Climer is John Adams' long-lost journalistic twin. Like Adams, Climer has only one weapon in his literary quiver, an endless supply of sarcasm, and never wastes an opportunity to cast Tennessee in a negative light. As for the premise of his article, I have read similar comments elsewhere and they all suffer from the same ahistorical perspective.
Coaching positions at programs which are at the pinnacle of their power rarely become available for obvious reasons. There is little incentive for their current occupants to leave. Oregon is a top-5 position RIGHT NOW, simply because Kelly and his predecessor have built it up into a national power. Comparing the histories and tradition of Tennessee and Oregon, however, would be laughably unfavorable to Oregon. Similarly, LSU is in the midst of the best decade in their program. Prior to that, their achievements take a distinct back seat to UT's. The almighty Notre Dame has been down for a LONG time.
If journalists of Climer's ilk want to say that the luster of Tennessee's head coaching position has temporarily dulled, that would be one thing but you rarely see carefully nuanced and well qualified statements from this cadre of pseudo-journalists. No, they want to depict Tennessee as a program that is utterly dead in the water and will never again reclaim its rightful place among college football's elite. I categorically reject that premise.
