Are we seriously to the point that Fulmer is the best coach out there?

[10EC]

 

[BanditVol]

He's on the top 5 list, maybe even top 3.  IYAM.

[EmerilVOL]

He is better than Bobby "Wheelie Boy" Petrino AKA 'Hire your Mistress and get the EEOC breathing down your neck'

 

[WoodstockVol]

Why would a Guy who was fired by UT come back to Coach UT?

[Creek Walker]

Why would a Guy who was fired by UT come back to Coach UT?

Tell me you aren't serious. If Dave Hart's number shows up on Fulmer's cell phone, he would outrun his pants to campus.

[BanditVol]

Why would a Guy who was fired by UT come back to Coach UT?

He loves the University and was fired by Hamilton, not Hart.  Ironically, his $ 6M buyout expires in December.

He was out four years, so we effectively paid him $1.5 M per year for those four years.  In the meantime, we were paying Dooley $2 M for 3 of those years.  LOL!   We effectively paid $3.5 M for the last 3 years. 

Keeping Fulmer would have been so much better.   

[WoodstockVol]

He loves the University and was fired by Hamilton, not Hart.  Ironically, his $ 6M buyout expires in December.

He was out four years, so we effectively paid him $1.5 M per year for those four years.  In the meantime, we were paying Dooley $2 M for 3 of those years.  LOL!   We effectively paid $3.5 M for the last 3 years. 

Keeping Fulmer would have been so much better.   

I think Fulmer would be better than Kirby Smart or the other Assistants out there

[101stDad]

No, no, and hell no.  No Fulmer.  We don't need to hire a coach that we paid $6 million to go away.  An already divided fan base would become even more divided if he were to be rehired. 

[10EC]

No, no, and hell no.  No Fulmer.  We don't need to hire a coach that we paid $6 million to go away.  An already divided fan base would become even more divided if he were to be rehired. 

So, would it be better then to get a less experienced complete unknown than to get Fulmer?  I really don't know.

[101stDad]

So, would it be better then to get a less experienced complete unknown than to get Fulmer?  I really don't know.

Fulmer's success came with Cutcliffe, Chavis, and Rodney Garner on his staff.  Unless we can somehow "recreate" those years - which is not going to happen - you have to move on and not back up. 

Bottom line - Fulmer was a very good football coach his first 10 years when he had everything going his way.  His last 6, and in particular his last 4, he was not a very good football coach.  The record showed it, and the talent level dropped drastically. 

If you can guarantee the Fulmer of the first 10 years, then go for it.  That can't be done, however.  I just don't see how UT can take that risk, and especially given how divided the fan base is when it comes to Fulmer.

The fact that no other schools have come after him should tell one that Fulmer isn't the right guy for us, either. 

 

[BanditVol]

Fulmer's success came with Cutcliffe, Chavis, and Rodney Garner on his staff.  Unless we can somehow "recreate" those years - which is not going to happen - you have to move on and not back up. 

Bottom line - Fulmer was a very good football coach his first 10 years when he had everything going his way.  His last 6, and in particular his last 4, he was not a very good football coach.  The record showed it, and the talent level dropped drastically. 

If you can guarantee the Fulmer of the first 10 years, then go for it.  That can't be done, however.  I just don't see how UT can take that risk, and especially given how divided the fan base is when it comes to Fulmer.

The fact that no other schools have come after him should tell one that Fulmer isn't the right guy for us, either. 

His win % from 2002-2008 was .650.  Looks pretty good now, yeah?

Even from 2005-2008, a four year period, it was 0.600.  Still much better than the 0.500 we have done since.  I don't think you can question we would have been better off keeping him.

Definitely not to the point of wanting him back just yet, but I'd take him over Petrion or B Davis in a heartbeat.

[101stDad]

His win % from 2002-2008 was .650.  Looks pretty good now, yeah?

Even from 2005-2008, a four year period, it was 0.600.  Still much better than the 0.500 we have done since.  I don't think you can question we would have been better off keeping him.

Definitely not to the point of wanting him back just yet, but I'd take him over Petrion or B Davis in a heartbeat.

And you seemed to just gloss over the fact that 2 of his last 4 seasons were sub .500 seasons. 

If you are going to throw out numbers, be sure to use them all. 

Firing Fulmer wasn't the wrong thing to do.  Hiring Kiffin, and then following up up with an even worse hire in Dooley was the problem. 

[WoodstockVol]

And you seemed to just gloss over the fact that 2 of his last 4 seasons were sub .500 seasons. 

If you are going to throw out numbers, be sure to use them all. 

Firing Fulmer wasn't the wrong thing to do.  Hiring Kiffin, and then following up up with an even worse hire in Dooley was the problem. 

Where would Tennessee be now if Kiffin would have stayed?

[Hollerboy]

And you seemed to just gloss over the fact that 2 of his last 4 seasons were sub .500 seasons.  

