Fulmer gone from UT.....

[smokey982]

Well it looks like the day many Vols fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. Phillip Fulmer has agreed to step down at the end of this season. Now the question on the minds of Vols fans, Who's going to take his place? Let the rumors begin. Already this morning, I've heard every name from Steve Spurrier, Bill Cower, Jon Gruden, Bob Stoops, and the Texas Tech coach (I forgot his name).

 

[hallrk]

Leach is at Texas Tech. I would go after him first.

 

[mccoyrj]

Well it looks like the day many Vols fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. Phillip Fulmer has agreed to step down at the end of this season. Now the question on the minds of Vols fans, Who's going to take his place? Let the rumors begin. Already this morning, I've heard every name from Steve Spurrier, Bill Cower, Jon Gruden, Bob Stoops, and the Texas Tech coach (I forgot his name).

Should be interesting. Tennessee will be a very attractive program for Leach, TTech's coach. I don't see Spurrier bouncing from one SEC team straight to another however.

 

[salsadancer7]

I bet IF Alabama wins the NC.....O'Sabin Bin Lying will want that job too!

 

[mccoyrj]

I bet IF Alabama wins the NC.....O'Sabin Bin Lying will want that job too!

I almost posted that comment too, but thought it was too easy of a shot. Guess you didn't!

 

[smokey982]

I bet IF Alabama wins the NC.....O'Sabin Bin Lying will want that job too!

All you have to do to get Sabin is offer him a little more money than what he's making now. No loyalty what so ever.

 

[jwfgeol]

Other names floating around are Will Muschamp, Butch Davis, Lane Kiffin and Gary Patterson.

 

[smokey982]

How long has Leach been at Texas Tech? I haven't really heard of him much until this year.

 

[anders5189]

Other names floating around are Will Muschamp, Butch Davis, Lane Kiffin and Gary Patterson.

Butch isn't going anywhere. He's got a shot at making a BCS bowl this year, and UNC should be a Top 10 team in the next couple years. He's not leaving to go to the SEC where he might finish 3rd in his division.

 

[david1314]

My mother in law works on the UT Campus.

She isn't a huge fan of UT Athletics,that being said though she talks on a regular basis with a couple of friends that work in the UT Athletic Department.

Early names being mentioned within that Building(UTAD)

Butch Davis
Mike Leach
Chris Peterson
Lane Kiffin

Should be interesting to watch it unfold.

Any of the four would come to Knoxville in a heartbeat IMO.

 

[nuts4scuba]

How long has Leach been at Texas Tech? I haven't really heard of him much until this year.

Since 2000. He was OC at Oklahoma in '99 prior to that he was at Kentucky.

 

[iceturkee]

lets not forget bobby petrino either. but don't worry, alabama isn't going to win the national championship. they aren't even going to win the SEC!

 

[anders5189]

Early names being mentioned within that Building(UTAD)

Butch Davis
Mike Leach
Chris Peterson
Lane Kiffin

Should be interesting to watch it unfold.

Any of the four would come to Knoxville in a heartbeat IMO.

The first 2 names no. The last 2 yes. Butch: see my earlier post. Leach: who quits on the #2 team in the country? Even Bobby Petrino isn't that gutless.

One more name Tennessee ought to consider, David Cutcliffe. Tennessee never looked good without him, and he's totally overachieving at dook. Oh yeah they only pay him like $30,000 over there.

 

[jwfgeol]

The first 2 names no. The last 2 yes. Butch: see my earlier post. Leach: who quits on the #2 team in the country? Even Bobby Petrino isn't that gutless.

One more name Tennessee ought to consider, David Cutcliffe. Tennessee never looked good without him, and he's totally overachieving at dook. Oh yeah they only pay him like $30,000 over there.

They won't go after Cutcliffe. I think they are looking to make a clean break from Fulmer.

As far as Davis and Leach, they really aren't in a different position than Rich Rod was in last year. Top 10 team, winning conference championships. WVU was 9th last year and going to a BCS bowl when he left. It happens.

 

[anders5189]

They won't go after Cutcliffe. I think they are looking to make a clean break from Fulmer.

As far as Davis and Leach, they really aren't in a different position than Rich Rod was in last year. Top 10 team, winning conference championships. WVU was 9th last year and going to a BCS bowl when he left. It happens.

Forget about Davis and Leach. Tennessee thinks a little too highly of themselves if they think they are attractive as Michigan. Michigan has a 50/50 shot of winning the Big Ten most years. Tennessee has about a 1-6 chance of winning the SEC. Big difference.

