State of Things

[PC Jr.]

All,

The current state of the program is worthy of our sincere concern. The last time the football program was relevant, the players being recruited to play at UT were little kids. Most won't remember it, unless they were raised a UT fan. I don't think there is much debate on these points.

It was not the fans that let this happen. The fans have been more than loyal during the lowest period in school history.

There is no point looking backward except to take lessons from mistakes made.

Hart is in a difficult spot to say the least. It appears no amount of money can lure a top tier coach to knoxville right now. It is hard to believe the program has fallen that far. It has. However, Hart has done exactly ZERO to this point to earn our trust and confidence. He fired Dooley...and then what? No plan? No coach ready to step in? This coaching search is embarrassing and the way it is being handled is starting to look amateurish.

All the other fans laughing at us are right. We have to suck it up right now, even though is not our fault. It falls directly on our leadership.

Will you support the new coach, regardless of who it is? Do you believe in the UT leadership?

Over the next year, we will learn even more about who UT is and what type of fans we are.

I hope for the best.

If UT were a stock...I'd say it's too late to sell. I certainly wouldn't buy. For those invested, all you can do is stay put.

I hate this. It is miserable.

 

[Advol]

It goes back to the TOP on the Hill.
NO Leadership.

All the UT President Turnovers and then 2 clueless ADs will take its toll.

While we are looking, fire Hart and Cheek and really start with a clean slate.

 

[lilesrt]

All,

The current state of the program is worthy of our sincere concern. The last time the football program was relevant, the players being recruited to play at UT were little kids. Most won't remember it, unless they were raised a UT fan. I don't think there is much debate on these points.

It was not the fans that let this happen. The fans have been more than loyal during the lowest period in school history.

There is no point looking backward except to take lessons from mistakes made.

Hart is in a difficult spot to say the least. It appears no amount of money can lure a top tier coach to knoxville right now. It is hard to believe the program has fallen that far. It has. However, Hart has done exactly ZERO to this point to earn our trust and confidence. He fired Dooley...and then what? No plan? No coach ready to step in? This coaching search is embarrassing and the way it is being handled is starting to look amateurish.

All the other fans laughing at us are right. We have to suck it up right now, even though is not our fault. It falls directly on our leadership.

Will you support the new coach, regardless of who it is? Do you believe in the UT leadership?

Over the next year, we will learn even more about who UT is and what type of fans we are.

I hope for the best.

If UT were a stock...I'd say it's too late to sell. I certainly wouldn't buy. For those invested, all you can do is stay put.

I hate this. It is miserable.

I wouldn't say there wasn't a plan; it just didn't work out. I think by not hiring a search firm (probably out of Hart's arrogance), it really hurt the overall searching process. As for Jimmy Cheek, the guy just complicates things. He needs to stay out of it.

 

[pimo1]

What do you people smoke? Anything goes wrong you scream for heads... when this whole thing is about just that. We shouldn't have fire Fulmer. We shouldn't have fired Dooley and we dam- sure don't need to fire an AD that just got hired into this cluster just because fans don't pay attention to reality.

This is not a job coaches drool over.
This is not a state with a lot of talent.
This is not a city that people dream of living in.

Fulmer and Dooley both got fired because of insane fan/booster feedback. The fact that all AD decisions are in fact made by boosters is so 1950 it is not funny. The AD at this school is really just a figurehead job. A scapegoat for the boosters. Hamilton forgot that and rolled the dice too many times. Seriously if Pete Carrol does not go to the NFL and Bruce Pearl does not lie chances are he is not only still the AD but is getting a building on campus named after him.

At this point best case is go to CPF on bended knee and hope he keeps Chaney. That is unless you live in reality and realize there is likely a plan in place and a coach no one has thought of is coming.

 

[utvols74]

Perhaps we're back to the 1970s.....

UT had similar problems then as now. Coaching turnover. Middle of the SEC in most years (only 8 schools then). Then the "magic" started in the late 80s and all through the 90s. What happened at UT? - coaching stability, stadium expansions, CPF was a great recruiter, UT was seen as a pipeline to the NFL; quality of coaches at other schools in the SEC suffered; ESPN wanted to carry "big name" schools on its Sat night broadcast and UT was regularly shown, Manning stays for his 4th year, etc.

Now...coaching carousel at UT, other schools have expanded their facilities and improved dramatically their coaching, ESPN broadcasts nearly everyone on any of their 3 networks, turmoil among current players, fewer and fewer 5-star recruits, etc.

