Should be a good scrimmage today

[BanditVol]

Blowing them out won't prove anything, but if we struggle it might be a bad sign.

One thing I am looking for is not allowing their D in our back field. Even against Charleston last year we gave up 9 tackles for loss.  Interesting to see if our OL can keep that number low against a team like uga state.  If they don't, could be a long season.

[VinnieVOL]

Exactly, I'm looking for our OL to do what they're supposed to do today.  

[EmerilVOL]

Blowing them out won't prove anything, but if we struggle it might be a bad sign.

One thing I am looking for is not allowing their D in our back field. Even against Charleston last year we gave up 9 tackles for loss.  Interesting to see if our OL can keep that number low against a team like uga state.  If they don't, could be a long season.

HA HA HA if this program ever achieves what we had under Fulmer I will be dead in my grave because it is obvious this program is NOW the Vandy of the 1980s.  Firing Fulmer was the biggest mistake this program ever made.  We are reaping what we sowed in firing Fulmer just like Bama did for the years proceeding Saban!

[VinnieVOL]

Well this thread didn't age well.   

[BanditVol]

HA HA HA if this program ever achieves what we had under Fulmer I will be dead in my grave because it is obvious this program is NOW the Vandy of the 1980s.  Firing Fulmer was the biggest mistake this program ever made.  We are reaping what we sowed in firing Fulmer just like Bama did for the years proceeding Saban!

Yes I was thinking that earlier today myself. Firing Fulmer was idiotic and has destroyed the program.

[VinnieVOL]

Yes I was thinking that earlier today myself. Firing Fulmer was idiotic and has destroyed the program.

Yep...it's crazy how we thought we deserved so much better at the time.     

[murfvol]

Firing Fulmer was correct. Not hiring Patterson is what killed is.

Phil brought this on himself because he was a lousy manager.

[BanditVol]

Firing Fulmer was correct. Not hiring Patterson is what killed is.

Phil brought this on himself because he was a lousy manager.

It was premature. Should have given it another season or two.

[Black Diamond Vol]

We can argue all night whether firing Fulmer was the right decision. But at the end of the day, it was 11 years ago. Even if it was wrong, we should have overcome that error by now. And it’s stupid to blame our current issues on that decision.

In the here and now, nothing’s working. From the President to the Chancellor to the AD on down. This program needs a complete reboot.

[Tnphil]

We can argue all night whether firing Fulmer was the right decision. But at the end of the day, it was 11 years ago. Even if it was wrong, we should have overcome that error by now. And it’s stupid to blame our current issues on that decision.

In the here and now, nothing’s working. From the President to the Chancellor to the AD on down. This program needs a complete reboot.

+1

[Black Diamond Vol]

We can argue all night whether firing Fulmer was the right decision. But at the end of the day, it was 11 years ago. Even if it was wrong, we should have overcome that error by now. And it’s stupid to blame our current issues on that decision.

In the here and now, nothing’s working. From the President to the Chancellor to the AD on down. This program needs a complete reboot.

And even though it could never happen, I wouldn’t be averse to a self-imposed one year death penalty. Take next year off, and come back in 2021 with a brand new roster, coaching staff, and administration. It would take a few years to rebuild, but it would probably be quicker than whatever the hell we’re doing now.

And honestly, this fanbase needs a break from football.

[VinnieVOL]

Fire everybody.  Cause changing leadership every year is the way out.

[Creek Walker]

I think the more time that passes, and the longer this collective fanbase is forced to wallow in misery, the more that we find ourselves engaging in revisionist history. Obviously knowing what we know now, I think we'd all have said leave Fulmer alone in '08. But that's hindsight talking. In '08, we were a fanbase that was accustomed to success, and that success did not begin with Fulmer. Majors had won three SEC championships between '85 and '90. Fulmer won just two in 16 years. It was clear that the game had passed Fulmer by — or, probably more fairly, his bad habits (staff loyalty, player discipline, unwillingness to delegate, etc.) had caught up with him. The fanbase wasn't spoiled or short-sighted for wanting to fire Fulmer, and all the administrative missteps that followed in the past 11 years don't make it so.

