Never should have fired Fulmer

[TheDeeble]

Wrong. Fulmer is the catalyst is this mess. Never should have hired Mike Hamilton.

We can thank Fulmer for that too. He was a big proponent of Hamilton being made AD.

 

[UTNoFear]

Sorry for the double posting

 

[HoptownVol]

Old saying goes like this " Be careful what you wish for." What UT should have told the NCAA as other big time programs tell them is PROVE IT! No the administration has killed our football program and if you believe otherwise than Santa has a 70' in his bag for you but didn't deliver it this Xmas. We and I say that lightly made our bed now live with it. GREAT JOB you fickle fan base.

Quick question once co-vid is gone if ever, how many butts do see in the stands of a stadium that seats over 100k? This pushes us to the ranks of a basketball and baseball school. Jump off and join another team fans because you have torn this program down........... My name is UTNoFear and I approve this posting!

I feel so ashamed, how could I not have seen this....its the fans fault. LMAO

 

[UTNoFear]

I've been a Tennessee fan from an early age, my roommate in college where I played ball was Steve Kiner's little brother. That just solidified my commitment to the school. Being a season ticket holder until 2018 until my son started playing CFB I was there for every home game. Son and I would leave after his high school games and in route to KTown to make the games. This hurts every fiber of my being but I have two beautiful granddaughters in Prattville the will have my attention on Saturdays. Vandy move over we are taking your place as a bottom feeder.

Anyone that thinks this was a step in the right direction is seriously mistaken. SMU comes to mind because the NCAA Sanctions are going to seriously limit scholarships, bowl bands and the athletes we have now are going to bail. We have already lost splendid athletes and more will follow. How do you get a coach willing to rebuild a dumpster fire which we have become to coach here. Most fans will duck their heads in the sand and hope for the best but deal with being a bottom feeder and even if we had Saban as the next head coach it's not going to get any better.

Old saying goes like this " Be careful what you wish for." What UT should have told the NCAA as other big time programs tell them is PROVE IT! No the administration has killed our football program and if you believe otherwise than Santa has a 70' in his bag for you but didn't deliver it this Xmas. We and I say that lightly made our bed now live with it. GREAT JOB you fickle fan base.

Quick question once co-vid is gone if ever, how many butts do see in the stands of a stadium that seats over 100k? This pushes us to the ranks of a basketball and baseball school. Jump off and join another team fans because you have torn this program down........... My name is UTNoFear and I approve this posting!

 

[Woke]

Fulmer was fired too late. The train was off the rails. Without Cutcliffe he was incapable of running a disciplined program. At worst he should have been gone after 2005. Bama, Florida, Auburn or Georgia would probably have ran him after 2002.

This. Fulmer had no depth. He was a chronic underachiever. He had PM at QB for 4 straight years and never won an NC with him. As AD he hired a HC in Pruitt who also lacked depth. He couldn’t recognize that. He didn’t drill deep enough into why a career coordinator with a fistful of NC rings had never made the jump to HC.

It was lack of due diligence that sunk us. Once again Fulmer tanked Vol football. That’s what I’ll remember him for

 

[landscapingvol]

Pruitt had us ranked 12th and was fired 8 games later.

Umm we were "ranked" 12th because at the time the Big 10 and PAC 12 hadn't started playing football yet not because we had earned it.

 

[Remy]

Once most of Johnny's better assistants had moved on to other jobs, Fulmer was exposed as the emperor not wearing clothes. Nothing was there. He couldn't hire or develop a good staff on his own to save his skin or the program which went downhill on his watch and has yet to recover. True he brought back Cutcliffe for a cup of coffee and and blip group of wins but Cut was more of a Johnny developed guy than he was Fulmer's. Fulmer's DC last we heard was coaching junior high football as an assistant somewhere in Knoxville.

 

[vol05]

How many nattys did Mark Richt win? Mike Shula? Will MusChump? Gus Malzahn (as HC)? Really????

Well Richt had 74% winning percentage over 18 years, Fulmer over 17 years. Richt 5-3 over Fulmer but you are right no NC.

 

[Fightmaker]

Urban Meyer came to Knoxville to play UT. The score was 52-20 with about a minute and a half left in the game. Tim Tebow was still in the game. Throwing the ball. They took a time-out. Stopped the clock and then threw for another touchdown to make the score 59-20. End of game, Fulmer trots out to midfield and HUGS Urban Meyer. Hugs him. Heck, Lou Holtz, at 80, would have gut punched him and got him in a choke hold. Not Phil. He hugged him and shook his hand. Urban Meyer must have laughed all the way back to Florida. He stuck his foot in Phil's rather large butt and Phil hugged him and told him he loved it. Fulmer never beat Urban. Never beat Saben. He did however get the best of Randy Sanders, John Currie, and Johnny Majors.

