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Just askin'

It would be a colossal mistake. Fulmer's ego would cause irreparable harm to the UTAD.

I love Fulmer for what he meant to our football program, but I also believe him to be a borderline narcissist.

borderline? you're being nice......

Personally, I won't lose my mind if it ends up being Fulmer.  Blackburn is my top choice but if we cant make it happen with Blackburn, I'm fine with it being Fulmer.   :dunno:

Of course, none of the other folks that would want the AD job have an ego.... :biggrin:

That's kind of my reaction to the argument... Chances are he wouldn't be the first AD with an ego, and said ego doesn't necessarily mean he would fail at being an AD.

I just haven't read or heard anything that makes me truly believe Fulmer would be a poor choice at AD.

Fulmer WILL NOT be the next AD at UT.

Hopefully it will be Blackburn and any Fulmer arguments will be rendered moot.   :dance:

Not just no, but hell no. Fulmer isn't qualified to be the AD at UT. 

That's what i think as well. I am not pro-Fulmer.

Specifically, why do you say that?  Just curious as to the reasons.

Not Herb...but I'll give you the main reason.

You DO NOT fire someone, pay them 6 million to go away then hire them to be the head of your organization. The End!

Because he was a football coach.  He has no administrative experience, and especially running an athletic department at an SEC school.

Long gone are the days when an AD was a coach or former coach who spent his days ordering jock straps and counting how many basketballs are in the rack. 

He's just not qualified. 

And then there is this, as well. 

1.  He's only 3 years younger than Hart, and probably not in as good health.  How long would he stay in the job?
2.  Other than his recent stint in an "advisory" role at ETSU, he has no administrative experience.  For today's breed of AD, an MBA is much more desirable than coaching experience.
3.  Remember how he was loyal to a fault to "his guys"?  That's NOT a good trait in an AD.

I realize that two names are going to come up whenever we have an opening at UT anymore. And IMO, Manning, even though he is also vastly unqualified for the job, would actually be preferable to Fulmer.  He's younger, and he at least has some experience running a chain of pizza joints (although I doubt he was a very "hands-on" owner).

But at the end of the day, just hire Blackburn and be done with it.  He can do this job for the next 20 years.

Yeah, it would be a pretty strange situation considering that all or most of the powers that be that agreed it was time to go are still the powers that be.

His "advisory" role at ETSU consisted of playing golf and shaking hands with people and he was paid north of a half million dollars to do it.  There are a lot of folks in the ESTUAD who weren't happy with return on investment.  Felt like that money could have been much better spent going towards the new stadium or actually football expenses. 

I think he would be great as an assistant AD.  More of a handshaking fund raising figurehead. 

According to most experts on here though, his ego couldn't take that.   :biggrin: :biggrin:

But for the record, he denied interest in the job when it came open after Hammy. FWIW.

Yeah, it's pretty easy to deny interest in a job that you were never considered for.  Kind of like all of those other college and NFL coaching positions that he wasn't interested in and they were never interested in him. 

Do you guys recall the story of how Fulmer's office was designed so that he was on a pedestal above you when you sat in front of his desk? Don't be fooled into thinking he has only an average ego!

True. 

I am a pro-Fulmer guy. I like him very much. But he is absolutely not a fit for AD at UT. That position is much more than it used to be and we have to hire smarter than that.

My hope is that it's Blackburn and he keeps Fulmer as close to the program as possible, for fundraising and PR purposes.

I'm in the Blackburn camp, as well.  Of all the names mentioned thus far he makes the most sense.  

I don't want anybody represented by Jimmy Sexton.  We've been burned way too badly by his clients. 

Simultaneous with the zombie apocalypse in an alternate universe.  I'd say the odds of this scenario are low.

lol

Yes, I am sure that's exactly how he thought of it also.   :laugh:

I'm sorry...that's just laugh out loud silly.

Neither I nor he said he was every considered for the job.  A reporter posed the question, and he said he wanted to chill for a while. I see no reason not to take him at his word.

If laughing out loud makes you feel better, have at it. We could all use a good laugh now and then. However, Fulmer's over-sized ego is well-documented. It's hardly a secret. So before you go calling people silly, it would probably be best to educate yourself.

Oh, he had an ego.  I met him twice.  The first time I started to offer him condolences on a close loss to Florida (I think this was 2006), but he cut me off and said "we have played a lot of football around here."  I think he thought I was going to criticize him.  And I have heard other stories.

But you made it sound like he thought he was seated on a throne or something.    :laugh:

Actually, that was more or less the persona that he gave off with his office setup towards the end of his tenure.

Yep.  Some of the quotes he gave during that time period were just plain narcissistic. 

I don't get some peoples thinking. While I don't want a prima donna as AD, I don't want some shrinking violet either. I think a little ego is a good thing. I'm sorry, but I even liked Kiffin's swagger while he was here. I think a lot of us did.

I didn't like Kiffin's "swagger," if that's what you want to call it, but that's beside the point. Keep in mind that an AD has to manage a bunch of egos. Coaches -- especially successful ones -- are notorious for their egos. If all you have in the athletic department are a bunch of clashing egos, like stubborn rams butting heads, you're going to get nowhere fast.

But, besides that, here's my point with Fulmer's ego: How many times have you seen Fulmer give an interview since 2008 where he mentioned the way they used to do it back when he coached? I've seen it a number of times. Fulmer was fired because the game had passed him by. Rather than recognize that and step graciously aside, he responded with a chip on his shoulder, thinking his way was still the best way...and that his way was better than the coaches Tennessee hired after him. The AD oversees the football program but he doesn't directly involve himself with the day-to-day management of the program. There are a number of aspects that the coach is in control of, and that's the way it should be. Could Fulmer stay out of the coach's way, or would his ego dictate that he get himself involved and make a mess out of things? I fear it would be the latter.

Is it my imagination, or do we have this same debate every single year shortly before the season begins?  The threads may start out with different premises but they always end up as heated, multi-page referendums on the Fulmer regime. 

So here we are.  Again.  I guess the 2016 season may now officially begin. :dunno:

Usually it's over whether he should have been fired, or (in my case) if it was the right time to pull the trigger.  This is different,as it pertains to whether he should be AD or not.

Which means this season is also different.   :naughty:

I have yet to see why anybody believes that Fulmer is actually qualified to be the AD. 

OMG....

My post had nothing to do with whether he should be AD or not.  Just pointing out that it's not the usual point of discussion. :frown:

You asked the question, so you must believe a Fulmer candidacy would have merit. 

And I am asking how he is qualified for the question to be asked in the first place. 

Herb.  Read above carefully.  At no point do I ask a single question at all, let alone whatever one you are referring to, which, although hardly clear from your post, must be a reference to the question in the subject line by the OP..

And the OP is not BanditVol, but VolsBoy.  Hope this helps. 

I just asked the question because I saw somewhere that Fulmer had thrown his hat in the ring. I don't even now if that is even accurate or not. We are done with the Fulmer era forever. I hope. But we can't forget how much he did do for Tennessee football. I have no ill-will toward the man at all.