I mean, hindsight being what it is, I would take a four-year cycle of '05-'08 in a heartbeat. Two bowl years, and an SECCG appearance, with two losing seasons, every four years? Sure, why not? It beats the heck out of what we've had since Fulmer was fired, right? But let's be honest: what do any of you remember about the '06 and '07 seasons? I remember an absolutely thrilling win over Cal in '06, and that's about it for that season. In '07, I remember 59-20 against Florida, and I remember getting blown out by Alabama before we backed our way into the SECCG. It wasn't like those were sterling seasons, by any measure. Our rivals were distancing themselves from us, even then. The writing was on the wall. If anything, Fulmer helped get us into this mess by not resigning after the '07 season. None of us would have; we would've all thought we could turn things back around...that's human nature. But Fulmer's reticence to resign is what helped create this mess. And it's very possible that he put another nail in the coffin with the Pruitt hire.

[Creek Walker]

And furthermore (as I jump back on my soapbox): Firing everyone on a whim might not be the answer, but you know what separates us from other SEC programs right now? (Except Georgia, which swung and hit a grand slam with the Kirby Smart hire, but we all know strikeouts are way more common than grand slams in baseball.) The willingness to go after a proven hire, whatever it takes. We've flirted with head coaches with proven track records and ultimately been turned down because we wouldn't commit to do whatever it takes to win. Alabama got tired of playing this game that Tennessee is playing, and threw the kitchen sink at Saban. It started an arms race that is ultimately very damaging to the game of college football, but does anyone think Alabama fans care about that? They're too busy basking in their success. There was zero doubt, from day one, that Nick Saban would be successful at Alabama. Even when he lost to Louisiana-Monroe in year one, it was clear that was just a growing pain. Meanwhile, we're too busy worrying about swinging for the fences with a budget hire. Mike Hamilton started this pattern because he was more worried about what the bottom line looked like than he was with winning or losing. That's why he was such a good fundraiser. It's just a friggin' shame that we haven't gotten out of that rut since Hamilton has been gone. Hell, we balked at hiring Dan Mullen when we could've had him. Now he has Florida in the championship hunt and we're losing to Georgia State. It's just inexcusable that we're on AD #3 and we're still making the same stupid mistakes. Can we bring back Doug Dickey?

[BanditVol]

I think the more time that passes, and the longer this collective fanbase is forced to wallow in misery, the more that we find ourselves engaging in revisionist history. Obviously knowing what we know now, I think we'd all have said leave Fulmer alone in '08. But that's hindsight talking. In '08, we were a fanbase that was accustomed to success, and that success did not begin with Fulmer. Majors had won three SEC championships between '85 and '90. Fulmer won just two in 16 years. It was clear that the game had passed Fulmer by — or, probably more fairly, his bad habits (staff loyalty, player discipline, unwillingness to delegate, etc.) had caught up with him. The fanbase wasn't spoiled or short-sighted for wanting to fire Fulmer, and all the administrative missteps that followed in the past 11 years don't make it so.

I mean, hindsight being what it is, I would take a four-year cycle of '05-'08 in a heartbeat. Two bowl years, and an SECCG appearance, with two losing seasons, every four years? Sure, why not? It beats the heck out of what we've had since Fulmer was fired, right? But let's be honest: what do any of you remember about the '06 and '07 seasons? I remember an absolutely thrilling win over Cal in '06, and that's about it for that season. In '07, I remember 59-20 against Florida, and I remember getting blown out by Alabama before we backed our way into the SECCG. It wasn't like those were sterling seasons, by any measure. Our rivals were distancing themselves from us, even then. The writing was on the wall. If anything, Fulmer helped get us into this mess by not resigning after the '07 season. None of us would have; we would've all thought we could turn things back around...that's human nature. But Fulmer's reticence to resign is what helped create this mess. And it's very possible that he put another nail in the coffin with the Pruitt hire.

Not hindsight from me. I didn't want Fulmer gone in 2008, but at that point it was an impossible position to defend. 

[HerbTarlekVol]

We can argue all night whether firing Fulmer was the right decision. But at the end of the day, it was 11 years ago. Even if it was wrong, we should have overcome that error by now. And it’s stupid to blame our current issues on that decision.

In the here and now, nothing’s working. From the President to the Chancellor to the AD on down. This program needs a complete reboot.

This.

And UT in its infinite wisdom compounded the problem by bringing back the guy who started the downfall as the AD, and he hired a guy whom he could control. 

Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want, but hiring Poot was Fulmer's revenge and he's going to talk himself back in to the head coaching position.  Which will set the clock back even further.