Leach is already in a big time conference. The Big XII is as good, if not better, than the SEC. As for Davis, if he left UNC now he'd look like Bobby Petrino. That stuff kills you in recruiting. IMO the best value out there is Patterson at TCU. He's winning consistently at a school with no facilities in a non BCS conference. He's this year's version of Paul Johnson.

 

[jwfgeol]

Forget about Davis and Leach. Tennessee thinks a little too highly of themselves if they think they are attractive as Michigan. Michigan has a 50/50 shot of winning the Big Ten most years. Tennessee has about a 1-6 chance of winning the SEC. Big difference.

Leach is already in a big time conference. The Big XII is as good, if not better, than the SEC. As for Davis, if he left UNC now he'd look like Bobby Petrino. That stuff kills you in recruiting. IMO the best value out there is Patterson at TCU. He's winning consistently at a school with no facilities in a non BCS conference. He's this year's version of Paul Johnson.

I'll give you Davis, but Leach I don't know. It depends on how the rest of Tech's season goes. They do have to play Texas and Oklahoma every year. Not really much different than Florida and Georgia. What is unfortunate for Tennessee is that they have to play Alabama every year because of the rivalry game even though they are in different divisions. I agree about Patterson.

 

[anders5189]

I'll give you Davis, but Leach I don't know. It depends on how the rest of Tech's season goes. They do have to play Texas and Oklahoma every year. Not really much different than Florida and Georgia. What is unfortunate for Tennessee is that they have to play Alabama every year because of the rivalry game even though they are in different divisions. I agree about Patterson.

It's taken years for Leach to get Texas Tech on par with Texas and Oklahoma. Tennessee is long way from being on par with Georgia, Florida or Alabama. I don't see why a guy like Leach would want to take a step back like that. IMO anyone who can do as good or better where they're at has no business considering Tennessee. You guys need somebody who's looking to make a name for themselves. And what you DON'T want is to turn this into a fiasco like Michigan did last year when when they tried to pry Les Miles away from LSU and he snubbed them.

 

[jwfgeol]

It's taken years for Leach to get Texas Tech on par with Texas and Oklahoma. Tennessee is long way from being on par with Georgia, Florida or Alabama. I don't see why a guy like Leach would want to take a step back like that. IMO anyone who can do as good or better where they're at has no business considering Tennessee. You guys need somebody who's looking to make a name for themselves. And what you DON'T want is to turn this into a fiasco like Michigan did last year when when they tried to pry Les Miles away from LSU and he snubbed them.

Um, Tennessee just won the SEC East last year and rocked Georgia 35-14. Sure, they suck this year, but saying they have "a long way to go" is stretching it. They won the SEC East over Florida and Georgia three times from 2001-2007. And this season is the first time since like 1991 that Alabama won back to back games against Tennessee.

The problem is that Tennessee fans expect to be in the national title race every year. A 10-win season and winning the SEC East last year was not good enough. Fulmer himself created huge expectations in Knoxville in the 90's and early 00's.

Final AP Rankings in Fulmer's tenure.
1992 - #12
1993 - #12
1994 - #22
1995 - #3
1996 - #9
1997 - #7
1998 - #1
1999 - #9
2000 - UR
2001 - #4
2002 - UR
2003 - #15
2004 - #13
2005 - UR
2006 - #25
2007 - #12

1995 - 2001 are dynasty type numbers. 2002 on is not.

 

[anders5189]

You nailed it on the expectations. Tennessee has not finished in the Top 10 since 2001. Meanwhile LSU has 2 NC's since then, Florida has 1 and Auburn had an undefeated season in 2004. Now you've got Alabama ranked #1 and Florida in the hunt too. Tennessee has not generally sucked in recent years, but they are a good bit away from being a NC contender. Their talent right now resembles Kentucky and Vanderbilt more than it does the elite teams in the SEC. I'm not sure why any head coach at a BCS school would want to jump into that pressure cooker where you can go 9-3, be ranked in the Top 20 and still only be the 5th best team in the conference.

 

[jwfgeol]

You nailed it on the expectations. Tennessee has not finished in the Top 10 since 2001. Meanwhile LSU has 2 NC's since then, Florida has 1 and Auburn had an undefeated season in 2004. Now you've got Alabama ranked #1 and Florida in the hunt too. Tennessee has not generally sucked in recent years, but they are a good bit away from being a NC contender. Their talent right now resembles Kentucky and Vanderbilt more than it does the elite teams in the SEC. I'm not sure why any head coach at a BCS school would want to jump into that pressure cooker where you can go 9-3, be ranked in the Top 20 and still only be the 5th best team in the conference.

We'll agree here. The rest of the SEC is passing Tennessee by. That's why Hamilton (the AD) pulled the plug on Fulmer.