutater]

I think the biggest misconception about our football program is that the boosters, admin, etc. "don't care about football." That makes precisely zero sense, as they'd all have something to gain from a good football program.

I think that all parties involved do care about football, but they want success in football to come on their terms. In other words, they want success in football to come because it was their idea that got followed. They have gigantic egos, and care deeply about who gets the credit, both within the university and in the public.

When boosters put out the big money, they insist that their terms are the path followed.
That will never change at any school. People giving the big money always make the rules.
The University administration sees football as a rival for prestige.
Without the Athletic Department's "donation" to the University, sports would exist on something similar to intermural activities. The University exists to educate students in the State of Tennessee, not to win win football games. Anything that cuts into the "donation"(such as hiring a top level coach) will always be a fight that most likely cannot be won by the AD.