Had lunch with Kirk Herbstreit last week

[WoodsmanVol]

Mike Hamilton is the true reason for UT's fall IMO.

He certainly contributed. But I think his real sin to start with was trusting Fulmer. Fulmer became lazy as a recruiter and coach. Even 1-2 recruits who visited said they didn't pick Tennessee because things were too laid back here. He let his NC go to his head and his rear get too big. That's where it began. Hambone let PF have free reign and PF gave the horse it head, letting to stroll in a pasture and graze instead of prepping it for the Preakness.

 

[JohnnyBall]

Awesome story. Ive heard him say this kind of stuff many times over the past year, i believe he is being completely honest are truly believe in CBJ. Maybe we can start getting some ESPN love if we start winning some games.

The Oklahoma game next year is gonna be huge, and a chance for CBJ to show what strides his team has made. Oh, and Florida is a MUST WIN this year, Neyland should be rocking, especially if we pull out 2 wins in Norman and Athens, which i think is definitely possible, but that hasn't been that problem in our games against Florida.

Excited to see Butch turn it around and hopefully get the Vols back on top. Next year may be the best year to do it, as it seems Florida, Georgia and South Carolina will be down. I am hoping for a Mizzou/UT race for the East, which would be amazing thinking where those two programs were when they played in Neyland 2 years ago.

We are gonna be undefeated going into Florida with last years backwash and 35 new 18 year olds?

OK

 

[volfanecs]

As the title said I had a PNC bank lunch function with Kirk Herbstreet last week. The guy is amazingly personable and downright funny.

This function was at Vestavia CC in Birmingham so obviously he spoke of the iron bowl game and how everyone will remember where they were when the end of that game happened. After his synopsis he did a title game review and as he said he could not actually give a probable score as that conflicts with work require that he refrains from that but he was inferring FSU. Many Auburn fans were shouting out some comments during his team review of both. Spoke about SEC homerism and how they pay little attention to other conferences and he used Michigan State as an example as he was doing a poll on who in the crowd thought they should be number four in the playoff system next year. No one could answer after Bama at three between Baylor, Stanford, or MSU.

He then did a Q&A session and the Bama and Aubie homers came out in full force and one woman was downright rude to him about him elaborating on the fluke of an iron bowl, I know big surprise there. A guy stood up on the other side of the room and was asking about Vandy and the SEC East. Kirk said what he has done is amazing and he hears about him all the time as he lives in Nashville and his kids go to Montgomery Bell Academy, but they have hit their peak. Spoke about some of the powerhouse teams being either injured or rebuilding. Talked about Stoops helping out UK and their constant ball vs fball struggles and the energy surrounding him with regards to recruiting. Talked about Mizzou and how respected Gary Pinkle is and how for nearly a decade they have been playing good ball and he fell into his SEC homerism rant a little about their recent inclusion and lack of respect.

He avoided UF but said they have issues. He then came to us and the first thing he said was it isn't 98 anymore and we haven't been relevant since 2001. But, he did say that he thinks Butch Jones is a hell of a coach and is going to "kill it"in Knoxville. He also said he doesn't follow recruiting very much but there is a whole lot of talk about Tennessee again and there hasn't been since the Kiffin experiment. He did blame our fall on Fulmer and said it was his fault and not Kiffin's and Lane had been spreading that rumor as well.

Kirk looked over the whole crowd and said people in Alabama better watch out because the Vols will be back to their old selves and punishing some Bama teams. The hall got very quiet for a moment and it brought me back to the late 90's when I moved here.

He finished and then and I spoke to him very briefly on exiting and thanked him for his UT comments and he said he meant every word as UT will be back if Butch is given a couple of years to rebuild. He then signed a football for my son that he got for Christmas.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas

Great post and hello from a fellow PNC associate.

 

[Hacksaw]

Dumb argument. The SEC championship is always respected. No one has ever said "Oh, darn, we're just the SEC Champs." Is it more respected now than it used to be? Maybe. Does it matter in the least if you're not the champ? No, it doesn't. Are you going to get to be the champ when you keep losing recruits to other, more successful teams? Nope.

I get that you don't understand my argument. That doesn't make my argument dumb. In fact, my argument is rooted in logic, while yours is more of the emotional, cut off your nose to spite your face and damn the consequences sort of argument.

You're right when you say the SEC champ is always respected. But that's only because SEC teams have earned that respect. No one respects the MAC champion as a potential national championship team. And you always hope that every SEC team, except Tennessee, loses. So, if you get your wish, then the SEC champ won't be much different from the MAC champ. Does that not stand to reason?