If you are going to throw out numbers, be sure to use them all.  

Firing Fulmer wasn't the wrong thing to do.  Hiring Kiffin, and then following up up with an even worse hire in Dooley was the problem.  

You nailed it!  Bringing back Fulmer would be a disaster.

[101stDad]

Where would Tennessee be now if Kiffin would have stayed?

We would probably be winning, but we would also probably have much deeper NCAA issues than we do.  

Looking back, Kiffin was obviously a bad hire, as was Dooley.  But, again, that doesn't mean that it wasn't time to replace Fulmer.  The powers that be just screwed up the replacement process.  

[UTnbama]

We all need to get completely over this Fulmer fetish. The guy ain't coming back and we wouldn't want him. Fulmer was burned out, and the game definitely passed him by. His last few years he accumulated over an 80% LOSS record to the more sucessful coaches in the SEC aka OUR RIVLALS for heaven's sake! He was fired and for good reason.

[BanditVol]

We all need to get completely over this Fulmer fetish. The guy ain't coming back and we wouldn't want him. Fulmer was burned out, and the game definitely passed him by. His last few years he accumulated over an 80% LOSS record to the more sucessful coaches in the SEC aka OUR RIVLALS for heaven's sake! He was fired and for good reason.

Two of those rivals were saban and meyer  two of the 4 highest paid coaches in the ncaa as of today for a reason.  And our failure rate is now 100%.   

Yes fulmer had declined but what if  2008 was just a rough patch?  We will never know. I am not advocating a return to Fulmer.  But i will never hesitate to say that the more aggressive critics of him ard getting exactly what they deserve.

[Jethro]

Where would Tennessee be now if Kiffin would have stayed?

Probation, probably double secret probation.   

[101stDad]

Two of those rivals were saban and meyer  two of the 4 highest paid coaches in the ncaa as of today for a reason.  And our failure rate is now 100%.   

Yes fulmer had declined but what if  2008 was just a rough patch?  We will never know. I am not advocating a return to Fulmer.  But i will never hesitate to say that the more aggressive critics of him ard getting exactly what they deserve.

2008 and 2005 - two of his last 4 were losing seasons. 

Getting what "we" deserve?  Those are the kinds of words that come not from a University of Tennessee fan, but from a University of Fulmer fan. 

Again - Fulmer needed to go.  That wasn't the mistake.  The mistake was first Kiffin, then compounding the mistake by hiring Dooley. 

[BanditVol]

Getting what "we" deserve?  Those are the kinds of words that come not from a University of Tennessee fan, but from a University of Fulmer fan. 

Again - Fulmer needed to go.  That wasn't the mistake.  The mistake was first Kiffin, then compounding the mistake by hiring Dooley. 

I wasnt talking about you.  You were somewhat aggressive, but you definitely weren't calling for him to be fired in 2005.  IIRC, you may have got off the Fulmer bandwagon in early 2007, but got back on when we recovered later in the year.  But there were some that aggressively stayed off, and it's those to which I refer.

I am not a fan of the University of Fulmer at all.   When all the fuss about Fulmer started up, I simply looked at how well tranistions had worked at Michigan, Nebraska, and a couple other places and concluded that they were very risky and that we should avoid them if at all possible.


The tranisition to Kiffin showed a lot of what the risk is, but I will admit it was almost a worst-case scenario (at least we didn't get hit with serious probabtion).   So while you are correcc tthat the transition was bungled, the chances that a new coach - any new coach - would do better than Fulmer were pretty small IMO.

[BanditVol]

THere is some relevance in my last post. 

I think we rushed the last two hires.  I want us to take our time and do this one right.  I am not concerned about the timeline provided we get a good coach.  I could also give a shizzle if another coach turns us down.  Just get it right!  If the next coach wins, no one will care if a couple turned us down.   

I would like to see it handled a few days prior to Dec 17 though.   The new coach needs to contact recruits prior to the dead period.

[ChattanoogaVol]

At this point who else are we gonna get??  He had some good years at UT.............................I'm starting to think we don't have enough/or UT is not a good enough place to hire a good coach, if we can't outbid Louisville for one.........................

 

[101stDad]

At this point who else are we gonna get??  He had some good years at UT.............................I'm starting to think we don't have enough/or UT is not a good enough place to hire a good coach, if we can't outbid Louisville for one.........................

 

I don't think it was about outbidding Louisville.  I'm glad that we didn't go that route.  Charlie Strong isn't worth going higher than the $4 million that UT offered.  There aren't many coaches who are at this point. 

UT is not going to rehire Fulmer. 

[BanditVol]

I don't think it was about outbidding Louisville.  I'm glad that we didn't go that route.  Charlie Strong isn't worth going higher than the $4 million that UT offered.  There aren't many coaches who are at this point. 

Agree. And the only reason to even go that high is to show we are serious.  He's probably worth more like 3-3.5 iMO.