Who on Volnation was there?

#29
#29
A lot of Vol fans I talk to now always should have kept him or at least one more year. The problem was Hamilton not Fulmer.
 
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#34
#34
I suffered through the Wyoming game that year. My kids' first game. Although Fulmer didn't coach much that day. Does that count?
 
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#35
#35
Mikevol1964 said:
Was there. Rained all day but enjoyed watching him be carried off at the end. Say what you want about Fulmer but he Rarely lost to inferior teams. At least until the end.
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How about Maryland and Clemson in Peach Bowls, or Kansas State in Cotton Bowl.
 
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#36
#36
onevol74 said:
How about Maryland and Clemson in Peach Bowls, or Kansas State in Cotton Bowl.
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Just stop. I’m talking clearly inferior teams. Bowl game’s especially meaningless Bowl games don’t reach that level. But that’s ok we all know you hate Fulmer. Of course Majors never loss to inferior teams.
 
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#37
#37
Vols were 3-6 with 3 games left. Still not out of the bowl picture. The powers that be felt it appropriate to announce Fulmer would not be coming back for another season. This upset a lot of players, former players, and fans. Obviously it took something out of the team, and they lose to Wyoming. I think Fulmer at least earned the right to finish the season before a final decision was made. Think about how much he gave to University as a player, position coach, offensive coordinator, and head coach. He had Taj Boyd coming in, and I think we were in the running for Bryce Petty. He had brought in Clawson. He was trying to make changes for the better. I asked my father what he thought about the situation. He said "It may be time for a change, but the way the administration handled it was insulting and disrespectful. I'm afraid we're going to live to regret it." Dad was right. Karma is a ........
 
#38
#38
GoVols1961 said:
Vols were 3-6 with 3 games left. Still not out of the bowl picture. The powers that be felt it appropriate to announce Fulmer would not be coming back for another season. This upset a lot of players, former players, and fans. Obviously it took something out of the team, and they lose to Wyoming. I think Fulmer at least earned the right to finish the season before a final decision was made. Think about how much he gave to University as a player, position coach, offensive coordinator, and head coach. He had Taj Boyd coming in, and I think we were in the running for Bryce Petty. He had brought in Clawson. He was trying to make changes for the better. I asked my father what he thought about the situation. He said "It may be time for a change, but the way the administration handled it was insulting and disrespectful. I'm afraid we're going to live to regret it." Dad was right. Karma is a ........
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That was a FUBAR for sure, but 3-6 was a sound reason for dismissal considering we had been backsliding for a few years. The larger problem was that he had just been given an extension and the administration seem to have no plan for a replacement. They acted like his firing was completely unexpected. How could they be so short sighted? Then they did that again, and again, and…
 
#40
#40
GoVols1961 said:
. . .

I think Fulmer at least earned the right to finish the season before a final decision was made.
. . .

I asked my father what he thought about the situation. He said "It may be time for a change, but the way the administration handled it was insulting and disrespectful. I'm afraid we're going to live to regret it."

. . .
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I agree with you and your dad. Also, Mike Hamilton was a douchebag.
 
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#42
#42
GoVols1961 said:
Vols were 3-6 with 3 games left. Still not out of the bowl picture. The powers that be felt it appropriate to announce Fulmer would not be coming back for another season. This upset a lot of players, former players, and fans. Obviously it took something out of the team, and they lose to Wyoming. I think Fulmer at least earned the right to finish the season before a final decision was made. Think about how much he gave to University as a player, position coach, offensive coordinator, and head coach. He had Taj Boyd coming in, and I think we were in the running for Bryce Petty. He had brought in Clawson. He was trying to make changes for the better. I asked my father what he thought about the situation. He said "It may be time for a change, but the way the administration handled it was insulting and disrespectful. I'm afraid we're going to live to regret it." Dad was right. Karma is a ........
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I'm the guy who doesn't like Fulmer. But I will admit that, even though I felt at the time that Fulmer needed to go? Not like that. Had they kept it hush hush until after that final game? The number of coaches who said no before getting interviewed might have been lower.

As to that taking something out of the team, leading to the Wyoming Loss? Not so sure. The Clawfense was pretty much a disaster. If anything, the announcement should have rallied them to play better, not to play as poorly as they did. All they did that day was reinforce the belief that they made the right decision.

I still remember older fans at church asking me about Kiffin once they rolled him into town. Since it was at church, I said, "I can't give you my exact thoughts on it. Suffice to say I believe this is a huge mistake, and leave it at that." It has been a huge mess ever since. And though you and I may not agree on Fulmer himself? As to the timing? Can't argue with that. Very poorly handled.
 
#47
#47
I was there. Still have the newspaper from the day as well. And didn't they hand out some fanfare about it too? I could definitely be misremembering that last part.
 
#48
#48
I watched that final game on TV from here in Indiana on Thanksgiving weekend, boy did it ever look miserable.
My wife (a Hoosier native that knew little of football before we met in 2000) looked at me as they carried him off the field and said, "I'm sorry babe, UT has just made a monumental mistake that they might never recover.".

A scant few weeks later we were visiting my dad outside of Bristol when Kiffin was announced and the same sentiment echoed in my mind.

Was it time for Phil to ride off in the sunset? Most likely.
Was it handled the right way? Most definitely not.
Was there a plan in place for a successful replacement? Nope.

To this day, I will argue if the AD and key boosters would have pulled Phil in and said that it's time, here's your golden parachute; he would have happily coached out that year. Helped keep the recruiting class intact and given whatever support he could to the incoming coaches.
In that scenario there's no way Tennessee wouldn't have had it's pick of any coach in the country that it wanted.
 
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