If you had it to do over again?

#251
#251
I think Fulmer capitalized on what Majors built. When that played out so did Fulmer. Fulmer was a great recruitor but not a stand alone great head coach. He really needed assistants brighter than himself. Without that he couldnt get the most out of the great players he recruited. The great recruiting eventually played out.
 
#252
#252
Weld said:
I think Fulmer capitalized on what Majors built. When that played out so did Fulmer. Fulmer was a great recruitor but not a stand alone great head coach. He really needed assistants brighter than himself. Without that he couldnt get the most out of the great players he recruited. The great recruiting eventually played out.
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I think this is the case for about 99% of coaches. Without a good staff, failure is a given.
 
#253
#253
justingroves said:
Correct. If Dooley is successful or fails, at least it's outside the "Tennessee Family".

It might not be such a bad bunch but it's not like Fulmer had any assistants that stood out other than Chavis and Cut. Neither of those could be a successful HC in the SEC.
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Agreed.

I'm just afraid that if this fails, everyone will just crawl back into a little shell and play it as safe as possible for a long time.
 
#254
#254
OWB said:
Or we should have held on to him for a couple of more years and found a coach that was really a good fit for us. I'm afraid people are going to find that Dooley is very Fulmeresque.
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We should have gotten rid of him earlier, IMO.

I'm not concerned about him coaching like Fulmer. I'm afraid of him just not being good enough.
 
#255
#255
justingroves said:
I'm with you. Nothing is in Dooley's favor at all but every West guy sincerely thinks he's what Tennessee needs.

That's got to be a good sign right?
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I was thinking that, but I'm still not overly confident. People speak highly of him, no doubt, but it also seems a lot of what I hear them say is:
"He's a good guy, and what Tennessee needs after the weasel. I think he'll do well in time."

Which to me, doesn't even make it seem like they've put any thought into the situation.
 
#256
#256
ihateflorida said:
I think this is the case for about 99% of coaches. Without a good staff, failure is a given.
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That's true but certain coaches seem to be able to continue with good assistants when some leave. Fulmer seemed to be at a loss when the assistants Majors brought in, left over time. I remember Majors as constantly replacing good assistants with equally good ones.

One of my best hopes for Dooley is that he seems to have assembled a capable staff.
 
#257
#257
Weld said:
That's true but certain coaches seem to be able to continue with good assistants when some leave. Fulmer seemed to be at a loss when the assistants Majors brought in, left over time. I remember Majors as constantly replacing good assistants with equally good ones.

One of my best hopes for Dooley is that he seems to have assembled a capable staff.
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If our assistants were so good under Majors, then answer a little trivia;

How many times did UT have back-to-back offenses rank in the top third of the SEC under Majors before Fulmer took over the offense?

ZERO.

How many times did UT have back-to-back defenses rank in the top third of the SEC under Majors?

ZERO.

How many times did UT have good back-to-back recruiting classes (e.g., 6 or more players make all-sec teams or make an NFL roster) before Fulmer took over as the lead recruiter in 1990?

Less than half the time.

I can't call that "consistently" hiring good assistants when your offense is NEVER consistently good, your defense is NEVER consistently good, and your recruiting is hopelessly erratic. What use is an assistant if their product offers no consistent quality in a single aspect of the game?
 
#258
#258
I'd be willing to bet the 84 and 85 offenses were in the top 1/3 of the SEC.

Not sure why you fluff Fulmer while at the same time deride Majors's ability to hire assistants. He also hired Chavis and Cutcliffe, for what it's worth. Lovie Smith and Ron Zook, too.
 
#259
#259
Most fans on here can't remember Majors. I'm 34 and I only remember the tail end. That is the reason there is not as much verbal hate. Most of the people on here, it seems to me, are either around my age and got burned out on CPF or are in college or just out of college and are sick of hearing about the Glory Years.
 
#260
#260
kptvol said:
I'd be willing to bet the 84 and 85 offenses were in the top 1/3 of the SEC.
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The 1984 offense was not that good; we finished 5th in the SEC. We averaged 25 points per game in SEC play, finishing behind Florida, Georgia, LSU, and even Vandy.

Prior to Fulmer's tenure as OC, we only finished 1st or 2nd in offense in the SEC twice in 13 seasons under Majors.
 
#261
#261
Ihatethebuckeyes said:
Most fans on here can't remember Majors. I'm 34 and I only remember the tail end. That is the reason there is not as much verbal hate. Most of the people on here, it seems to me, are either around my age and got burned out on CPF or are in college or just out of college and are sick of hearing about the Glory Years.
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Precisely -- the problem is many of them expect the glory years right around the corner despite no factual reason we should be much more than a 8-9 win type team for the foreseeable future, a stature we may not reach if fan expectations continue to encourage elite profile coaches to stay away from the difficulties of Tennessee and encourage young coaches with any opportunity to bolt fast. Expectations have a real and lasting effect on a program, and they can be deleterious to success -- see A&M post-Slocum, Nebraska post-Osborne, Notre Dame post-Holtz, most of UCLA post-Donahue, Michigan post-Carr, etc.
 
