Firing Philip Fulmer was the worst mistake a major program has ever made

#201
#201
Mini Cooper said:
:)

I'd fully expect even Fulmer to post wins against such luminous coaching from the likes of: Dubose, Francione, Price, Shula, and Kines.

When Saban got hired, the charade was over. Fulmer had to face the equivalent of two coaches he would struggle against, and his record against Spurrier was already abysmal.
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I googled the list of coaches who have a winning record against Saban & Spurrier. Just posting this while I wait for the results..
 
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#202
#202
Stating the truly obvious. Those of you leading the calls for Fulmer to be gone bear responsibility for the current mess.
 
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#203
#203
NEVolFan said:
I recall Phil locking the media out of practices... he would meet them at the practice facility entrance and answer a their questions. This was late in his tenure, when things were going south for him. He did not let the media circle the wagons for the kill. That stuck with me... trying to hide his problem, yet it was on full display Saturdays.
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So what....had his strategy worked, Tennessee would be much better off.
 
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#204
#204
114VOL said:
Lots of simpletons in our fan base. When you see posters claiming that Fulmer has more credibility as a coach than Gruden, you know for the most part that our fan base is somewhat dumbed down
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So you're saying a coach that hasn't been in college since 1989 has more credibility than one who won the NC?

Gruden is by no means a slam dunk.
 
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#206
#206
BanditVol said:
So you're saying a coach that hasn't been in college since 1989 has more credibility than one who won the NC?

Gruden is by no means a slam dunk.
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Yes. And anyone outside of the University of Fulmer says it. The fact that he continues to get offers to coach is a pretty good indicator that he might have more credibility than Fulmer.

He turned around the Raiders and then beat them in the SB with Tampa Bay. I realize he's no slam dunk, BUT would rather have him than rolling the dice with some mid major flavor of the month
 
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#209
#209
For how long are we going to keep hearing this Fulmer refrain? Move on. The program fell apart the last several years of Fulmer's tenure. That is all.
 
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#210
#210
Friends... the real problem during the late Fulmer years... and the real problem since, has been the actions of UT's wealthy boosters, behind the scenes.

They have had a negative impact on every prime coaching position.

It began with demands for specific academic requirements for athletes be self imposed by the university as a pre-requisite for donations. This was as much responsible for CFP recruiting downturn, as anything else. Bama, Florida and Auburn were able to land 2 recruits per year, apiece, that CFP couldn't get into school. Doesn't sound like much... but that ads up to 24 potential starters, over the course of 4 years.

The boosters and university did away with that, after CFP was fired.

Then, over the years, we've had boosters refuse to (for example) allow Cuonzo Martin the use of private jets for recruiting when they had provided that resource to Bruce Pearl.

"Slam dunk" coaches who will put up with that kind of crap from boosters are few and far between.

You can get a Butch Jones, for whom Tennessee represents his Shangri La... or a Rick Barnes, for whom Tennessee represents an opportunity at redemption... but it is going to be really hard to land a Gruden or Patterson.

However, right now, there are three names who will coach the Vols without regard to UT boosters reputation in the coaching industry.

Chip Kelly - Who may eye Tennessee as a transitional job.

Bobby Petrino - Who would give his left testicle and his entire prostate to coach in the SEC again.

Lane Kiffin - Who has admitted to a credible reporter that he would crawl back to UT, if given the chance.

If John Gruden comes here... it will be because his wife made him do it.
 
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#211
#211
LOL. This whole debacle -- the downfall of UT football -- started under the guide of Fulmer. It didn't magically start after he got fired.

Face it, Fulmer got lazy as hell after he won the NC. He had a chance to get to the NC game in 2001 and blew it vs. LSU and that started the end of his career. Do we not remember the 2005 debacle where we started #3 in the country and wound up going 5-7? Do we not remember how horrible we were in his final season? Do we not remember having a pretty decent team the next year with Kiffin, despite it being virtually the same roster that Fulmer had his final season when we went 5-7 and lost to Wyoming? The only thing that bought Fulmer more time was bringing in Cutcliffe for the two seasons in between his two losing seasons. You can't have two losing seasons in four years and expect to keep your job in the SEC when you're a veteran coach, especially after years of being nothing more than pretty much average. No SEC championships after 1998. Should've had one in 2001 but as previously mentioned, we choked. It's not like we were setting the world on fire in Fulmer's last decade of coaching.

