UT FOOTBALL PROGRAM STATUS

[rockydoc]

After a less than stellar recruiting year, plus coming off a losing season, it appears that 2006 will be a make or break year fo the Fulmer regime. I think he must win 10 games to regain the luster that brings top recruits to UT. This IMO is achievable.

The reasons for the mediocre recruiting class were the following: 1) The shakeup in coaching staff. (I know Washington and Sanders are solid recruiters) 2)obviously coming off a 5-6 year hurt, 3) not a lot of outstanding in-state talent this year, and 4) the competition from the likes of Ritch, Meyer, Tuby etc. has made it harder to raid neighboring states.

I view CPF in the same catagory as a Bobby Cremmons was in basketball at Ga. Tech in that he was a great recruiter and could win and achieve lofty goals with outstanding talent but when these coaches start winding up with average talent their sucess falls off rapidly and ultimately leads to their termination.

So I think it behooves CPF to utilize the stockpile of talent to win big next year to get back in the upper echelon of recruiting rank. I personally am hoping this will happen but am not going to wager on it.

:snoring: Good night and this is the last that I have to say about FB until Spring Practice. Lets enjoy our fine ladies and men's BB teams through the rest of the season and the NCAA tourney.

 

[patrick]

Amen Rocky. I am with on this one. Fulmer better get to coaching or get to packing!!!!1

 

[smokedog#3]

fulmer is alot like john cooper was at ohio state. excellent recruiter and a below average coach especially on the offensive side of the ball. if he doesn't turn things around he will share the same fate.

 

[IBleedOrange]

fulmer is alot like john cooper was at ohio state. excellent recruiter and a below average coach especially on the offensive side of the ball. if he doesn't turn things around he will share the same fate.

i just cant buy into the fact that he is a below average coach, i mean i'm not trying to pick a fight here but i can't understand how a below average coach can win back-to-back sec titles and a national title. now, granted that was a long time ago, and if he had only won one sec title and only been there once i could see how he could be below average cause anybody can get lucky once, but he won it in 97 &98 obviously and went back in '01 and '04, being in the SECCG 4 times is not just dumb luck, you have to be a pretty dang good coach to do that. and as for the national title, i dont believe any below average coach can luck up and win a national title, especially going undefeated in the process. i'm just willing to bet that a lot of people here tend to forget pretty quick that it was just 2 years ago some of these same players were in the SECCG and on the other hand knows what it feels like to go 5-6.

 

[CSpindizzy]

This is part of what I said in another post. I think it really holds true to Fulmer:

He was top in his day. He was the field marshall on the field and in the sport. But honestly, and this is not a slap at him, I seriously think the sport is evolving with the times and Fulmer is not changing. Whether we think his style and efforts are good or not, he is being left behind. If he wants to survive he will have to evolve as well. I think that generally explains a slide recently. He's kept up with the learning curve with his head above water but now he's tiring out and sinking. Honestly, for his sake and UT's sake, I hope he comes back. But if he keeps sinking something else will have to be done.

 

[smokedog#3]

sometimes the talent on the team makes fulmer look better than he really is. cooper if he had won it all in 98 would still be at ohio state. the same way i feel if fulmer hadn't won it all in 98 he would be unemployed. i feel if we would have had a better coach say nick saben 93-01, tennessee could have won atleast 6 sec championships and 3 NC's instead of 2 sec titles and 1 NC. saban was a great coach, spurrier is a great coach. richt and tubberville are bordering on greatness, but they still have work to do, fulmer is overated. we will see down the road in my prediction, florida and georgia will own us and south carolina will get us more times than we beat them.