#262
#262
VegasVol said:
The 1984 offense was not that good; we finished 5th in the SEC. We averaged 25 points per game in SEC play, finishing behind Florida, Georgia, LSU, and even Vandy.

Prior to Fulmer's tenure as OC, we only finished 1st or 2nd in offense in the SEC twice in 13 seasons under Majors.
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We scored 327 points in 1984, more than anyone but Florida.
 
#264
#264
VegasVol said:
The 1984 offense was not that good; we finished 5th in the SEC. We averaged 25 points per game in SEC play, finishing behind Florida, Georgia, LSU, and even Vandy.

Prior to Fulmer's tenure as OC, we only finished 1st or 2nd in offense in the SEC twice in 13 seasons under Majors.
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Why do we care? Majors was a smash mouth football coach. Those teams don't light up scoreboards. Had nothing to do with the quality of the staff.

Your statistical arguments are odd. NFL draftees us a very, very narrow of recruiting and is the same measure essentially as all SEC. Quality across the field is what recruiting is about. Gaping holes is death.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#267
#267
Ihatethebuckeyes said:
Most fans on here can't remember Majors. I'm 34 and I only remember the tail end. That is the reason there is not as much verbal hate. Most of the people on here, it seems to me, are either around my age and got burned out on CPF or are in college or just out of college and are sick of hearing about the Glory Years.
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I think you are right on this point. I laugh at the notion that someone who is 34 yrs old, can only relate to the 'tail end' of the Coach Majors years. And I laugh some more at the burn out theory for Coach Fulmer and the Glory Years. When I was on campus, I relished the history of former coaches and 'Glory days'. It helped to build a long lasting relationship with the Tennessee Program and ALL of it's cycles of ups and downs.

I wish you could relate. I'm sure someone on campus today will relate and enjoy the experience of a lifetime. I feel sorry for those who never will. Their pockets will be shallow, their time spent will be brief, and their enjoyment will be fleeting.
 
#268
#268
kptvol said:
We scored 327 points in 1984, more than anyone but Florida.
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Not in the SEC. Since non-conference schedules can vary widely amongst teams, the most relevant number is points scored in the conference. We scored 150 points in conference.

FYI: Auburn scored 359 points in all play; LSU scored 333; Florida played one fewer game due to probation; and Vandy played one fewer game.
 
#271
#271
ihateflorida said:
Let me say before I begin, Go Dooley and GBO!! and now... I dont seem to recall a lot of negativity towards Majors on this site, but see a lot towards Fulmer. Through 16 yrs, Majors only had 2 seasons of 10+ wins, Fulmer through 16 yrs had 9 seasons of 10+ wins, not to mention a NC. I know the last few years we seemed to be slipping, but could Fulmer have righted the ship?? Could he have been another Joe Paterno? How much better or worse would we be if Fulmer was still here? I was ready for him to go, but seeing the trouble weve been through, I really believe he could have had a couple of 6-6 yrs and fixed things quicker than were going to be able to now. Let the bashing begin.
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Wow. Great post. I think you are absolutely correct.

Fulmer, I thought, took a big risk with Clawson. He went outside the family, outside his comfort zone. I thought that was a sign of renewed hunger. His final class was already rated Top Ten, and Fulmer usually finished strong.

The consensus is Clawson tried too much too soon, and let's face it, JC wasn't ready. A full year of continuity, a full year in the Clawson system, and I think JC and the team are clicking, not just in the WKy game, but UCLA as well.

I don't think it's debatable Dooley is a step further back than Kiffin. Ergo, we would have been better off with Fulmer.

The problem during these last years, especially 2005, was Fulmer had two uninjured NFL QBs on the roster who just froze for an entire year / year-and-a-half. If it was simply poor coaching by Fulmer, the Vol Nation got their wish, and he got his rewards.

We get any QB play in 2005 and 2008, and those are memorable seasons. If Hambone doesn't fire Fulmer, I still think 2008 is a bowl season. If Dooley doesn't come good, the Vol Nation will regret immensely what they wished for.

PS - Go Dooley. Go Big Orange. I have more faith in Dooley than many.
 
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#272
#272
Ihatethebuckeyes said:
Most fans on here can't remember Majors. I'm 34 and I only remember the tail end. That is the reason there is not as much verbal hate. Most of the people on here, it seems to me, are either around my age and got burned out on CPF or are in college or just out of college and are sick of hearing about the Glory Years.
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Exactly. Those who remember know the Vols showed immediate improvement both on the field and in the off-season, and Fulmer took over during Johnny's best run.
 
#273
#273
VolDad said:
2 Conference Championships and attending 3 BCS Bowls in his last 3 3/4 years is greater than 0 Conference Championships and attending 0 BCS Bowls in his last 10 years.

BTW Majors has a NC.
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You must be joking.

The spin in your posts must make you dizzy, Darth VolDad.
 
#274
#274
vol66 said:
THIS.....Sometimes I think we forget how BAD the offense was, and this goes to the heart of the OP. Would Fulmer and Clawson be able to go 7-6 with Crompton and Stephens? With walk on lineman?

You gotta feel for '08 D, I mean they were on the field 70% of the game all year.
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I think Fulmer and Clawson go 9 - 4 last year.

I'm not sure how they would have fared in moral victories though.....
 
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