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Tennessee needs recruiting upgrade after ousting Fulmer
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Posted: November 3, 2008
Tee Martin returned to Tennessee last month for a 10-year reunion of the Volunteers squad he quarterbacked to a national championship. Amid the memories, he poked around the 2008 edition of Phillip Fulmer's program and found things a little too familiar.
"It looked like Coach was going about it the same way as when we were there," Martin said by phone Monday afternoon.
And there lies the problem with Tennessee football, and the reason why the school decided Monday that this season, Fulmer's 17th in charge, would be his last. Almost every aspect of college football has changed since that undefeated championship season. Fulmer changed little, and few of the changes he allowed improved the program. So Tennessee, lapped by its competition in the SEC and across the country, finally needed to change itself.
The move is a necessary one if the Vols hope to regain their spot among the sport's elite. If anything, it's overdue. Since Martin and company beat Florida State to win the 1998 national championship, Tennessee slipped in every area, from recruiting to offensive philosophy, from reputation to the SEC standings.
His 150-51 career record, his five SEC East championships, even his 10-win season in 2007 hide some of those realities. Indeed, those were the elements he stressed in his seven-minute talk at Monday's press conference in Knoxville, the first of many farewell speeches he'll deliver this month. But the areas that mean more to fans, and thus to budgets, spin a different story.
The Vols went 5-6 in 2005 and missed a bowl, a sorry level they'll match in 2008 without sweeping their final three regular-season games. They've lost four straight to Florida by a combined 126-53 score. They lost consecutive games to rival Alabama by a combined 70-26. And they lost fertile recruiting spots around the country to myriad factors: the arrival of Mark Richt at Georgia, the rise of Southern Cal (Fulmer once mined California for talent such as receiver Donte' Stallworth and defensive back Gibril Wilson), the consistency at Auburn, Florida and LSU, and, of late, legitimate programs at Kentucky, Vanderbilt and South Carolina (which whacked Tennessee 27-6 on Saturday night in Columbia).
Recruiting needs to be priority No. 1 for athletic director Mike Hamilton as he combs the country for Fulmer's successor. Regional coaches need not apply; guys with connections from sea to shining sea will be on the radar as a replacement. Look for talk to center around Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster, former Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin and, more and more every week, Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach.
"We're not a Florida or a Texas school," former Vols quarterback Casey Clausen said Monday by phone. "We need a guy that people know nationwide as somebody who can recruit. And he better bring in some assistants that people recognize, too."
Both Martin and Clausen work with high school players -- Clausen as an assistant coach at Oaks Christian High in California, Martin as head of his Playmakers Sports company that trains young quarterbacks. Both said kids speak with affection of Tennessee and its traditions, from super-sized Neyland Stadium to the checkerboard end zones. But too often in recent years, those players opted to win championships as Gators, Tigers and Trojans instead of Volunteers.
Without top recruits, Fulmer never could re-capture 1998. He stuck with an old-school offense that didn't lure elite skill players and big linemen that could be manhandled by quicker linebackers. Save David Cutcliffe, who bailed twice for head coaching jobs, Fulmer lacked the offensive assistants to develop the guys who showed up.
Meanwhile, almost everyone Tennessee plays excelled in those areas, leaving Vols supporters in a quandary -- blind loyalty to Fulmer, or an admission that change was needed. Fulmer referenced the split Monday and said it influenced his decision to accept the UT administration's push for him to step down.
"I love Tennessee too much," he said. "To let her stay divided."
Now the Vols need a unifier. But more importantly, they need a recruiter, someone willing to give the program a strong shake and bring it into this century.
Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com.
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Posted: November 3, 2008
Tee Martin returned to Tennessee last month for a 10-year reunion of the Volunteers squad he quarterbacked to a national championship. Amid the memories, he poked around the 2008 edition of Phillip Fulmer's program and found things a little too familiar.
"It looked like Coach was going about it the same way as when we were there," Martin said by phone Monday afternoon.
And there lies the problem with Tennessee football, and the reason why the school decided Monday that this season, Fulmer's 17th in charge, would be his last. Almost every aspect of college football has changed since that undefeated championship season. Fulmer changed little, and few of the changes he allowed improved the program. So Tennessee, lapped by its competition in the SEC and across the country, finally needed to change itself.
The move is a necessary one if the Vols hope to regain their spot among the sport's elite. If anything, it's overdue. Since Martin and company beat Florida State to win the 1998 national championship, Tennessee slipped in every area, from recruiting to offensive philosophy, from reputation to the SEC standings.
His 150-51 career record, his five SEC East championships, even his 10-win season in 2007 hide some of those realities. Indeed, those were the elements he stressed in his seven-minute talk at Monday's press conference in Knoxville, the first of many farewell speeches he'll deliver this month. But the areas that mean more to fans, and thus to budgets, spin a different story.
The Vols went 5-6 in 2005 and missed a bowl, a sorry level they'll match in 2008 without sweeping their final three regular-season games. They've lost four straight to Florida by a combined 126-53 score. They lost consecutive games to rival Alabama by a combined 70-26. And they lost fertile recruiting spots around the country to myriad factors: the arrival of Mark Richt at Georgia, the rise of Southern Cal (Fulmer once mined California for talent such as receiver Donte' Stallworth and defensive back Gibril Wilson), the consistency at Auburn, Florida and LSU, and, of late, legitimate programs at Kentucky, Vanderbilt and South Carolina (which whacked Tennessee 27-6 on Saturday night in Columbia).
Recruiting needs to be priority No. 1 for athletic director Mike Hamilton as he combs the country for Fulmer's successor. Regional coaches need not apply; guys with connections from sea to shining sea will be on the radar as a replacement. Look for talk to center around Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster, former Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin and, more and more every week, Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach.
"We're not a Florida or a Texas school," former Vols quarterback Casey Clausen said Monday by phone. "We need a guy that people know nationwide as somebody who can recruit. And he better bring in some assistants that people recognize, too."
Both Martin and Clausen work with high school players -- Clausen as an assistant coach at Oaks Christian High in California, Martin as head of his Playmakers Sports company that trains young quarterbacks. Both said kids speak with affection of Tennessee and its traditions, from super-sized Neyland Stadium to the checkerboard end zones. But too often in recent years, those players opted to win championships as Gators, Tigers and Trojans instead of Volunteers.
Without top recruits, Fulmer never could re-capture 1998. He stuck with an old-school offense that didn't lure elite skill players and big linemen that could be manhandled by quicker linebackers. Save David Cutcliffe, who bailed twice for head coaching jobs, Fulmer lacked the offensive assistants to develop the guys who showed up.
Meanwhile, almost everyone Tennessee plays excelled in those areas, leaving Vols supporters in a quandary -- blind loyalty to Fulmer, or an admission that change was needed. Fulmer referenced the split Monday and said it influenced his decision to accept the UT administration's push for him to step down.
"I love Tennessee too much," he said. "To let her stay divided."
Now the Vols need a unifier. But more importantly, they need a recruiter, someone willing to give the program a strong shake and bring it into this century.
Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com.
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