 

[IBleedOrange]

This is part of what I said in another post. I think it really holds true to Fulmer:

He was top in his day. He was the field marshall on the field and in the sport. But honestly, and this is not a slap at him, I seriously think the sport is evolving with the times and Fulmer is not changing. Whether we think his style and efforts are good or not, he is being left behind. If he wants to survive he will have to evolve as well. I think that generally explains a slide recently. He's kept up with the learning curve with his head above water but now he's tiring out and sinking. Honestly, for his sake and UT's sake, I hope he comes back. But if he keeps sinking something else will have to be done.

yeah, i'll admit he needs to change his philosophy and that being able to overcome and adapt with everybody else is part of being a great coach

 

[IBleedOrange]

sometimes the talent on the team makes fulmer look better than he really is. cooper if he had won it all in 98 would still be at ohio state. the same way i feel if fulmer hadn't won it all in 98 he would be unemployed. i feel if we would have had a better coach say nick saben 93-01, tennessee could have won atleast 6 sec championships and 3 NC's instead of 2 sec titles and 1 NC. saban was a great coach, spurrier is a great coach. richt and tubberville are bordering on greatness, but they still have work to do, fulmer is overated. we will see down the road in my prediction, florida and georgia will own us and south carolina will get us more times than we beat them.

well if i remember correctly, we were supposed to be semi-rebuilding in '98 since peyton just left and tee was the new QB and nobody had us picked to win it all and '04 was a year that could have went either way with freshmen QB's but we ended up in the SECCG. now on the other hand he obviously did flop this past year with what appeared to be tons of talent and in '03 i believe he had a lot of talent and went 8-5 (i think??) and ironically enough we were picked to do big things in '03 and '05 and failed, in '98 and '04 we weren't expected to do much and shocked a lot of people. also i remember a lot of people praising fulmer in '04 for the job he did with the freshmen QB's, so i dont think it's necessarily the talent he puts on the field all the time

 

[CSpindizzy]

yeah, i'll admit he needs to change his philosophy and that being able to overcome and adapt with everybody else is part of being a great coach

I just see Fulmer being left behind. In the SEC we now have some new blood with new styles. Richt, Miles, Orgeron, Meyer, Shula....you can say younger but I just say a more modernized system. It's a new style completely. Either we adjust to that new style or they will continue to take us out year after year in recruiting, practice, field of play or whatever. Fulmer used to be the biggest, baddest lion in the jungle but now there's a few new lions using guerilla warfare.

 

[secfanclub]

Alot of good points being made. I too believe that football is continuing to evolve and coaches like CPF are sticking with the same philosophy and strategies that have worked before but find that they are not as effective now. An example would be the quick pass from the line of scrimmage. Every team we played last year knew the Vols were going to use the quick pass and some even had an opportunity to pick off the pass or tackle the receiver at or behind the line of scrimmage. There will always be an opportunity to use that play but not to the extent that it has been used. The Vols need to revamp or at least add some new plays to the playbook. I hope coach Cut uses more imaginative plays instead of the ones we have been using for the past number of years. For goodness sake, at least keep the opposing defense guessing at what plays we may use. Secondly, Smokedog you are right about the talent helping CPF look better than he really is at coaching. The Vols need to develop the talent that is brought in. Some ex-Vols look alot better in the pros than they did playing at UT. Thirdly, I believe that the Vols saw a noticeable decline in performance during Kelly Washington's "reign" at UT. He was getting all the attention at the expense of the team. Nothing destroys team unity than having a "prima donna" player who thinks he is above the team. Team unity seems to be one of the factors that the Vols have been lacking since Washington left the team. It seems that this attitude has carried over from those days. I hope CPF can turn the program around. Obviously, it's going to take alot of work.

 

[therickbol]

I have to agree with the opinion that Fulmer can coach. I think it is obvious common sense that there is enough parity in terms of talent in college football that a coach absolutely CANNOT go undefeated, win a NC, go to numerous SECCG's, and have the winning % that Fulmer does on talent ALONE.

 

[milohimself]

To the idea that it's a make or break year... In today's college football climate, every year is a make or break year.

That said, I will chime in the same. Good points all around. In the recruiting game, I could sit back and make cheap shots at SEC recruiting, but I'll pass. All I will say is that Fulmer was a quality recruiter, probably the best in the SEC during the 90's. But now, there are coaches coming in that are starting to lock down the money states (Alabama and Georgia, primarily). Richt has done an especially great job of locking down Georgia, and Alabama is still in the process of closing down its borders between the recruiting prowess of Alabama and Auburn. Tennessee, unfortunately, does not produce a great level of in-state talent.