The bloom is off the rose. If UT wants to be relevant again in the next 5 years considering the "football machines" at UGA, Ala, UF, USCe, LSU etc. they better throw the checkbook at Gruden

 

[Fresnovol]

I say we as Tennessee fans ask Dave hart to go to Chavis and give him the money to get a great d coordinator and a vicious and nasty dline coach maybe an alumni like John Henderson. Thats me dreamin a bit but why not. I'm thinking al Wilson possibly linebackers coach. Guy is a helluva motivator that loves his university. On offense you shouldn't tweak with something that ain't broke. These guys did there jobs and we totaled I know over 1600 yards on the ground. That's Improvement.although if your gonna run the pistol spread don't do the same run zone plays over and over. But when we're using the I with vfl b Bart we looked good. We just didn't have the leadership or a coach that makes kids wanna fight and compete once things didn't go there way..I don't know but it just seems like Chavis gets the best out of kids and I think les miles has rubbed off on him in a good way. All I'm sayin is go after a Tennessee guy that would demand nothing but excellence for his alma mater.. Its taking a chance but I'd rather see him come then some joker we don't really want here.. It's time to really understand that we are going after people who we know are gonna put us through the loopty loop.. I say new direction. If mr. Derek Dooley got his shot.. Then why not John flipping chavis

 

[orange_glory]

vanderbilt used to be a powerhouse in the southern conference then something happened. i'm just afraid that something is going to happen to us. tradition only gets you so far

 

[orange_glory]

I say we as Tennessee fans ask Dave hart to go to Chavis and give him the money to get a great d coordinator and a vicious and nasty slime coach maybe an alumni like John Henderson. Thats me dreamin a bit but why not. I'm thinking al Wilson possibly linebackers coach. Guy is a helluva motivator that loves his university. On offense you shouldn't tweak with something that ain't broke. These guys did there jobs and we totaled I know over 1600 yards on the ground. That's Improvement.although if your gonna run the pistol spread don't do the same run zone plays over and over. But when we're using the I with vfl b Bart we looked good. We just didn't have the leadership or a coach that makes kids wanna fight and compete once things didn't go there way..I don't know but it just seems like Chavis gets the best out of kids and I think les miles has rubbed off on him in a good way. All I'm sayin is go after a Tennessee guy that would demand nothing but excellence for his alma mater.. Its taking a chance but I'd rather see him come then some joker we don't really want here.. It's time to really understand that we are going after people who we know are gonna put us through the loopty loop.. I say new direction. If mr. Derek Dooley got his shot.. Then why not John flipping chavis

chavis has said he doesnt want to be a head coach and he is still bummed with our lack of loyality. but yeah i wish he would come back

 

[orange_glory]

keep the entire staff except sunseri and let chavis be head coach and coach defense. we get a tennessee guy and everybody else stays on payroll. the cheapest option for right now then chavis can tweak his staff as needed in the future. sorry my alarm just went off i must have been dreaming.

 

[orange_glory]

did everybody leave or did the rapture just happen. this is a thread of one

 

[orange_glory]

chavis has recruiting ties everywhere in the south. get him now

 

[TucsonVol]

I say we as Tennessee fans ask Dave hart to go to Chavis and give him the money to get a great d coordinator and a vicious and nasty slime coach maybe an alumni like John Henderson. Thats me dreamin a bit but why not. I'm thinking al Wilson possibly linebackers coach. Guy is a helluva motivator that loves his university. On offense you shouldn't tweak with something that ain't broke. These guys did there jobs and we totaled I know over 1600 yards on the ground. That's Improvement.although if your gonna run the pistol spread don't do the same run zone plays over and over. But when we're using the I with vfl b Bart we looked good. We just didn't have the leadership or a coach that makes kids wanna fight and compete once things didn't go there way..I don't know but it just seems like Chavis gets the best out of kids and I think les miles has rubbed off on him in a good way. All I'm sayin is go after a Tennessee guy that would demand nothing but excellence for his alma mater.. Its taking a chance but I'd rather see him come then some joker we don't really want here.. It's time to really understand that we are going after people who we know are gonna put us through the loopty loop.. I say new direction. If mr. Derek Dooley got his shot.. Then why not John flipping chavis[/QUOT

LSU is trying to dump Chavis........we could get Dooley back also..

