I come down in between you guys' positions- though GAVie gets more points for reason (even if my hearts with the man in flairs).
My biggest regret of our scapegoating of Sanders and the need to hire an OC is that I really, really, really liked being pissed at Cutcliffe over his (nearly) Doug Dickie-esque abandonment at a crucial time. Now, given how big a stick up his COACH that COACH has when it comes to his O plan, I've got to welcome Cut because he at least can handle COACH.
I don't care how rational Cut's timing was- though I disagree Ole Miss would have looked elsewhere immediately- I don't think he handled it well. Not as bad as Dickie doing the same the night before a bowl against the team he's leaving for, but it was pretty badly played. He could've waited until after the SECCG, then announced he was going to UM after the season, but until 1/4 he was absolutely and 100% still a Vol. Instead, he left us flat, as if the job was all that mattered and loyalty wasn't something practical people valued in the real world.
I've also got to toss in that Cutcliffe was being loudly complained about by Vol fans not only before 1998, but all through the '98 season. Why? Because, not realizing how much Fulmer was interfering with O play-calling and the playbook- we blamed him for exactly the same things we've been mistakenly blaming Sanders for ever since.
All that's going to change under Cut is that he won't be as manhandled by Fulmer. And that won't make any difference unless Fulmer allows new ideas to enter his- thereby Cut's- head. We'll still be a team that gets its mental leadership from on the field or (Trooper notwithstanding) nowhere....
