Fulmer’s Legacy at Tennessee

#26
#26
A true VFL that loves Tennessee and had a great run as a coach. Doubt I will ever see a run like we had in the 90's. He led us to the only National Championship in most of our lifetimes. Unfortunately, his tenure didn't end well as a coach. I think he meant well stepping in as AD, but obviously it was the wrong person at the wrong time.

Speaking of Majors, he sealed his own fate by acting like a jerk to the people around him (especially when he was liquored up).
 
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#27
#27
Personally, I'll remember Phil as the Mark Richt of his day - albeit with one NC. That NC came as a gift from on high when Stoener fumbled. But, hey, that is college football. All I can say is that I think the '98 team was so gifted, CPF won despite himself. Overall, I think he should have been knocking on the door of, and playing in more NCs than he did. He had the talent for sure but tended to play not to lose and had the innate ability to lay an egg at least once a year. And Spurrier had his number. The latter never played not to lose and would throw the kitchen sink at Phil and usually won.

It was also interesting to note Phil's fortunes.....they would come and go as Cutcliff came and went. Because of that I've always wondered if he was weak in terms of staffing and management skills. The exclamation point for that, and for me, was this current mess with CJP and the allegations. His strong suit doesn't seem to be hiring and oversight.....bad news as a HC or AD. At the HC level the money they're paying you is, yes, knowledge of football, but for leadership, ability to set goals and vision, managing the myriad of aspects of a program and representing the University. You ain't coaching DBs or DL at this point, aight!

In all I suppose I'll give Phil his just dues. For the most part he put a good product out there, won a ton of games and a NC, generally was a mainstay in P5 discussions, and, I think, was an asset to UT's reputation and program. Unfortunately, he got complacent and got let go. Ego probably brought him back and he screwed that up royally. He has no one to blame but himself. Probably a really nice guy, who just doesn't understand his limitations and didn't know when to leave things be.
 
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#29
#29
BigOrangeSky said:
He did hold it together in 98. That was great for certain. His run from 95 thru 98 was
also very good, but not stellar and that's it. He had a real nice run that gets over-stated.

He didn't recruit Peyton Manning. Watch the ESPN Biopic: Manning. David Cutcliffe inked him.
And, he backed into the '07 SEC CG after Florida and Georgia lost twice. Cutlciffe bailed him out
in '06 and they did not progress in '07. But, they won the bowl game in '07 to get to 10.

He had 2 conference titles. He couldn't beat Spurrier when it counted, and lost to him when it
didn't matter (05, 08), 5-9 all-time. Got jack hammered in '98 Orange Bowl by Osborne, started
then losing to Saban at LSU right off the bat, then onto Richt and then Meyer. That's about it for
him. Oh, this fiasco of course with Pruitt. He's no saint.

In a way, it's as dodgy as the Majors-Fulmer debacle. 50-50 at best. Like it or not, that's the facts.
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Methinks you’re a little harsh here. I will be the first one to talk about Fulmer’s faults but you discount his accomplishments
 
#32
#32
The Great Divider. He fractured the fan base and athletic department more than once. His ending should not have been the platitudes from yesterday. It should have been him trying for attrition and admitting Pruitt was absolutely a disaster and that he too had failed the university on multiple levels.

Even at the end he couldn't bring himself to that admission. He could never admit to short comings and always blamed someone else.
 
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#34
#34
VolArmy74 said:
The Great Divider. He fractured the fan base and athletic department more than once. His ending should not have been the platitudes from yesterday. It should have been him trying for attrition and admitting Pruitt was absolutely a disaster and that he too had failed the university on multiple levels.

Even at the end he couldn't bring himself to that admission. He could never admit to short comings and always blamed someone else.
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Lol “fractured the fan base”?
 
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#35
#35
BigOrangeSky said:
He did hold it together in 98. That was great for certain. His run from 95 thru 98 was
also very good, but not stellar and that's it. He had a real nice run that gets over-stated.

He didn't recruit Peyton Manning. Watch the ESPN Biopic: Manning. David Cutcliffe inked him.
And, he backed into the '07 SEC CG after Florida and Georgia lost twice. Cutlciffe bailed him out
in '06 and they did not progress in '07. But, they won the bowl game in '07 to get to 10.

He had 2 conference titles. He couldn't beat Spurrier when it counted, and lost to him when it
didn't matter (05, 08), 5-9 all-time. Got jack hammered in '98 Orange Bowl by Osborne, started
then losing to Saban at LSU right off the bat, then onto Richt and then Meyer. That's about it for
him. Oh, this fiasco of course with Pruitt. He's no saint.