 

[Fresnovol]

What do you people smoke? Anything goes wrong you scream for heads... when this whole thing is about just that. We shouldn't have fire Fulmer. We shouldn't have fired Dooley and we dam- sure don't need to fire an AD that just got hired into this cluster just because fans don't pay attention to reality.

This is not a job coaches drool over.
This is not a state with a lot of talent.
This is not a city that people dream of living in.

Fulmer and Dooley both got fired because of insane fan/booster feedback. The fact that all AD decisions are in fact made by boosters is so 1950 it is not funny. The AD at this school is really just a figurehead job. A scapegoat for the boosters. Hamilton forgot that and rolled the dice too many times. Seriously if Pete Carrol does not go to the NFL and Bruce Pearl does not lie chances are he is not only still the AD but is getting a building on campus named after him.

At this point best case is go to CPF on bended knee and hope he keeps Chaney. That is unless you live in reality and realize there is likely a plan in place and a coach no one has thought of is coming.

Look I'm sorry but Tennessee has got talent just a lot of these kids end up not playing sports cause there to busy getting into trouble. Tennessee is an odd state you see kids that are beasts and there just playing baseball or track.. I mean I was in the state system as a kid and I lived all over tn and everywhere I went there was athletically gifted kids but it just seems like people have put a sterotype on us but it's not totally true these kids just aren't playin ball here. Tennessee is has good recruiting grounds but a lot of the small town teams don't attract attention. Man I bet if we started recruiting atleast 10 of tennessees best every year we get a lot better.. Just cause these kids would show how lucky it is to be at Tennessee..

 

[Dan Federman]

If you're going to do that bring back Coach Fulmer as HC and let him bring Chief back as DC....I for one would love that

chavis has recruiting ties everywhere in the south. get him now

 

[Fresnovol]

chavis has said he doesnt want to be a head coach and he is still bummed with our lack of loyality. but yeah i wish he would come back

Look a little begging and 3 million dollar a year salary to get a chance to be a head coach at your alma mater. I would be surprised if we couldn't pay him the right amount to make him give in. Whether or not anybody admits it this would be a good hire. I see maybe a rebuilding year on d again but nothing like 2012. I'm thinking atleast top 50 with his scheme and two over the top safeties. He knows where to put the rightguys to play. Not making are dlineman linebackers and our slot receivers 2 corners and our running back to receiver and then back to running back.. Hey atleast when Chavis makes a position change you have the potential to get a honey badger or two top ten cornerbacks one that was a receiver. This guy knows football and I think it's time we force him into takin the next step and be our head coach. Bet he didn't dream of being a coordinator forever he just needs to be wooed and should be for how he was treated

 

[Biopsyman]

Pad Level could be back

 

[Fresnovol]

If you're going to do that bring back Coach Fulmer as HC and let him bring Chief back as DC....I for one would love that

It's funny but hey bill Snyder has become better since he retired and came back lol.. Too weird though and who wants to be the school to fire a hall of famer twice if it came down to it.

 

[SteensVol]

1st post so easy guys!
I was po'd last night but then came to my senses. Charlie showed what he should have - he's a real coach for young men - which is what we're looking for.
Bammer's fan's giving jokes this morning - but I say as bad as it is we haven't hired a coach and fired him before he coached a game yet like they did. We'll be alright eventually - just need to find the right guy.
Keep things in perspective we have somewhere between 3 to 5 million to offer someone to come coach a "game". We are in catbirds seat - just need to find someone who wants to coach and not lecture on bathing etiquette!
There are some good coaches still out there somewhere looking for this kind of opportunity - great pay, great facilities, big stage to perform on!
To OCI and Skeet - we just like hearing what's going on, let us know what you can!

 

[BootheelVol]

Guys, its gonna be ok. We have Neyland Stadium that seats over 100,000 rabid fans. We have websites like Volnation that crash because so many people are logging on. TN has a huge market share in the College football world. Kiffin left us in shambles. Dooley stabilized us brought in some good folks, Graham, Pittman etc. Our next coach will have resources given to him 2nd to none including the largest recruiting budget in the SEC. All we need is a linebacker who can get to the edge, a defensive back who can tackle in the open field & a kicker who can kick an extra point.

