Roustabout
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- Aug 11, 2010
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Jimbo has aTm at the brink of the playoff. Within a couple of years he has taken them to 8-1 on a full SEC schedule. Just before that his career appeared to be stumbling at FSU where he has posted a loosing conference record and lowest win total of his career.
Fisher comes off older than he is and at only 55 he could be at aTm for a long time. Strangely, UT fans were on this board poopooing this hire. A guy that has won everywhere he coached and has had earned a NC was seen as a, “meh,” hire.
After averaging 11 wins a year, his program went 3-6 in the conference. Rumors about his dissatisfaction with the administration ultimately led to him resigning to take the Aggie’s job. Claims of him running away from his problems at FSU and cashing in at the expense of aTm abounded. What seemed to be a lesser program swoops in and steals him from an elite program. Since then, FSU has cratered (their record is worse than UT’s over the past three years).
aTm had gone through similar steps of trying to find that next up and comer, paying less proven coaches absurd amounts of money to continually hover around middle of the pack. A program that spent its life playing second fiddle to Texas leaves it’s conference to join a fiercely more competitive league. It then pushed all its chips in and went after a proven winner. FSU now is in up-and-comer mode and floundering with Mike Norvell.
The takeaway is that FSU has internal problems that opened the door for an elite coach to jump ship. Jimbo referred to his new school as “cult like.” It’s obvious that he did not see what he needed, despite winning at the highest possible level just a few years prior. I think he made an incredibly bold and wise decision. This was something Fulmer should have done not long after he realized what he had in Mike Hamilton. The difference was Fulmer’s loyalty to his alma mater, something Jimbo did not share with FSU.
Until UT fixes itself, it doesn’t matter who it hires. It’s sad that the Vols were left with Pruitt as a finalist, but that is a result of the total dysfunction within the administration and booster system.
Fisher comes off older than he is and at only 55 he could be at aTm for a long time. Strangely, UT fans were on this board poopooing this hire. A guy that has won everywhere he coached and has had earned a NC was seen as a, “meh,” hire.
After averaging 11 wins a year, his program went 3-6 in the conference. Rumors about his dissatisfaction with the administration ultimately led to him resigning to take the Aggie’s job. Claims of him running away from his problems at FSU and cashing in at the expense of aTm abounded. What seemed to be a lesser program swoops in and steals him from an elite program. Since then, FSU has cratered (their record is worse than UT’s over the past three years).
aTm had gone through similar steps of trying to find that next up and comer, paying less proven coaches absurd amounts of money to continually hover around middle of the pack. A program that spent its life playing second fiddle to Texas leaves it’s conference to join a fiercely more competitive league. It then pushed all its chips in and went after a proven winner. FSU now is in up-and-comer mode and floundering with Mike Norvell.
The takeaway is that FSU has internal problems that opened the door for an elite coach to jump ship. Jimbo referred to his new school as “cult like.” It’s obvious that he did not see what he needed, despite winning at the highest possible level just a few years prior. I think he made an incredibly bold and wise decision. This was something Fulmer should have done not long after he realized what he had in Mike Hamilton. The difference was Fulmer’s loyalty to his alma mater, something Jimbo did not share with FSU.
Until UT fixes itself, it doesn’t matter who it hires. It’s sad that the Vols were left with Pruitt as a finalist, but that is a result of the total dysfunction within the administration and booster system.