In a way, it's as dodgy as the Majors-Fulmer debacle. 50-50 at best. Like it or not, that's the facts.
Click to expand...
But CPF f'ing owned Alabama, and they hated him for it.
 
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#37
#37
Rickyvol77 said:
Lol “fractured the fan base”?
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Yes. To this day people still argue about the Majors situation. To this day they argue about his move on the AD job. In the future they will argue about it. Some will defend him. Some will blame him. The fan base will argue over him for years to come.
 
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#38
#38
He was really in over his head both as a coach and especially an AD. Came in the back door when Majors got sick. Never was an X and Os guy and benefited from having David Cutcliff. After David left, it was never the same. Owned by Saban, Spurrier, and Meyer. Success he had was when other programs were down (Bama on probation and GA with mediocre coaching). When he faded, no other program was standing in line to hire him which speaks volumes. On the contrary, he would have had to pay someone to take him as a coach. Too loyal to his assistants when assistants were not performing. He was lucky to have been at UT when he was otherwise he would have never achieved much of anything.
 
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#39
#39
orangebloodgmc said:
But CPF f'ing owned Alabama, and they hated him for it.
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They also hated him for turning Bama in for violations.
Was this payback?
Conspiracy-Theory-Coincidence-32.gif
 
#40
#40
Hacksaw11 said:
He was really in over his head both as a coach and especially an AD. Came in the back door when Majors got sick. Never was an X and Os guy and benefited from having David Cutcliff. After David left, it was never the same. Owned by Saban, Spurrier, and Meyer. Success he had was when other programs were down (Bama on probation and GA with mediocre coaching). When he faded, no other program was standing in line to hire him which speaks volumes. On the contrary, he would have had to pay someone to take him as a coach. Too loyal to his assistants when assistants were not performing. He was lucky to have been at UT when he was otherwise he would have never achieved much of anything.
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Post of the day 👏
 
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#41
#41
I’m going to give you some harsh truth here. This is how F’ed up Tennessee is you have one booster who pretty much ran the show for years he was responsible for every AD and coaching hire before Fulmer got into the AD. Most other notable boosters are at odds with this one person. Those boosters when they got the shot at power are convinced that Fulmer as AD is the way to go. And now we’re back to the original moron pulling the strings.
 
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#42
#42
GAVol said:
A lot of wins and 1998 is all anybody will remember.

Kind of like with Johnny Majors . . . he had an ugly end, but it wasn't long before all anybody remembered were the big wins.
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Probably for anyone over 40 yes. Under 40 and it’s not a great legacy at all. My memory of him is gonna be him phoning in that presser yesterday.
 
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#43
#43
Hacksaw11 said:
He was lucky to have been at UT when he was otherwise he would have never achieved much of anything.
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I've never understood the fascination some have with minimizing Fulmer's career. He was a very good OL coach and OC helping Majors build the program and then had a great run that lasted 12 years before things started to fall off.

I agree that he kept some assistants around too long and recruiting faltered and he needed to be replaced. You'll also find a ton of posts from a few years ago where I was not in favor of a football coach getting the AD job. But when he was good, he was good and there's no point trying to explain it away.
 
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#45
#45
Fulmer left UT football in worse shape than he found it two times, first as head coach, and second as AD. This time it will really hurt us because UT has never had Level-I violations, and the fallout will be immense. In a way I feel sorry for him because he was well intentioned, but as his success grew, he became complacent, and more worried about keeping his job than doing his job. Glad that chapter is over. As I said in another thread, I wish Johnny had stayed another decade and handed the wheels off to one of his protege's, like Cutcliff or Walt Harris or Jackie Sherril. We would have never hit rock bottom like this.
 
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#46
#46
Ill try to remember the good times one of the main reasons i like Tennessee. Hall of fame championship coach. I live in ohio so obviously i like the fact he beat ohio state and Michigan. Those were different times. Its sad the way everything went down. Honestly straight up pisses me off. Got an Auburn alum here at work that says this will set us back 10 years.
 
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#48
#48
mad4vols said:
He has destroyed Tennessee football 3 times.
If you include the way Majors was pushed out.
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I totally agree, for those that think he is/was a legend. Blah! I’m glad he was fired as HC thought it took too long. Dreaded that he was hired as a AD , but am now super glad he’s been pushed out the door.
 
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#49
#49
VolArmy74 said:
Yes. To this day people still argue about the Majors situation. To this day they argue about his move on the AD job. In the future they will argue about it. Some will defend him. Some will blame him. The fan base will argue over him for years to come.
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It’s a message board so on this and social media, people will argue about anything. In real life, the true fanbase isn’t fractured, they just want UT to win again
 
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