Maybe I’m a prick, but I’ve never had a problem with coaches running up the score. You aren’t (necessarily) doing it to further humiliate the guy who’s neck you’ve currently got your foot on. You are doing it for the next guy up who is watching. I believe in that kind of gamesmanship. I would love to have a coach who insisted on beating everybody by 50.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Thats what started this whole nightmare

Should have just let him coach till he decided to retire ....his seasons couldn't have been worse that what we have had!

I would take 7 to 8 wins and a bowl game last 12 years than what we have had!

The man had us in the SEC Champ game in 07..and then fired

Belichick had a bad year...they gonna fire him?

This is called "hindsight is 20/20".

Now I agree Fulmer should have probably been given at least another year to right the ship. However......this "I would take 7-8 win every year" stuff is misleading. The frustration with Fulmer is that it was felt he was underachieving. If he had kept going with "7-8 wins every year" then you realize people would still have been calling for his head, right?

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Urban Meyer came to Knoxville to play UT. The score was 52-20 with about a minute and a half left in the game. Tim Tebow was still in the game. Throwing the ball. They took a time-out. Stopped the clock and then threw for another touchdown to make the score 59-20. End of game, Fulmer trots out to midfield and HUGS Urban Meyer. Hugs him. Heck, Lou Holtz, at 80, would have gut punched him and got him in a choke hold. Not Phil. He hugged him and shook his hand. Urban Meyer must have laughed all the way back to Florida. He stuck his foot in Phil's rather large butt and Phil hugged him and told him he loved it. Fulmer never beat Urban. Never beat Saben. He did however get the best of Randy Sanders, John Currie, and Johnny Majors.

That game wasn't in Knoxville.

 

[bigorangepoppa]

Thats what started this whole nightmare

Should have just let him coach till he decided to retire ....his seasons couldn't have been worse that what we have had!

I would take 7 to 8 wins and a bowl game last 12 years than what we have had!

The man had us in the SEC Champ game in 07..and then fired

Belichick had a bad year...they gonna fire him?

Probably never be seen this far back, but here goes anyway. I supported Fulmer at least two years too long. When other teams in the SEC were going through the same thing Tennessee is going through now, AKA the coaching carousel, Fulmer was beating up on those teams as he should have. That is where most of his wins came from. When the other SEC teams starting hiring better coaches, Fulmer became their whipping boy. Go look up his career on Wikipedia, don't take my word for it. And for his bowl record, against the high ranked teams, not very impressive either. Fulmer fame came from the turmoil that was SEC football at the time.

 

[hog88]

We can thank Fulmer for that too. He was a big proponent of Hamilton being made AD.

Everyone forgets that Hammy wouldn't have gotten the AD job had Fulmer not lobbied for him.

 

[hog88]

I've been a Tennessee fan from an early age, my roommate in college where I played ball was Steve Kiner's little brother. That just solidified my commitment to the school. Being a season ticket holder until 2018 until my son started playing CFB I was there for every home game. Son and I would leave after his high school games and in route to KTown to make the games. This hurts every fiber of my being but I have two beautiful granddaughters in Prattville the will have my attention on Saturdays. Vandy move over we are taking your place as a bottom feeder.

Anyone that thinks this was a step in the right direction is seriously mistaken. SMU comes to mind because the NCAA Sanctions are going to seriously limit scholarships, bowl bands and the athletes we have now are going to bail. We have already lost splendid athletes and more will follow. How do you get a coach willing to rebuild a dumpster fire which we have become to coach here. Most fans will duck their heads in the sand and hope for the best but deal with being a bottom feeder and even if we had Saban as the next head coach it's not going to get any better.

Old saying goes like this " Be careful what you wish for." What UT should have told the NCAA as other big time programs tell them is PROVE IT! No the administration has killed our football program and if you believe otherwise than Santa has a 70' in his bag for you but didn't deliver it this Xmas. We and I say that lightly made our bed now live with it. GREAT JOB you fickle fan base.

Quick question once co-vid is gone if ever, how many butts do see in the stands of a stadium that seats over 100k? This pushes us to the ranks of a basketball and baseball school. Jump off and join another team fans because you have torn this program down........... My name is UTNoFear and I approve this posting!

Step back from the ledge, the NCAA isn't going to do much if anything. They will accept whatever self imposed penalties UT proposes and it will be mild for the program. The coaches involved will get hammered but not the program.

 

[LongTimeVol]

Mike Shula, Gene Stallings, Dennis Franchione......not much of a challenge with those buffoons. Saban changed all that.

I agree with your overall point but one small correction. Stallings was not a buffoon. He was 3-1-1 against Fulmer. Mike Dubose was the other buffoon that Fulmer owned during Bama’s down period. Stallings won a natty.

