Question for fans who were alive during the 90's run...

#76
#76
Check out Alabama's record '97-'07. The pendulum swings. Of course they got a generational coach. And some places it just means more, and they're willing to bring the bucks

Generally speaking, the 90s were the exception. 70s, 80s, 00s, 10s are not that different. You are right, though - 90s were pretty awesome and it doesn't come around often, and is very hard to preserve - everywhere. Nebraska, USC, Florida State, Miami. Definitely remember wondering when they'd ever come back down and, wow, they have. We're no different.
 
#77
#77
munsterlander said:
Check out Alabama's record '97-'07. The pendulum swings. Of course they got a generational coach. And some places it just means more, and they're willing to bring the bucks

Generally speaking, the 90s were the exception. 70s, 80s, 00s, 10s are not that different. You are right, though - 90s were pretty awesome and it doesn't come around often, and is very hard to preserve - everywhere. Nebraska, USC, Florida State, Miami. Definitely remember wondering when they'd ever come back down and, wow, they have. We're no different.
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I still have fond memories if late sixties UT football.
 
#80
#80
What stood out to me during those years was just how much people hated Fulmer even when he was winning. That was so weird.
 
#81
#81
Brave Volunteer said:
Are any of you like me in that you are reflecting back on that decade now and saying "damn I wish would've realized and appreciated just how fragile this all is"? Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed every single moment of that ride and became drunken on Tennessee's success in the 90's. However I dont think it ever crossed my mind, not one time, that there would come a day where we would not be at least a relevant factor in the SEC. I always assumed being a top 3 or 4 team in the SEC and a top 10-15 team nationally would just be an annual thing. A foregone conclusion. I always thought our program was too big to fail. Boy was I naive! I never appreciated what a rare and fragile flower that time period was and how lucky I was to be alive to experience it. I'm 49 now and I have to be honest, I'm really starting to doubt if I will live long enough to see it happen again.
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I want to be a football factory again.
 
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#82
#82
Firebirdparts said:
What stood out to me during those years was just how much people hated Fulmer even when he was winning. That was so weird.
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I was guilty of this myself. I couldn't understand why other top programs like Texas, USC, Oklahoma, Ohio State, etc were absolutely smashing their opponents week after week while we always seemed to play down to our competition and struggle to beat opponents like Marshall, Rutgers, and UAB, despite being ranked in the top 10. Its not that I didn't appreciate winning. I just got frustrated watching us play mediocre football in spite of the winning and I grew tired of looking at Fulmer standing on the sidelines clapping instead putting his foot up player's asses for under performing.

I felt much the same way during our 8 game win streak. I knew it was fool's gold and I said as much on this forum, way before the losses to GA and KY. I've been around long enough and watched enough football to know when a team is playing well and when they are not. I knew we weren't playing that great. We benefitted from playing a string of weak opponents and a little luck along the way.
 
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#83
#83
CINCYVOL said:
I want to be a football factory again.
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Won’t happen again until UGA,Bama, and Clemson fall from grace.

In other words, until one of them get sanctioned for something this is the reality going forward, because they ain’t going anywhere.
 
#84
#84
Brave Volunteer said:
Are any of you like me in that you are reflecting back on that decade now and saying "damn I wish would've realized and appreciated just how fragile this all is"? Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed every single moment of that ride and became drunken on Tennessee's success in the 90's. However I dont think it ever crossed my mind, not one time, that there would come a day where we would not be at least a relevant factor in the SEC. I always assumed being a top 3 or 4 team in the SEC and a top 10-15 team nationally would just be an annual thing. A foregone conclusion. I always thought our program was too big to fail. Boy was I naive! I never appreciated what a rare and fragile flower that time period was and how lucky I was to be alive to experience it. I'm 49 now and I have to be honest, I'm really starting to doubt if I will live long enough to see it happen again.
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I enjoyed your post and realized thst it didn't have to be a fragile thing
The people who built it got lazy and entitled and apparently also figures it was too big to fail.

Lot harder to rebuild than to maintain
 
#85
#85
Brave Volunteer said:
Are any of you like me in that you are reflecting back on that decade now and saying "damn I wish would've realized and appreciated just how fragile this all is"? Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed every single moment of that ride and became drunken on Tennessee's success in the 90's. However I dont think it ever crossed my mind, not one time, that there would come a day where we would not be at least a relevant factor in the SEC. I always assumed being a top 3 or 4 team in the SEC and a top 10-15 team nationally would just be an annual thing. A foregone conclusion. I always thought our program was too big to fail. Boy was I naive! I never appreciated what a rare and fragile flower that time period was and how lucky I was to be alive to experience it. I'm 49 now and I have to be honest, I'm really starting to doubt if I will live long enough to see it happen again.
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I have been watching Tennessee play football since 1945 and learned a long time ago that football in the SEC runs in cycles. I have been through the best and the worst of times. Things have not gone well for us the last 10 or so years and part of that is we, as fans, are spoiled. Social media has added to the unrest which also allows fans from other SEC schools to yank our chains.
Most of our problems started when we had an AD who knew little about football and sports in general, ran our Athletic Program into the ground. This was a result of UTs higher Administration concentrating of academics and paying little rewards of having competitive athletic teams. They even diverted about $6 million a year from athletic revenues to assist non athletic activities. The adverse affects of that decision is still felt in our athletic programs, We make unwise decisions in almost all phases in our athletic programs.
Things have improved in the last 3-4 years. Most of our sports teams are improving and I believe they will continue to improve in the future. Football is the most difficult to rebuild because son many athletes and coaches are required to play football. Football is also the major sport in every SEC school because of the revenue it generated, weather you win or lose. Vandy make enough $$ to be competitive in most sports other than football. During the past 10 years or so, bad hires have devastated our Football program. Dooley should have stayed in the field of Law and left our football in a shambles. It appeared that Butch was on the right father, but he screwed the pouch with his inability to be honest with his players as well as the Administration and us fans. We now have a coach who appears to have the best football background of any coach since Philip Fulmer. Pruitt had an almost impossible job to win. The football program was at the lowest I have seen since I saw my first game in 1945. It is almost impossible to rebuild a football program under today's atmosphere. Alabama LSU, and Georgia have established themselves as the "cream of the crop" for the last 10-12 years. They have been able to recruit the best players and therefore have won the most games. We have been struggling for years and it seemed that Butch was making good headway toward restoring our program, but alas, he was the evil in disguise. His actions are still using problems because other schools point to his dishonesty and still use that against our efforts to recruit the better players. Coach Pruitt, has been able to make progress in restoring the integrity of our program, but still have a lot more ground to make up and work to do.
I think our Athletic Program is in the best shape it has been in last 20 years. We are making progress and we will continue to make progress even facing the SEC powers. The road is still bumpy and difficult, but we as fans need to realize that we can be an asset to the program rather than a distractor by our attitude. We can not afford to start over again by again firing a head coach every 3-4 years . Starting at the bottom of the hill time after time, in expensive and proven to be ineffective. Our actions in the past has assisted in our down fall and we can not afford to continue to help in the destruction. Lets act like fans instead of enemies to our football program and support the AD and staff. A house divided will never stand.
 
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#86
#86
All of the time. I remember in 1999 when I was pissed that we finished the regular season 9-2. What was I thinking? Lol
 
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#87
#87
Brave Volunteer said:
Are any of you like me in that you are reflecting back on that decade now and saying "damn I wish would've realized and appreciated just how fragile this all is"? Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed every single moment of that ride and became drunken on Tennessee's success in the 90's. However I dont think it ever crossed my mind, not one time, that there would come a day where we would not be at least a relevant factor in the SEC. I always assumed being a top 3 or 4 team in the SEC and a top 10-15 team nationally would just be an annual thing. A foregone conclusion. I always thought our program was too big to fail. Boy was I naive! I never appreciated what a rare and fragile flower that time period was and how lucky I was to be alive to experience it. I'm 49 now and I have to be honest, I'm really starting to doubt if I will live long enough to see it happen again.
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Let’s face it, the chance of Tennessee returning to the winning ways of the 90’s is probably never going to happen.
Tennessee just can’t compete with the top teams any more, it is what it is
 
#88
#88
FLVOL_79 said:
I never thought the football program would become as bad as it is now. The absolute collapse of the program after Fulmer has been impressive to say the least.
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The game had passed Fulmer by and we had been unable to maintain the momentum from the 98 championship. It was the right call but apparently was the last one made my the university. This includes the AD hires.
 
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