And yes, whoever wins the SEC is the team that benefits most from the conference being strong. But I expect Tennessee to win more SEC championships in the future. You don't sound like you expect that. Maybe that's the difference in our two points of view. In a future scenario where Tennessee is chosen over some other team from a weaker conferecne that has a similar record, we will all be thankful for the strength of the SEC.

You haven't really thought this thing through logically. You're just thinking with your heart, which I understand. I don't cheer for other SEC teams, but logically I know that their success will benefit us in the long run.

 

[volfanecs]

He certainly contributed. But I think his real sin to start with was trusting Fulmer. Fulmer became lazy as a recruiter and coach. Even 1-2 recruits who visited said they didn't pick Tennessee because things were too laid back here. He let his NC go to his head and his rear get too big. That's where it began. Hambone let PF have free reign and PF gave the horse it head, letting to stroll in a pasture and graze instead of prepping it for the Preakness.

Unbelievable.

 

[Eddie Vol Halen]

Both of those years, we wouldn't have played for a NC even if we had won the SEC. Being relevant at UT means being in position to play for NC's if we win the conference.

That's just not how it is. The best SEC team of the decade by far (and only the recent Bama teams make it arguable) was undefeated but did not play for the National Championship (Auburn 2004). The only team that gave them two good games that year was our Vols.

Bama "backed into" a National Championship without winning the SEC.

Even when Condoleeza Rice decides on who will play for the NC, the process is human, flawed, and part of what makes NCAA Football so great.

At Tennessee the first priority is winning the SEC. I don't care if that is with 0 losses or with 2 losses. LSU won a damn National Championship in a year Kentucky beat them!

 

[loosecannon]

He certainly contributed. But I think his real sin to start with was trusting Fulmer. Fulmer became lazy as a recruiter and coach. Even 1-2 recruits who visited said they didn't pick Tennessee because things were too laid back here. He let his NC go to his head and his rear get too big. That's where it began. Hambone let PF have free reign and PF gave the horse it head, letting to stroll in a pasture and graze instead of prepping it for the Preakness.

I have a close friend who played OL at UT during Fulmer's last years. He said it was not uncommon for Fulmer to go to the OL meetings eat snacks and then fall asleep at the meeting. It was a common occurrence not an exception. He was a great coach and a very good person that helped this state and this university much more than he hurt it.

 

[governmentmule]

Big part of it, but he was a puppet for our big donors. So yes they have some blame too. Fulmer was bigger than Hammy so he has his blame too. He got complacent, and rode it. Heck while we are at it Cutcliffe could be blamed some for not being more like Chavis and wanting to be more than just a coordinator. At the end of the day the Kiffin debacle blew the top off the popiscle stand, and all that had been swept under the rug came out.

But now...Cheek is our biggest problem. Personally heard way to much rumblings about him to not be concerned.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

what are these rumblings about Cheeks ?

 

[jimallvol]

He certainly contributed. But I think his real sin to start with was trusting Fulmer. Fulmer became lazy as a recruiter and coach. Even 1-2 recruits who visited said they didn't pick Tennessee because things were too laid back here. He let his NC go to his head and his rear get too big. That's where it began. Hambone let PF have free reign and PF gave the horse it head, letting to stroll in a pasture and graze instead of prepping it for the Preakness.

I agree I Fulmer got to comfortable after his .NC year and that lead to his downfall

 

[RockyTop22]

We are gonna be undefeated going into Florida with last years backwash and 35 new 18 year olds?

OK

I bet if someone said Auburn would be in the National Championship with a DB that got kicked out of UGA as their QB after not winning a single SEC game last year you would have said the same thing. I didnt say it will happen by any means, just saying its possible. Excuse me for being optimistic, i forgot this was Vol Nation.

 

[JohnnyBall]

I bet if someone said Auburn would be in the National Championship with a DB that got kicked out of UGA as their QB after not winning a single SEC game last year you would have said the same thing. I didnt say it will happen by any means, just saying its possible. Excuse me for being optimistic, i forgot this was Vol Nation.

Compare the two rosters the years following each crap season for tennessee and auburn and call me back...

 

[jarnol32]

Actually being considered a legitimate threat to win it, I guess.

They were an Eric Ainge pick away for being relevant in 07 then. Lsu 21 ut 14.

 

[JoeVols]

We were far closer to losing to Uk in the 4 OT game the week before than we were to beating LSU. Not to mention they were playing a backup QB (again).

They were an Eric Ainge pick away for being relevant in 07 then. Lsu 21 ut 14.

 

[Vol logic]

No kidding...Usually when I have lunch with someone it's at the same table.

He was at my table and pretty shocking some people gave you likes for such a ridiculous post. Granted he was on a stage when speaking and doing a Q&A session.