The recent extensions have complicated things. The team has played BAD football consistently for several years--even the "good" years have been very misleading, with lots of ugly wins over the bad teams in the league. Look at last year: Had the Vols really had a good team, they would have been a very banged up lsu team in the sec title game, but didn't.
Here's the question: What two big boosters are going to stand up and say: "We gotta make a change at head coach, now--and then persuade other big boosters to join them in ousting Fulmer? Which two are going to go to Fulmer and say, "Thanks, big guy, but we gotta make a change now for the good of the program.' These coaches make a mark, become friends with the big boosters, get entrenched and then come to think they are the program! Look at Paterno and Bowden---a couple of geriatic jokes still hanging on; each should have resigned /at least/ a decade ago. Fulmer lost it years ago, but he'll want to keep coaching and prove to everybody he can turn the ship around and win big again. That's the problem. But it's probably going to get pretty ugly this year--likely losses to georgia and bama, for starters--and we'll say which of the money men, if any, says "Enough."