Why should he have been kept? Because we backed into the SECCG the year before because Florida -- who took us to the shed that year -- couldn't do their job and finish the job? Please. The writing was on the wall. Saban was in his second year at Bama when Fulmer was fired, and Meyer was starting to build a dynasty at Florida. We couldn't compete with Fulmer, and he deserved to get fired. It could've been followed up with a great hire if we had a good AD, but we didn't, we hired Kiffin instead and it's been chaos ever since then.

Save the Fulmer martyr act. It's tiresome. It's been nine years. Get over it. He's not a victim. He's the one that started all this crap.
 
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#212
#212
Rear view mirrors serve a good purpose, seeing who is behind you and knowing where to go in reverse, but you will get killed by staring in one will moving forward! Not interested in what happened in the past except to learn from the mistakes. We live now and now is great time to find a perfect fit to lead the VOLS!!
 
#213
#213
AM64 said:
Unfortunately most of VN and everyone else yapping about replacements can't get over their worship of offensive gurus (offensive in both senses of the word) when defense matters more.
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Get the best coach. Cutting the pool in half by saying he has to be from one side of the ball is very stupid.
 
#216
#216
I think the thing about firing Fulmer when they did sent a message out to all coaches then and future. It was, we don't care if he's a HOF or won a NC in 1998, what has he done for us lately? If you can't win big and win quick, we'll fire you, too. Message like that would put off a lot of good coaches that could have done well at Tennessee. Also, throwing out the fact that they were willing to pay D2 level pay for an exceptional coach didn't help. The problem with UT football right now falls squarely on the UT admin and the idiot deep pocket donors.
 
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#219
#219
Slydell said:
I think the thing about firing Fulmer when they did sent a message out to all coaches then and future. It was, we don't care if he's a HOF or won a NC in 1998, what has he done for us lately? If you can't win big and win quick, we'll fire you, too. Message like that would put off a lot of good coaches that could have done well at Tennessee. Also, throwing out the fact that they were willing to pay D2 level pay for an exceptional coach didn't help. The problem with UT football right now falls squarely on the UT admin and the idiot deep pocket donors.
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^There folks, is the real truth
 
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#220
#220
DEFENDTHISHOUSE said:
Firing Fulmer wasn’t a mistake. The mistake was made when Mike Hamilton was allowed control of the athletic department and the hiring process.
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Yeah keep telling yourself that. It doesnt change the fact that we have sucked since firing our HOF coach. Keep on spinning that Fulmer had to go. In hindsight, this thread is 100% accurate.
 
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#222
#222
DEFENDTHISHOUSE said:
Firing Fulmer wasn’t a mistake. The mistake was made when Mike Hamilton was allowed control of the athletic department and the hiring process.
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LookiNH at it from business aspect, the athletics depth has raked in money for the last 20+ years, and under HAMMY that money almost tripled. The fact we have barely broke the top 25 since, 2007 preseason is irrelevant. and HAMMY still put up tons new bricks during the time frame. As a fan I hate HAMMY, as a business major, HAMMY is what everyone in the business model should follow.
 
#223
#223
SpiritOfNeyland said:
period.
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The insane UT fan base that screamed and cried like spoiled brats and intimidated Hamilton into firing Fulmer are responsible for the past 9 years. It's not a case of hind sight being 20/20, plenty of folks tried to stop the madness back in'08. Hell, Peyton even took out full page ads begging fans to chill. Hamilton's, spine cracked like a egg shell and the fools won.
 
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#225
#225
wombat7477 said:
You can tell it was a mistake by how he got buried in job offers from other programs... Wait a second
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No one knows that. Just because he didn't coach again doesn't mean the opportunity wasn't there. It's easy to sit in your trailer and make those assumptions.
 
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