 

[Voldemonium]

I'm sorry but the administration at UT is incompetent. There's really no other way to say it. Many of us suspected Dooley's days were numbered when the team appeared to quit during the UF game. Hart should've been vetting a list of potential replacements with boosters to guage their acceptance. No action needed to be taken at that time. By the near debacle of the Troy game Hart should've been securing a replacement via confidentialiaty agreements, memorandums of understanding, etc. The day after Dooley was fired or 1 week if you prefer to wait until the UK game had passed, the replacement should've been announced and formally hired.

Instead of taking this approach, UT is trending as a laughing stock. The AD, chancellor, president, board of regents, boosters, etc. have failed. The disfunction is there for everyone to see and laugh at. UT is becoming a case study in "How to Kill a Football Program."

 

[Tallman]

We are 10th in revenue:

Athletic Revenue in 2011-12 By BCS Schools



School

Conference

Total Athletic Revenue

% of Revenue Attributed to FB

2012 Football Wins



Texas

Big 12

$163.3 million

64%

8



Ohio State

Big Ten

$142.0 million

41%

12



Michigan

Big Ten

$128.8 million

66%

8



Alabama

SEC

$124.1 million

66%

12



Florida

SEC

$120.3 million

62%

11



LSU

SEC

$114.0 million

60%

10



Penn State

Big Ten

$108.3 million

61%

8



Oklahoma

Big 12

$106.5 million

56%

10



Auburn

SEC

$106.0 million

73%

3



Tennessee

SEC

$105.9 million

50%

5



Wisconsin

Big Ten

$101.5 million

48%

8



Arkansas

SEC

$99.8 million

64%

4



Iowa

Big Ten

$97.4 million

52%

4



Notre Dame

Independent

$97.1 million

71%

12



Georgia

SEC

$91.7 million

82%

11



Stanford

Pac-12

$89.1 million

29%

11



Louisville

Big East

$87.8 million

27%

10



South Carolina

SEC

$87.6 million

55%

10



Kentucky

SEC

$85.6 million

39%

2



Oklahoma State

Big 12

$84.1 million

49%

7



USC

Pac-12

$84.1 million

41%

7



Minnesota

Big Ten

$83.6 million

39%

6



Washington

Pac-12

$82.6 million

64%

7



Nebraska

Big Ten

$81.6 million

68%

10



Florida State

ACC

$81.4 million

42%

11



Virginia

ACC

$81.3 million

30%

4



West Virginia

Big 12

$80.0 million

31%

7



Kansas

Big 12

$79.2 million

19%

1



Texas A&M

SEC

$79.0 million

56%

10



Michigan State

Big Ten

$79.0 million

63%

6



North Carolina

ACC

$78.8 million

35%

8



Duke

ACC

$78.6 million

32%

6



Arizona

Pac-12

$76.0 million

32%

7



Oregon

Pac-12

$73.9 million

70%

11



Syracuse

Big East

$73.3 million

39%

7



Indiana

Big Ten

$72.0 million

35%

4



California

Pac-12

$71.2 million

37%

3



UCLA

Pac-12

$70.7 million

36%

9



Purdue

Big Ten

$70.5 million

27%

6



TCU

Big 12

$68.1 million

38%

7



Baylor

Big 12

$67.8 million

29%

7



Clemson

ACC

$67.0 million

59%

10



Boston College

ACC

$66.2 million

33%

2



N.C. State

ACC

$65.5 million

39%

7



Virginia Tech

ACC

$64.8 million

51%

6



Illinois

Big Ten

$64.0 million

48%

2



Arizona State

Pac-12

$63.8 million

55%

7



Connecticut

Big East

$63.8 million

20%

5



Kansas State

Big 12

$63.6 million

41%

11



Maryland

ACC

$62.6 million

31%

4



Miami

ACC

$62.1 million

47%

7



Missouri

SEC

$61.3 million

25%

5



Northwestern

Big Ten

$61.2 million

45%

9



Georgia Tech

ACC

$60.3 million

53%

6



Texas Tech

Big 12

$59.6 million

56%

7



Rutgers

Big East

$57.5 million

37%

9



Colorado

Pac-12

$57.1 million

42%

1



Pittsburgh

Big East

$56.3 million

39%

6



Vanderbilt

SEC

$55.8 million

38%

8



Iowa State

Big 12

$55.2 million

54%

6



Mississippi State

SEC

$54.9 million

46%

8



Oregon State

Pac-12

$53.8 million

38%

9



BYU

Independent

$53.0 million

42%

7



Wake Forest

ACC

$48.8 million

36%

5



Washington State

Pac-12

$48.0 million

38%

3



Utah

Pac-12

$46.2 million

45%

5



South Florida

Big East

$43.6 million

39%

3



Ole Miss

SEC

$42.9 million

63%

6



Cincinnati

Big East

$39.6 million

39%

9



Temple

Big East

$39.0 million

44%

4

 

