Fulmer was a NC coach that was already failing; Saban was three years removed from his NC. Fulmer was nine years removed from his and had gone 5-7 twice in four years. Saban has never had a losing record as a college coach.
To me those two 5-7 seasons were ample proof that he had just been passed by by Spurrier, Saban, etc. He was never much without Cutcliffe. Our biggest mistake since firing him was not hiring Cut because he wanted to bring along his assistant coaches. Cut worked minor miracles with that Duke team with no talent compared to what we have; with this level of talent, Cut would've won a NC here by now.I'm one that believes now, but not then, that we should've kept Fulmer and let the Clawfense work it's way thru the transition.
Fulmer could recruit and had a recent NC - the team had talent but weren't cohesive during the transition.
Fans didn't have any patience given all the recent success and expected to win 10 games every year.
lesson learned.
Think it through, and you'll realize this changes very little for the Vols. Our annual slate of SEC games will look very much as it has always looked: Bama, Florida, and Georgia remain our biggest hurdles, year in and year out. Sure, we'll now play OK and TEX once every 4 years or so, but we've played OK twice in the past 8 years already, and they've not even been in the conference. Truly, the only significant change in schedule difficulty is that Auburn will be on the slate every year.
So really, no big changes. What we must do is (a) have a really good coach, and (b) give him time to solidify a really good stable of assistant coaches and roster of players.
This BS some trolls are saying in this thread about us being a bottom-dweller, ignore that. It's just trolls. We're down, but not out. Top teams have bounced back from worse. We just need to re-learn what it takes to win.
Go Vols!
You pay them. The AD has to assess his situation and timing and then pay what is necessary to get the right coach. Had the situation not been so shaky, UT might have done that this time. Instead, they took an approach that hopefully will stabilize the program if Heupel cannot beat the odds. And the other part is that Heupel's potential buyout will not be expensive compared to what they would have had to give a bigger name coach.We need to stop using Bama in this example. They got extremely lucky. They didn’t know, nor did anyone else for that matter, know Saban would become the GOAT. How do you attract a good coach to a program, when he knows he only has 3 years at best regardless of what he walks into?
Exactly. Which of those coaches would have taken the program to a higher level given another 3 years... or 10 years? Part of it is hiring the right guy but there aren't any guarantees. Harbaugh had to look like a coups to Michigan. Brohm was like winning the lottery for Purdue. Arkansas had to be thinking that a return to the top was just around the corner with both of their hires prior to Pittman.So which coach was fired who should have actually been retained? Dooley? Butch? Pruitt?
Oh my god shut up already!!8-4 or 7-5 will be great seasons for UT going forward and probaly the ceiling cause we are never winning the SEC again we will never see the 90’s run of success again either. Tennessee would be best served if they asked or expressed interest to the ACC about joining. Tennessee will continue to be a bottom feeder in the SEC for years to come. Oklahoma and Texas coming to the SEC doesn’t help us not one bit.
As crazy as it sounds, there is still a world where Tennessee is a competitive football program down the road. It has to change now though.We're at the doorstep of being a bottom dweller in football in the SEC. The league is adding even more power teams. I want us to get back if it's possible. Heck we are not even mentioned as being one of the top teams in the league anymore. WHAT must we do???