 

[vol05]

Probably never be seen this far back, but here goes anyway. I supported Fulmer at least two years too long. When other teams in the SEC were going through the same thing Tennessee is going through now, AKA the coaching carousel, Fulmer was beating up on those teams as he should have. That is where most of his wins came from. When the other SEC teams starting hiring better coaches, Fulmer became their whipping boy. Go look up his career on Wikipedia, don't take my word for it. And for his bowl record, against the high ranked teams, not very impressive either. Fulmer fame came from the turmoil that was SEC football at the time.

Agreed.

 

[Rocky Top T]

Fulmer is a disgrace! He should give money back to UT!!!

 

[Rickyvol77]

Thats what started this whole nightmare

Should have just let him coach till he decided to retire ....his seasons couldn't have been worse that what we have had!

I would take 7 to 8 wins and a bowl game last 12 years than what we have had!

The man had us in the SEC Champ game in 07..and then fired

Belichick had a bad year...they gonna fire him?

Fulmer was definitely underachieving some and starting to struggle in some areas, but at the same time several posters attempt to discount his success in order to justify their weird personal views of him as a person.

 

[Rickyvol77]

He backed into that game he got blown out by Florida and Alabama and California and was very lucky to beat Kentucky and Vandy and South Carolina .

so he won the SEC east or not? "back in"?

 

[Rickyvol77]

Love Phil but in the NFL there are no cupcakes. You dont get to schedule a UAB or UNLV. You get whatever teams slotted by all professionals.

Fulmer had an extremely tough OOC schedule almost every season along with the typical SEC schedule...I agree on your point about the NFL, but we werent exactly playing Tennessee school for the Deaf either

 

[Rickyvol77]

Spot on. Fulmer was second fiddle to Spurrier. Peyton and Phil had one thing in common, they both choked Florida week. And every time Cut left, the program went downhill. TBH Fulmer should have been let go long before it actually happened.

This is dumb, Peyton didn't "choke" and had two outstanding games vs Florida and 1 meh one

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

Probably never be seen this far back, but here goes anyway. I supported Fulmer at least two years too long. When other teams in the SEC were going through the same thing Tennessee is going through now, AKA the coaching carousel, Fulmer was beating up on those teams as he should have. That is where most of his wins came from. When the other SEC teams starting hiring better coaches, Fulmer became their whipping boy. Go look up his career on Wikipedia, don't take my word for it. And for his bowl record, against the high ranked teams, not very impressive either. Fulmer fame came from the turmoil that was SEC football at the time.

I have always said that he put his job in play and if they had a high probability of greater success guy on the hook I was good with the decision. But to run him off without having winked and nodded with a couple of guys in that category was not very smart. To this day we, like fans at lots of schools, set the bars and expectations to the top of the mountain years. He could not live up to his own past performance. To aggravate the issue, his replacement slimed out of town and put us back in the shop while the seat is empty market, and then our AD.s emptied the chair on their own a couple of times more. CPF never had a chance to try and replace a sitting coach, and we are paying the price. Now the acts of our staff has put us back in the same bad place and once again late in the replacement season.

But we will probably never sustain the talent levels of THOSE peak runs in the past. But we can cycle up to the levels required to compete for East titles and hope to catch our opponents at the right spot in their cycles again. The new variable is the ever trending Transfer Portal. Probably will help some and hurt some and there is no basis to make predictions right now. So acceptable timelines and trends are also impossible to set accurately.

Gonna be a tough climb out. Will the BEST candidates for HC consider us now? Only the shadow knows. We better be prepared to accept that getting the guy to get us to the mountain top could be a process as well. Have to shoot for the one coach solution, but there may not be one available and we still have to take our best shot. Leadership will not have to be stupid to not get a winner out of the available pool over the next weeks and months, but have to give it their best shot. Will we get a new HC or an interim first? We will likely be in our deepest valley when the NCAA gets done, whenever that is, and that will impact their ability for sure.

Our fanbase can help if in the face of adversity we show up in our cars and boats and cheer the guys that do sign on to be VOLS. Over the top lamenting about our rate of progress will not be helpful. A bunch of storylines of resilient and loyal fans instead of the storylines like the rock we have been feeding the outlets, especially the clickbait artists, will help whoever steps up and takes on the task.

 

[Tin Man]

Thats what started this whole nightmare

The elevation of Hamilton to Director of Men's Athletics started UT's nightmare. The problem has been at the top and with the administration's lever pullers behind the scenes.

 

[Jeepkuntry]

This is dumb, Peyton didn't "choke" and had two outstanding games vs Florida and 1 meh one

To each his own. 95 was his most consistent performance. 96 he had 4 int's. 97 he had 2 and his stat was 29 of 51. For somebody regarded as possibly being the greatest QB of all time, I'll say he choked against Florida. Always seemed the team wasn't relaxed and prepared. Still does to this day. Hard pill to swallow but they essentially own us.

 

[EODVOL]

Who cares, stop living in the past! Danny White has just been announced AD today, start thinking of the future and the potential. Fulmer has officially been put out to pasture. UT needs young, energetic blood. It is 2021, not 1998.