Regarding the actual games, I can see what you guys are saying with Fulmer not evolving and getting by only with the talent that he manages to get, and if he can't sustain it he will be done. This is probably the worst case scenario. This is, however, why much of the coaching staff changed. Of course, a lot of the letdown probably has to do with the 5-6 season we all just suffered through. With smashmouth football, however, the main part is just getting the players to execute. I know we all ripped on Fulmer this year for using the excuse time after time, but from the games I saw (about 3/4 of them this year, tough to see them all in Oregon) the players on offense never had any passion whatsoever. It was sad to watch. None of the receivers ever made that extra effort to grab the ball, the offensive line was just going through the motions, and I don't even have to mention the quarterbacking.

I trust Cut to come back in and help light a fire under the players hind-parts. It's all about passion, and our offense had zero this last year. And if that doesn't work out... There will be a fire under Fulmer's butt.

 

[jakez4ut]

I posted this in another thread a few weeks ago, and sticking to my guns, this is what i think honestly....that doesn't mean that CPF gets to stay here forever, and he gets a pass, it means that as long as our program keeps or surpasses expectations year in and year out, then who ever is coaching should stay. When it's proven not to be the case, then it's time to make a change....but here goes:

The opinion of UT Football..hmm. though this year sucked big time, when you look back over the years, and hopefully years to come, there is one thing that you alwasy have to come back to..."ARE WE IN CONTENTION FOR OUR CONF. TITLE ON A REGULAR BASIS?". Which really means, are we competitive with the top teams in the conf. regularly. Now, going back to 2000 to now, there is a definite drop off for us against the rest of the big boys of the league. But what you have to consider is this, are we as capable of beating those teams as they are of beating us? Usually the answer it YES. YOu can't win 'em all, though it would be nice.

2004 was a perfect example. We were not expected to do anything but finish 3rd in the East behind UF and UGA. And at the end of the year, no one was all that suprised though that we won the EAST. There's a reason for that.

While we all have justified gripes with the way this season was handled and all have differing opinions of what is to come in the future, there's still one thing that cannot be overlooked. Year in and year out we are usually in the discussion of winning the division (or just playing in the CCG for those that say we don't "win" anything) and/or conference.

And at the end of the day, that's really all you can ask for as a fan. i'd rather be in the discussion, or be a factor, than not be heard from at all, like the MSU, Ole Miss, Vandy's, USC(until this and next season anyway), and Kentucky's of the world.

Let's face it, over the past 5 years, this conference has developed in to a 6 way race for the title every year, and with the addition of Spurrier at USC, and based on what he'd done down there this year, you'd have to think they'll be in the mix as well in the future...

No team has repeated as conf. champs since we did it in 97 & 98, right?. And i think it will be a while before you see a team come out and dominate like UF did in the 90's.

So, overall i'm still happy with the status of this program just not recent performance of this program.

Which could lead to the direction of the program..which is a nother important part of this equation...are you going up, down, staying still? While i wouldn't say we've acheived the same success we did in the 90's by any stretch, we have won the East twice (or again, played in the SECCG twice) since 2000, we've played in Bowl games every year, so w/out a BCS berth or a conf. champ in the last 5-7 years, i would lean RIGHT NOW to saying we're staying still. Given that we have already had a losing season this year, should we follow it up next season with another crapola season, we will have done a complete 180, and going down hill fast. But if you really want to see a team that was heading down hill...go to Lincoln, NE and State College, PA (at least until this year), and Tuscaloosa, AL (also at least until this year), and South Bend, IN (also until this year). All of those hit VERY rocky times, much rockier than we have seen thus far (barring a losing season or two&#33.

there's still a chance to turn it around w/out having to go thru what those afformentioned programs had/have to endure.

That doesn't make me complacent or willing to settle, it just makes me a realist. And i can tell you one thing, with the excepiton of Penn St., the other programs mentioned above, there was one thing that all of them wen thru...multiple coaching changes at the HC position in a very short period of time. As bad as this year has been, and despite the shortcomings we've had in the past few seasons, you have to take the GOOD as well....it's not all about the shortcomings. We all agree that things were done, and mistakes were made and CPF was ultiamately responsible for that, but with that you just can't discount his winning %, Back to back SEC titles, 13 consecutive years of bowl appearances, and a national title.

We'll be back folks...trust me. So relax, it's not near as bad as some would have you think it is. :rock: