The Athletic - “The Worst Coaching Search Ever?”

[BanditVol]

Had we not done what we did, we would have kept losing more games each year.

There was no way he was going to out recruit or out coach Urban Meyer/Saban with his refusal to adapt to today’s football.

It was the right call at the time.

So much wrong with this, I don't know where to begin.

He hired Dave Clawson in order to "adopt to today's football". Clawson has WF ranked in the top 25 currently, and has a shot at winning the ACC. It wasn't a bad idea, but maybe too drastic a change for the talent we had in 2008. Interesting side note, Tuberville also hired a spread offense coach, and also lost his job in 2008. So maybe just going and hiring an OC was not how to do it. Regardless, that Fulmer did try to change is indisputable.

Next, Urban self-destructed in 2010. So how long would he have hurt us in recruiting, exactly? One more year? But there is a bigger picture here. Are you telling me that with the limit of 25/year, there aren't enough athletes to go around? Are bammer and uga not both currently loaded at the same time? So much wrong with this argument. A better argument is to ask if Fulmer could have ever outcoached either of them, and the answer is no. But again, Urban quit in 2010. Fulmer had a great recruiting class in 2007, an okay one in 2008, and had a great one lined up in 2009 in he had been able to complete it Tajh Boyd was coming to Tennessee for chrisakes.

"He would have kept on losing". Maybe, maybe not. But although there is no way to prove this and collect on it, I can GUARAN-DAM-TEE that Fulmer would not have gone 23-26 over the next four years. Pay attention. I w as critical of HOW Fulmer was fired. A case could have been made for keeping him longer, but if you are going to fire him the way it was done and the timing was about as bad as it could have been., and Hamilton is to blame for that.

As much bitching as there is by some about Fulmer, Hamilton was the much bigger problem.

 

[BanditVol]

Well, he was asked to retire and refused forcing their hand. That press conference the day after was extremely
unprofessional and self serving of Fulmer. Typical of him. It's why I scoff at any ridiculous notion that he cares so much about UT

Are you talking about the presser when he was fired as a coach? That was Hamiltons' idea. "Unprofessional". He broke down and cried. That's how much he loved UT. I had to listen to a bunch of inbred bammer fans crowing about it also. His players, who loved him, also showed up and protested the firing. It was a ****ing dumpster fire. Further proof that Hamilton was an idiot.

The other thing that still pisses me off is that he was fired right before the Wyoming game and the players then dialed it in to give us an embarassing loss and cost a bowl game. Absolutley idiotic timing on Hamilton's part. If you're bringing in a new coach, give him some practice time and a bowl game. IMO Halmilton wanted to be sure to fire Fulmer after a loss and figured he would beat Wyoming. So he gives us a huge black eye with the loss to Wyoming.

Bad vibes, bad looks, bad timing. We would have been better off keeping Fulmer another year than what happened. By far.

 

[Voltopia]

He hired Dave Clawson in order to "adopt to today's football". Clawson has WF ranked in the top 25 currently, and has a shot at winning the ACC. It wasn't a bad idea, but maybe too drastic a change for the talent we had in 2008. Interesting side note, Tuberville also hired a spread offense coach, and also lost his job in 2008. So maybe just going and hiring an OC was not how to do it. Regardless, that Fulmer did try to change is indisputable.

Mmm, I do remember that the internet was awash in anonymous "rumors" coming from inside the UTAD that Clawson's offense was designed for a different style of athlete than Tennessee had in 2008. Or put less politely, it was intimated repeatedly that some of Tennessee's players weren't smart enough to grasp his playbook, and others had skills that didn't mesh with Clawson's schemes. As to whether that's true or not, I leave for the viewer at home to decide for themselves, using the same lack of insider information that I also possess.

Definitely hard not to draw a big arrow pointing to Hamilton though. Not only did he mishandle Fulmer's exit, he also passed on hiring a coach who had gone 73-26 from 2001-2008 and would have jumped ship for Tennessee as soon as the fax arrived. Can't make that sort of stuff up.

 

[OldandStillaVol]

Mmm, I do remember that the internet was awash in anonymous "rumors" coming from inside the UTAD that Clawson's offense was designed for a different style of athlete than Tennessee had in 2008. Or put less politely, it was intimated repeatedly that some of Tennessee's players weren't smart enough to grasp his playbook, and others had skills that didn't mesh with Clawson's schemes. As to whether that's true or not, I leave for the viewer at home to decide for themselves, using the same lack of insider information that I also possess.

Definitely hard not to draw a big arrow pointing to Hamilton though. Not only did he mishandle Fulmer's exit, he also passed on hiring a coach who had gone 73-26 from 2001-2008 and would have jumped ship for Tennessee as soon as the fax arrived. Can't make that sort of stuff up.

Mike Hamilton definitely deserves a lot of blame for damaging UT athletics.

I heard an interesting commentary from Clawson recently. He indicated that his success at WF is due to both his offense but also the amount of time players are in his program. They recruit with the understanding that players need time to develop. At UT, he didn’t have that time. Learned that from his predecessor at WF, Coach Grobe. So my opinion on Clawson is that it just wasn’t the right fit for either him or UT at that time. It also sounds like he has learned a lot regarding coaching since he left UT.

 

[BanditVol]

Mmm, I do remember that the internet was awash in anonymous "rumors" coming from inside the UTAD that Clawson's offense was designed for a different style of athlete than Tennessee had in 2008. Or put less politely, it was intimated repeatedly that some of Tennessee's players weren't smart enough to grasp his playbook, and others had skills that didn't mesh with Clawson's schemes. As to whether that's true or not, I leave for the viewer at home to decide for themselves, using the same lack of insider information that I also possess.

Definitely hard not to draw a big arrow pointing to Hamilton though. Not only did he mishandle Fulmer's exit, he also passed on hiring a coach who had gone 73-26 from 2001-2008 and would have jumped ship for Tennessee as soon as the fax arrived. Can't make that sort of stuff up.

Yep. The nadir for Hamilton, among many blunders, was hiring Dooley. Dooley was coming off a 4-8 season at La Tech. WTF?!!?? I know we were desperate, but not that desperate.