Here is where the rubber meets the road! We had a successful coach that loved UT and the fans were howling even though we were on average a 9 win team! So the powers in place decided because of know it all fans that oh hell yeah time to get a new coach we are right you are all wrong! Some were stating "be careful what you wish for" and now we are reaping what we sowed because of the way that Fulmer was fired and the arrogance of a bunch of know it alls! Yes Fulmer had gotten lax, but you can change and make a fresh start after problems! Now we are mired in a program that can't even put 5 o linemen together that can block worth a damn!
Whether time had passed Fulmer by completely or not is debatable. Whether he was motivated or not is debatable. It's true that the product had deteriorated, but the program and particularly the fans, should have been more patient. FSU allowed Bowden to go out gracefully with a few mediocre seasons at the end, while keeping a coach in waiting, and it worked out very well for them. We tried to go full opposite and look what happened.
Whether Fulmer was ready to go or not is debatable, but what is not debatable is that how it happened was an absolute travesty. Hamilton gave him a nice raise and extension in March 2008 then fired him in November. He should have had the stones to go down with the ship. Then there was the joke of a presser with Fulmer in tears (widely mocked by our enemies, particularly bammer fans
) where most of the team walked out in protest followed by a lay down against Wyoming. Just an awful way to handle things. There were those that criticized the players, but the players were right.
I was willing to tolerate Fulmer for another season or two or even more to get his replacement right, and who knows, he might have turned it around. It would certainly be better than what happened. The Fulmer situation is very similar to what happened at the other UT with Mack Brown, and the results are also very similar.
The Fulmer firing was a disaster caused in large part by unrealistic fan expectations fueled by the media, which has an interest in fanning controversy to make a few more bucks.
An example...people wanted him fired in early 2007 due to a bad loss to Florida. But who knew at the time that Urban Meyer was one of the two greatest coaches of this generation? Or that the other was at bammer? Was it realistic for Fulmer, or any coach to compete year in and year out against that? Who do we hire to take on those two?
But fans born after 1980 and older fans missing significant amount of grey matter are not realistic about these things, and therefore the last 10 year of misery can be laid directly at their collective feet.
