Ten years have passed, and boy does time fly. As a nation we have lived through a president not having sex with a woman, an election fiasco, and two terms of G.W. Bush’s presidency. We lived through the dreaded Y2k crisis, 9/11/2001, started a war in two countries and are on the cusp of another presidential election.
On a lighter note when it comes to SEC football this decade has played like a bad episode of “Days of Our Lives.
We have seen Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban leave the SEC in order to satisfy their retirement planning, only to return to the greener less demanding pastures of college football.
Phil Fulmer got his detective badge for working with the NCAA to get Bama placed on probation and in this same time span. Kentucky landed on probation as well, no thanks to Hal Mumme, and they ended up with Guy Morris and then turned to the geriatric ranks with Rich Brooks.
The Alabama football team went the Mensa route in search of head coaches. They have gone through five of the brightest men on the planet. Since 1998 Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, and Mike Shula have all graced the Bammer sidelines with their presence. (Technically Mike Price never made it to the sidelines, but he did bag a stripper.)
Another bright bulb found a job replacing the most prolific mind ever to coach in the SEC. That happened in Gainesville, and is known as the great Ron Zook experiment. Zook promptly stole Charlie Strong who was one of Lou Holtz’s assistants at South Carolina. Holtz bailed just before allegations of impropriety caught up with him again in Columbia.
Jim Donnan left a Marshall program in pretty good shape only to slide down to Athens and prolong the agony left behind by Ray Goff. Since Donnan’s departure the Georgia fans have embraced their newest savior in Mark Richt. I have heard if you put your ear to the ground in Georgia you can hear the constant wailing of Bulldog football fans quietly whispering, “Wait until next year”. Where have I heard that before?
Of course some of the drama has a happy ending. While it was sad to see Jackie Sherrill leave the Mississippi State program, that did pave the way for a long awaited milestone in the SEC as Sylvester Croom became the league’s first black head football coach. It was a long time coming. Who will get Croomed this year?
Then there is the Houston Nutt ordeal. Nutt allegedly turned down an offer to coach the Nebraska Cornhuskers in order to return to the hotbed of talent and tradition known as Arkansas football. In turn the Razorback’s fans treated him to a dose of blackberry tracing and an air show replete with banners carrying unsavory messages.
Now, Bobby “the genius quitter” Petrino is in at Arkansas, and Nutt is at Ole Miss where David Cutcliffe was ushered out in favor of Colonel Reb, Ed Orgeron….can anyone say Brent Shaffa?
Some speculate Cutcliffe may not have left the Vols after the 1998 season if Tubbs didn’t bolt the Ole Miss sidelines to take the reigns at Auburn. That is where the drama all started with Tennessee.
You see, for all of the things that have happened in SEC football since 1998, one thing has not occurred. Tennessee has not won an SEC championship. Many UT fans often conclude that events leading to the drought were set in motion when Randy Sanders was promoted to offensive coordinator. That may be true. This football team certainly didn’t get any better as long as he held the reigns, and when it was time for him to go, David Cutcliffe came out of retirement to help Fulmer put things back in order on the Hill.
Amid the chaos of the SEC in the last ten years, Tennessee has had the very same football coach and a stable coaching environment. According to recruits they still like the family atmosphere. Sometimes it just seems like the family got dysfunctional somewhere along the way. Stability doesn’t do fans any favors if it doesn’t result in championships.
Hopefully Dave Clawson is the answer the Vols recent drought. Some speculate that the new offensive staff offers will excuse a 10th year without an SEC title. I couldn’t disagree more. The drama in the SEC is now coming to an end. Other teams are getting the coaches and players in place to compete for national championships. It is time for Fulmer to prove that he is in step to do the very same.