[Boca Vol]

Look I'm sorry but Tennessee has got talent just a lot of these kids end up not playing sports cause there to busy getting into trouble. Tennessee is an odd state you see kids that are beasts and there just playing baseball or track.. I mean I was in the state system as a kid and I lived all over tn and everywhere I went there was athletically gifted kids but it just seems like people have put a sterotype on us but it's not totally true these kids just aren't playin ball here. Tennessee is has good recruiting grounds but a lot of the small town teams don't attract attention. Man I bet if we started recruiting atleast 10 of tennessees best every year we get a lot better.. Just cause these kids would show how lucky it is to be at Tennessee..

Tennessee produces nowhere near the number of quality players as Florida, Texas, Cal, etc. Most of these states have greater populations which is one aspect but another is weather. Down here in Florida, kids play year-round.

As far as recruiting the top players in TN. UT does. Some of these players choose to go elsewhere such as USC, Notre Dame, or Bama. As much as we love UT, not all HS do. Keep in mind, these kids have never known UT to be really good.

 

[utfan72408]

What do you people smoke? Anything goes wrong you scream for heads... when this whole thing is about just that. We shouldn't have fire Fulmer. We shouldn't have fired Dooley and we dam- sure don't need to fire an AD that just got hired into this cluster just because fans don't pay attention to reality.

This is not a job coaches drool over.
This is not a state with a lot of talent.
This is not a city that people dream of living in.

Fulmer and Dooley both got fired because of insane fan/booster feedback. The fact that all AD decisions are in fact made by boosters is so 1950 it is not funny. The AD at this school is really just a figurehead job. A scapegoat for the boosters. Hamilton forgot that and rolled the dice too many times. Seriously if Pete Carrol does not go to the NFL and Bruce Pearl does not lie chances are he is not only still the AD but is getting a building on campus named after him.

At this point best case is go to CPF on bended knee and hope he keeps Chaney. That is unless you live in reality and realize there is likely a plan in place and a coach no one has thought of is coming.

All these are true of the Oregon job, too. The Oklahoma job. The Kansas State job.

Don't give me that. Our facilities speak for themselves. The program is down right now, and yes, we are merely a mediocre-bad SEC football program right now. But the three things you listed (well, besides the first one... I agree with that one, hard to deny at this point) simply aren't reasons no one wants to come here. A good coach can recruit out of state talent to Tennessee. And Knoxville is a beautiful town. So those things simply are not relevant to your argument.

 

[Rudy123]

It goes back to the TOP on the Hill.
NO Leadership.

All the UT President Turnovers and then 2 clueless ADs will take its toll.

While we are looking, fire Hart and Cheek and really start with a clean slate.

I am a young 49 years old. However; I can remember when Alabama was king or the NCAA and I can remember when they missed a bowl game for 6 conseq. seasons. I remember when Alabama lost to Kentucky and also to Louisana Monroe. I remember DuBose, Franchoni, Shula and Price as their coaches with in a span of 14 years. I remember them being on NCAA sanctions. They climbed back up the mountain and recovered.



I remember when Notre Dame won their last Heisman. I remember when Lou was their coach and they won the National Championship. I also remember them losing to Navy. I also remember Willingham, Davies, the coach who lied on his resume, Weiss and now Kelly. However; they climbed back up the mountain are on top again.


I remember when Kentucky basketball was great and they beat Duke in 1979 for the NCAA. I also remember them being on probation. I remember them rising up again and being relevant again.


The Tennessee program is on life-support but we still have a heart beat so with the right hire, we can return to being a respectable program again.....

 

[Rudy123]

Tennessee produces nowhere near the number of quality players as Florida, Texas, Cal, etc. Most of these states have greater populations which is one aspect but another is weather. Down here in Florida, kids play year-round.

As far as recruiting the top players in TN. UT does. Some of these players choose to go elsewhere such as USC, Notre Dame, or Bama. As much as we love UT, not all HS do. Keep in mind, these kids have never known UT to be really good.

You can't win in a state that doesn't produce alot of high school talent. It is impossible!!

If you don't believe me, just ask Nebraska or Bosie State....