I Went Down To The Crossroads...

#1
rexvol

rexvol

The Minister of Defense
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#1
UT, Fulmer again sit at a crossroad


Commentary by JOE BIDDLE
Staff Writer


Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer not only lost his best friend, but also the program's MVP when Duke hired David Cutcliffe as its head coach.
It sends Fulmer back to the 1998 national championship season, when Cutcliffe departed to take the Ole Miss job.

Fulmer had a choice. Promote from within or bring in someone with new ideas and offensive schemes.
It was all too predictable. Fulmer promoted quarterbacks coach Randy Sanders. It turned out to be a huge mistake. Sanders wasn't ready for the job. The program dropped to a point where, almost 10 years later, it has not won another SEC championship.
Oh, it still can give Vols fans eight or nine wins in a 12-game schedule. But UT is in danger of falling behind Florida, Georgia, LSU, Auburn and what will be a force to be reckoned with in Alabama.
Fulmer is faced with the same choice. Promote from within, or hire an innovative coordinator who understands today's offenses.
From 1993-98 under Cutcliffe, the Vols went 63-11. During Sanders' tenure, they went 61-26 in seven seasons.
In Cutcliffe's two seasons after replacing Sanders, the Vols have gone 18-8. He resurrected quarterback Erik Ainge's career. Even though Ainge had few weapons this season, Cutcliffe broke him down and built him back up.
Stay on staff?
Fulmer has promising quarterbacks in Jonathan Crompton and freshman B.J. Coleman. Who coaches them?
On staff, Fulmer has assistant head coach Trooper Taylor, who coaches wide receivers, and offensive line coach Greg Adkins. Taylor has been a college coach since 1992. Adkins broke into the business in 1991.
Taylor is intense, flamboyant, gets players excited. He often wears his hat backward, flies up and down the sideline and has created friction on a staff that is stoical and stale. Taylor is thought to be the best recruiter among assistants, and Fulmer can't afford to lose him.
Adkins did a sound job with the offensive line as Ainge's uniform stayed clean.
History would tell us Fulmer will not change his ways. He stubbornly will point to his record and say his system is proved over time.
Auburn's Tommy Tuberville hired Troy's offensive coordinator, Tony Franklin, who also coached under Hal Mumme at Kentucky. Franklin runs a no-huddle, spread offense. Tuberville had a coach who fit what he needed in the same state.
How far will Fulmer look?
This could be his last chance to make the right choice.
 
#2
#2
sorry Freak, I should have just posted a link. Biddle makes me angry quite often, but he's spot on in this. Esp about Tubberville's hire.
 
#4
#4
Taylor is intense, flamboyant, gets players excited. He often wears his hat backward, flies up and down the sideline and has created friction on a staff that is stoical and stale.
Click to expand...

I wonder if all these are listed in the "Special Skills" section on TT's resume along with chest bump.
 
#5
#5
I really, really hope that CPF looks to the far horizon with his search (outside of Knox county). I also hope that MH influences the search with an eye to hiring a coach that has potential to be promoted at UTK at some point in the future.
 
#7
#7
why do i now have John Michael Montgomery's "I went down to the Grundy County auction" song stuck in my head?
 
#8
#8
Plano Vol said:
I really, really hope that CPF looks to the far horizon with his search (outside of Knox county). I also hope that MH influences the search with an eye to hiring a coach that has potential to be promoted at UTK at some point in the future.
Click to expand...
If Mike Hamilton attempts to influence the choice of an offensive coordinator in any way, he should be terminated immediately.
 
#9
#9
hatvol96 said:
If Mike Hamilton attempts to influence the choice of an offensive coordinator in any way, he should be terminated immediately.
Click to expand...

Ok, I'll take the bait.

Hamilton is AD.

AD is responsible for all athletic dept functions.

Hiring OC is an athletic dept function.

Where have I gone wrong?
 
#10
#10
rbroyles said:
Ok, I'll take the bait.

Hamilton is AD.

AD is responsible for all athletic dept functions.

Hiring OC is an athletic dept function.

Where have I gone wrong?
Click to expand...

You're throwing your HFC under the bus. If you don't have the faith in him to get the right guy for the job, the HFC should be canned. You don't micromanage as an AD.
 
#11
#11
rbroyles said:
Ok, I'll take the bait.

Hamilton is AD.

AD is responsible for all athletic dept functions.

Hiring OC is an athletic dept function.

Where have I gone wrong?
Click to expand...
Any executive that feels one of his department heads is so incompetent that they can't hire adequate staff should terminate said person forthwith. Otherwise, they're a micromanaging dweeb.
 
#14
#14
rbroyles said:
Ok, I'll take the bait.

Hamilton is AD.

AD is responsible for all athletic dept functions.

Hiring OC is an athletic dept function.

Where have I gone wrong?
Click to expand...
For a great example of what happens when ADs start meddling in issues that should be internal to a coaching staff, look at all the fun Arkansas has had the last 12 months.
 
#16
#16
hatvol96 said:
For a great example of what happens when ADs start meddling in issues that should be internal to a coaching staff, look at all the fun Arkansas has had the last 12 months.
Click to expand...

The one aspect of management they pounded into us in my sport mgmt classes was to never micromanage. The Arkansas debacle was used as an example countless times by one of my professors.
 
#24
#24
I said influence the search....try to make sure the net is cast broadly....show an interest who is being interviewed. Surely a CEO is allowed some interest in the progress of filling a key level 2 management position....one that generates a fair part of the business revenue....one that can come up and bite the CEO in the ass in a year's time. If I was in MH's position, I would not want to be heavy handed but I would sure be interested.
 
#25
#25
Plano Vol said:
I said influence the search....try to make sure the net is cast broadly....show an interest who is being interviewed. Surely a CEO is allowed some interest in the progress of filling a key level 2 management position....one that generates a fair part of the business revenue....one that can come up and bite the CEO in the ass in a year's time. If I was in MH's position, I would not want to be heavy handed but I would sure be interested.
Click to expand...

Thank you, that is about what I was thinking.
 
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