The Men that Killed UT Football

#52
#52
chattavol420 said:
I'd definitely say fulmer isn't to blame but it was absolutely the right decision to replace him when we did. of our last 4 seasons under him were sub .500. That's after having a ton of time to establish himself and bring in his type of players. The game had passed him by. Could you imagine saban or urban Meyer having a 4 year span where they lost more games than they won? Me either. Stop defending his coaching record. It was good in the 90's. But fell considerable afterwards.
But it's definitely not his fault. Now...I think it's absolutely ridiculous to have allowed him to make this most recent hire. Hiring a football coach is absolutely the most important part of an ads job. And how in the world a guy that was fired a decade early for not being able to keep up with the game made sent to hand the keys to...I'll never understand.
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WELL YOUR WRONG BECAUSE FIRING FULMER WAS WRONG IT LEAD TO THIS DECADE OF DEBACLE
 
#53
#53
Nobody KILLED UT Football. It was damaged and set back for a decade by "Summer's Eve" Hamilton and the Haslam Enema family. The level of ineptitude exhibited by those is amazing. UT Football is alive and will recover.
 
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#54
#54
fatal1 said:
I have a question for some of you guys why do you blame fulmer for the down fall of tenn football the man coached 16 years and only had 2 losing seasons. he grew up in Tennessee played for Tennessee and bleeds orange he has given his all for tenn and yet some of you blame hi for every thing wrong with the program. its been 10 years since he was coach at tenn so put it to rest.
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Are you kidding? Have you forgotten how there was no discipline at all? A record number of arrests, inmates running the prison, thefts, check forging, thuggery, rampant drugs, beating people up, no respect for anyone. The program fell apart from within.
 
#60
#60
Rudy123 said:
When a coach wants to win at any legal means, he will take risks
For instance, Saban played the 2nd string QB last season against Clemson and they won
Pruitt should have played Keller more often; especially when it was obvious that JG wasn't getting it done
Pruitt did not want to bruise JG fragile ego so,he continued to,play him
Pruitt is NOT the coach to lead us to the promise land...... Does not really want to win
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So your comparing.KC to Tia...Damn!!
 
#62
#62
Rudy123 said:
When a coach wants to win at any legal means, he will take risks
For instance, Saban played the 2nd string QB last season against Clemson and they won
Pruitt should have played Keller more often; especially when it was obvious that JG wasn't getting it done
Pruitt did not want to bruise JG fragile ego so,he continued to,play him
Pruitt is NOT the coach to lead us to the promise land...... Does not really want to win
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I agree with this. Said the same thing. When you sinking do something different. Anything different and he would not. Contined to drive that square peg in the round hole more ferociously.
 
#63
#63
Kiffin and the dude that hired him. UT was still a highly respected program when Fulmer's flame started flickering out. At that point, UT could have gone out and hire a highly respected coach to get things back on track. Instead, the UT brain trust decided to buy 100% sizzle and if their was any steak, was from stock infected with mad cow disease.

Kiffin had no respect for anything or anyone and that included the culture and traditions of UT and the SEC. Simply put, Kiffin cost UT a lot of credibility with his antics and midnight dash out of town. He brought the NCAA into town to snoop around and was the reason the admin thought they needed to bring in Dooley to calm the waters. If not for Kiffin, UT would not have entered a perpetual rebuild mode.
 
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#64
#64
My list would not include coaches just the men that hired them. Fulmer would be at the top with haslam.
 
#65
#65
It makes some major dumbas@es to kill something as powerful and rich in tradition as UT FB, but by gawd they have almost forced it . into extinction. They couldn't have hurt it more if they had tried, Millions of Vol fans used to enjoy football season - it was a wonderful , rewarding experience to watch our brave , orange soldiers vanquish a worthy foe every Saturday and bask in the reflected glory . I do miss it! Saturdays now are depressing and frustrating more often than fun.
 
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#66
#66
Rudy123 said:
When a coach wants to win at any legal means, he will take risks
For instance, Saban played the 2nd string QB last season against Clemson and they won
Pruitt should have played Keller more often; especially when it was obvious that JG wasn't getting it done
Pruitt did not want to bruise JG fragile ego so,he continued to,play him
Pruitt is NOT the coach to lead us to the promise land...... Does not really want to win
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"Does not want to win" , Come on Man that is a idiotic statement.
 
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#67
#67
Ever feel the Pruitt hire is the admins way of giving the middle finger to the fans to show who really controls UT football?
If you think about it, this could be their petty / vindictive way of getting revenge because of the Schiano mess.
 
#69
#69
Great thread topic. I agree with most of the list, but, the #1 spot belongs to -- the fanbase.

