There is no denying that Coach Fulmer's first nine years at UT were better than his last seven. I personally don't think a 63-27 record with four #1 finishes in the SEC East and three bowl wins is all that bad, but they're definately worse than his 84-17 record with a National Title, two SEC titles and five bowl wins.
However, this is no time to panic and, in my opinion, no time for a coaching change. Set emotion aside and look at numbers. They don't lie. Coach Fulmer's career is following trends established by some of the greatest coaches in College Football history.
For example:
From 1998-2004, Joe Paterno was 40-39 with no conference titles and two bowl wins. In 2005, he roared back to an 11-1 record and a Big 10 Championship. Since, then he's 29-9 and possibly playing for a national title this year.
From 1979-1985, Bo Schembechler was 60-23 with one Big 10 Title. He went on to lead the Wolverines to a 38-10 record with three Conference Titles over the last four years of his career at Michigan.
After winning four national titles, the great Bear Bryant posted a 28-20 record with three straight bowl losses from 1967-1970. He went on to win three more national titles and nine SEC titles from 1971-1982.
We're going through a little bit of a rough patch right now, but we've got the right staff in place to see us through it. If we're not careful, we'll learn a lesson Michigan is learning now the hard way. Stability is very important in college football.
However, this is no time to panic and, in my opinion, no time for a coaching change. Set emotion aside and look at numbers. They don't lie. Coach Fulmer's career is following trends established by some of the greatest coaches in College Football history.
For example:
From 1998-2004, Joe Paterno was 40-39 with no conference titles and two bowl wins. In 2005, he roared back to an 11-1 record and a Big 10 Championship. Since, then he's 29-9 and possibly playing for a national title this year.
From 1979-1985, Bo Schembechler was 60-23 with one Big 10 Title. He went on to lead the Wolverines to a 38-10 record with three Conference Titles over the last four years of his career at Michigan.
After winning four national titles, the great Bear Bryant posted a 28-20 record with three straight bowl losses from 1967-1970. He went on to win three more national titles and nine SEC titles from 1971-1982.
We're going through a little bit of a rough patch right now, but we've got the right staff in place to see us through it. If we're not careful, we'll learn a lesson Michigan is learning now the hard way. Stability is very important in college football.