Arclight
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Tuesday, 11/01/05
Seat Starts To Get Hot for Fulmer
Commentary by JOE BIDDLE
Staff Writer
Titans Coach Jeff Fisher's 2-6 record represents the worst start of his career.
Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer's 3-4 record matches the worst start of his career.
You hear little or no talk about Fisher being in any danger of losing his job.
Everyone seems to want Fulmer's head on a platter.
Fisher gets a pass because the salary cap forced the Titans to blow up the roster in the offseason. It's obvious they don't have enough NFL-ready players.
Fulmer's Vols, on the other hand, are loaded with experienced, former blue chip recruits. Rivals.com has placed the Vols in the nation's top 11 recruiting classes in four of the past five years.
Fulmer had two quarterbacks who had proven in 2004 that they were capable of handling the position. Now they have digressed to mental basket cases.
Fulmer's team was ranked No. 3 in at least one preseason poll. Fulmer didn't disagree. He said before the season that the wide receivers were the best to roam the Hill in years.
In the wake of the loss to South Carolina, Fulmer announced yesterday that offensive coordinator Randy Sanders will remain on the staff, but Fulmer will assume play-calling duties.
Don't be surprised if Sanders, wide receivers coach Pat Washington and offensive line coach Jimmy Ray Stephens aren't on the staff when the Vols kick off next season. There could be others.
Let's put the blame where it belongs.
Fulmer hired these assistants he now finds incapable. If Fulmer is not guilty of poor judgment in the hires, he obviously has allowed them to reach a point of faint accountability. They know Fulmer is loyal to a fault, thus creating a built-in comfort zone.
When Fulmer comes under fire, those in his corner offer his winning percentage over 13-plus seasons as proof he is one of college football's elite coaches.
The cold, hard facts paint a picture no card-carrying Big Orange fan will swallow.
Fulmer has won only two SEC championship in 13 seasons. He has not won one in the past seven seasons.
The Vols won a national championship under Fulmer in 1998. They beat Florida State, 23-16. It was a FSU team that had to play a backup quarterback in Marcus Outzen, who played nothing short of awful.
Six seasons have passed since the Vols played in a BCS bowl.
Although they frequently earn a top 10 ranking in recruiting, it will be four years since they finished in the top 10 of the final AP poll.
This is not a profile of a college football coach earning more than $2 million a year.
Fulmer's record against his SEC peers is equally inept.
With the loss to unranked South Carolina, Fulmer is 3-8 against Steve Spurrier. He is 1-4 against Georgia's Mark Richt and 1-3 against Auburn's Tommy Tuberville.
Demoting Sanders doesn't change those numbers. It's placing a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound.
Fulmer called his team's performance against South Carolina, "unacceptable.'' No one who saw it disagreed. The fact it came against Spurrier had to rub Fulmer raw.
Just when Fulmer thought he had exorcised all the Spurrier demons, the Ball Coach came into Fulmer's back yard with a much less talented team and found a way to win. Fulmer's program has already slipped behind Georgia and Florida. South Carolina could be next.
For the first time since he took over for Johnny Majors in what was deemed a palace coup by some Fulmer is feeling the heat.
It's not likely to get any better against Notre Dame, no matter who's calling the plays.
Seat Starts To Get Hot for Fulmer
Commentary by JOE BIDDLE
Staff Writer
Titans Coach Jeff Fisher's 2-6 record represents the worst start of his career.
Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer's 3-4 record matches the worst start of his career.
You hear little or no talk about Fisher being in any danger of losing his job.
Everyone seems to want Fulmer's head on a platter.
Fisher gets a pass because the salary cap forced the Titans to blow up the roster in the offseason. It's obvious they don't have enough NFL-ready players.
Fulmer's Vols, on the other hand, are loaded with experienced, former blue chip recruits. Rivals.com has placed the Vols in the nation's top 11 recruiting classes in four of the past five years.
Fulmer had two quarterbacks who had proven in 2004 that they were capable of handling the position. Now they have digressed to mental basket cases.
Fulmer's team was ranked No. 3 in at least one preseason poll. Fulmer didn't disagree. He said before the season that the wide receivers were the best to roam the Hill in years.
In the wake of the loss to South Carolina, Fulmer announced yesterday that offensive coordinator Randy Sanders will remain on the staff, but Fulmer will assume play-calling duties.
Don't be surprised if Sanders, wide receivers coach Pat Washington and offensive line coach Jimmy Ray Stephens aren't on the staff when the Vols kick off next season. There could be others.
Let's put the blame where it belongs.
Fulmer hired these assistants he now finds incapable. If Fulmer is not guilty of poor judgment in the hires, he obviously has allowed them to reach a point of faint accountability. They know Fulmer is loyal to a fault, thus creating a built-in comfort zone.
When Fulmer comes under fire, those in his corner offer his winning percentage over 13-plus seasons as proof he is one of college football's elite coaches.
The cold, hard facts paint a picture no card-carrying Big Orange fan will swallow.
Fulmer has won only two SEC championship in 13 seasons. He has not won one in the past seven seasons.
The Vols won a national championship under Fulmer in 1998. They beat Florida State, 23-16. It was a FSU team that had to play a backup quarterback in Marcus Outzen, who played nothing short of awful.
Six seasons have passed since the Vols played in a BCS bowl.
Although they frequently earn a top 10 ranking in recruiting, it will be four years since they finished in the top 10 of the final AP poll.
This is not a profile of a college football coach earning more than $2 million a year.
Fulmer's record against his SEC peers is equally inept.
With the loss to unranked South Carolina, Fulmer is 3-8 against Steve Spurrier. He is 1-4 against Georgia's Mark Richt and 1-3 against Auburn's Tommy Tuberville.
Demoting Sanders doesn't change those numbers. It's placing a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound.
Fulmer called his team's performance against South Carolina, "unacceptable.'' No one who saw it disagreed. The fact it came against Spurrier had to rub Fulmer raw.
Just when Fulmer thought he had exorcised all the Spurrier demons, the Ball Coach came into Fulmer's back yard with a much less talented team and found a way to win. Fulmer's program has already slipped behind Georgia and Florida. South Carolina could be next.
For the first time since he took over for Johnny Majors in what was deemed a palace coup by some Fulmer is feeling the heat.
It's not likely to get any better against Notre Dame, no matter who's calling the plays.