The ones that wanted "Phil Forever" despite his blatantly obvious downward spiral.

The ones that hailed the Loser from LA Tech because he said "britches."

The ones that idolized the ConMan from Cincy because he said that UT was his "dream job."

The ones that are all in on CJP because Nicky got him a ring -- Aight.

There was some admirable pushback as the Schiano disaster unfolded, but by and large most fans have passively accepted whatever the powers that be dish out and have continued to line up to buy tickets, merchandise, travel to third rate bowl games, etc.

Unless and until fans start voting with the only thing that matters to admin, ie $dollars$, mediocrity (or worse, like losing 38-13 to VANDERBILT) will be the order of the day.
 
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#70
#70
1. Haslams
2. Hamilton
3. Kiffin

I don’t put too much blame on anyone else. Those 3 put us in a very difficult position and we are still trying to fix the issues they created.
 
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#71
#71
tm3 said:
Great thread topic. I agree with most of the list, but, the #1 spot belongs to -- the fanbase.

The ones that wanted "Phil Forever" despite his blatantly obvious downward spiral.

The ones that hailed the Loser from LA Tech because he said "britches."

The ones that idolized the ConMan from Cincy because he said that UT was his "dream job."

The ones that are all in on CJP because Nicky got him a ring -- Aight.

There was some admirable pushback as the Schiano disaster unfolded, but by and large most fans have passively accepted whatever the powers that be dish out and have continued to line up to buy tickets, merchandise, travel to third rate bowl games, etc.

Unless and until fans start voting with the only thing that matters to admin, ie $dollars$, mediocrity (or worse, like losing 38-13 to VANDERBILT) will be the order of the day.
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Nuff Said!
 
#72
#72
I hate to post on this thread and bring it back to Page 1, BUT...

I really don't get this hatred of the Haslams.

1. The patriarch chose to attend UT, after playing high school ball in Florida and being recruited by Neyland. He played on the 1951 NC team. He has contributed more to the University of Tennessee than any other person. He served on the UT Board of Trustees for many years. (I could argue that since he was not reappointed to the board nearly 18 years ago, things have been going downhill.) The man very obviously and genuinely loves the University of Tennessee and he loves the Vols and wants what's best for everything UT. 2. The older son attended and graduated from UTK. He is also a heavy contributor, and the company that his father created and that he now leads is a major sponsor of UT athletics. 3. The younger son attended and graduated from Emory University (he originally wanted to enter the ministry and UT does not have a school of theology or divinity) but he is also a huge supporter and contributor and and frequently attends Tennessee games. I won't even begin to list all the things at UT bearing the family name.

So WHY do you think "the Haslams" want to destroy the football program? What would be the motive?

PS -- I'm not affiliated with them in any way (okay, I do occasionally fill up with Pilot gas and coffee when I'm on the road, but other than that, nothing). I'm just a proud alumnus of UT who very much appreciates what they have done for it. Nothing more.
 
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#74
#74
rolling_coyote said:
My list:

Hamilton
Hart
Curry
Haslam(s)
Cheek
Dipetrio
Kiffin
Dooley
Jones

I toyed with the idea of adding Fulmer to the list because this slide began under his watch.

Who am I forgetting?
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How about that woman Chancellor??? She didn't do us any favors, other than allowing herself to be fired.
 
#75
#75
MSCE09 said:
Fulmer's last few teams were more competetive and than we've been since. Pulling the trigger on Fulmer killed the program more than anything. UT is not a place that should win 10 a year. Not in a conference with LSU, Bama, Florida and Georgia programs being good and with more fertile recruiting grounds. What Fulmer was doing in the early 2000s, while not equal to the late 90s was still outstanding with our inherent disadvantage in the conference. And firing a legend, no matter if he wasn't what he had been, really poisoned the well for getting another high level coach to take the job. We picked up Kiffin as a stepping stone and a bunch of guys whose plateaus were mid-majors.
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Yep. Bob Stoops famously told Mike Hamilton when he was approached for the job: "If Phillip can't make you happy, I can't make you happy."

In retrospect, giving Fulmer another season or two and conducting a methodical, calm coaching search would have been the best approach. Of course, Kiffin was regarded at the time as a great hire by most, and I don't think anyone at the time ever foresaw him bolting for USC, or that the USC job would even be open a season later. That was just bad luck for TN. I don't think Kiffin would have left for another position other than that one. (But, we may have found ourselves under perpetual NCAA investigation with Kiffin here.)

Once Kiffin bolted, it was full on panic, and the death spiral really began. Hindsight is always 20-20.
 
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