Posts Tagged ‘Nick Saban’

In case you hadn’t seen Lane Kiffin’s comments at a recruiting celebration/function thingy in Knoxville this morning…

“Just so you know, when a recruit’s on another campus, you can’t call a recruit on another campus. I love the fact that Urban had to cheat, and still didn’t get him (Vol signee Nu’Keese Richardson). Great job man!”

If Lane was making a checklist of teams in the league to really piss off, he’s got the biggest rivals covered: he got the Chickens all riled up by taking David Reaves and jabbing back at Steve Spurrier’s insinuation that Kiffin hadn’t taken the NCAA required recruiting test.

Next was Alabama, as Kiffin took Lance Thompson and hired him out from under Nick Saban. He then had a number of Crimson Tide purchases commits take official visits to Knoxville. And finally, at today’s same event, he said Saban should thank Thompson for basically signing a large part of their mythical Rivals.com National Championship.

He even got under LSU’s skin just for kicks, and I for one don’t even really hate the Tigers. Janzen Jackson’s joining the Vols provided me a great way to start my Thursday, and it’s safe to say LSU fans probably don’t like us much.

And finally, the Gators. How to make Urban mad: (1) Joke about singing Rocky Top all night long after beating them in Gainesville next year at your opening presser. (2) Take two of their long-time commits, one of which following a weekend-before-signing-day official visit. (3) Take jabs at their coach, and straight-up call him a cheater.

Uhhhh…

If you’re a Vol and don’t like this, you’re crazy. Why? OK, yes, we’re probably going to get killed at Florida next year – they are where we want to be. But this is yet another aspect of this new regime: no more playing nice. Not anymore will a Tennessee just take a jab. Nope, we’re starting stuff now, people.

A favorite form of procrastination of mine is perusing the recruiting board on Rivals, affectionately called the “main board”. Kiffin and Tennessee are getting lit up something fierce right now by hordes of Gates, Bammers, occasional Carolina and LSU fans, and even non-SEC school types. And you know what? I’m enjoying it. Sure, we’re taking our shots now and all, and playing at Florida and at Alabama is going to be rough next year (can’t be as rough as ‘07 though, right?), but…

You’re next, Georgia…

– … to me.

Check out the Full Poll Results at Garnet and Black Attack!

SEC Power Poll All-SEC Team

Well, my good friends over at Garnet and Black Attack—who bring you the SEC Power Poll—have decided that the Power Poll voters have just as much right to name an All-SEC team as we do to rank the SEC teams on a weekly basis (that would be none, but we do it anyway).  Thus, soon the first ever SEC Power Poll All-SEC team will be released for all to admire.

Either way, here’s my ballot for the SEC Power Poll All-SEC Team.  Feel free to enlighten me if you think I have missed someone or been led astray…

In all its radiant glory:

Offense:

• QB:   Tim Tebow (Florida)
• RB:   Knowshon Moreno (Georgia)
• RB:   Glen Coffee (Alabama)
• WR:  Julio Jones (Alabama)
• WR:  Mohamed Massaquoi (Georgia)
• TE:   Jared Cook (South Carolina)
• C:     Jonathan Luigs (Arkansas)
• OL:   Anthony Parker (Tennessee)
• OL:   John Jerry (Ole Miss)
• OL:   Herman Johnson (LSU)
• OL:   Phil Trautwein (Florida)

Defense:

• DE:   Rahim Alem (LSU)
• DE:   Robert Ayers (Tennessee)
• DT:   Terrence Cody (Alabama)
• DT:   Peria Jerry (Ole Miss)
• LB:   Patrick Benoist (Vanderbilt)
• LB:   Jasper Brinkley (South Carolina)
• LB:   Rolando McLain (Alabama)
• CB:   D.J. Moore (Vanderbilt)
• CB:   Trenard Lindley (Kentucky)
• S:     Eric Berry (Tennessee)
• S:     Emanuel Cook (South Carolina)

Special Teams:

• K:     Colt David (LSU)
• KR:   Brandon James (Florida)
• P:     Brian Mims (Georgia)
• PR:   Javier Arenas (Alabama)

Coach of the Year:

Not that anyone asked me, but for my two cents I believe that the Right Reverend Houston Nutt has more than earned SEC Coach of the Year honors.  I’ll also give Nick Saban an honorable mention at second place for this award.

Totals by Team:

Here are the total number of selections by team from my ballot, with Alabama coming out far ahead of everyone.

	Alabama Crimson Tide	6		Ole Miss Rebels	2
	Georgia Bulldogs	3		Vanderbilt Commodores	2
	LSU Tigers	3		Arkansas Razorbacks	1
	South Carolina Gamecocks	3		Kentucky Wildcats	1
	Tennessee Volunteers	3		Auburn Tigers	0
	Florida Gators	2		Mississippi State Bulldogs	0

The Rest of the Power Poll

Now that you have wasted your time looking at my ballot for the SEC Power Poll All-SEC Team, go check out what everybody else is saying over at Garnet and Black Attack, where the final poll results will be posted in the coming days.

– Go Figure …

Miss Me?

Those of you who normally visit us here at the Gate will obviously noticed that, well, I have been non-existent since Thanksgiving. No lawvol did not ban me, change my password and lock me out of WordPress, and I have not quit blogging or anything else.

Simply put, I’ve had to finish up this semester with finals and studying and all that nonsense. Then there was the painting of our apartment, which is more than likely what I was doing when I wasn’t studying. As it is, I’m back in Memphis for the between-semester break.

Quite a bit has gone on since my last posting, and I’m sure I’ll have more on these things and others as they come about over the next however long. As it is here’s what I’ll touch on right here and right now with Vols football and hoops:

1. Farewill Philip Fulmer and hello Lane (and Monte) Kiffin.

Some Vol fan might have shed a tear or two, but I was all smiles of happiness watching Fulmer go out the way he did and the way he should be remembered: a winner

First off, an absolutely great performance in the season finale for the Vols as they beat Kentucky 28-10. The defense finished off an excellent season and the offense actually scored four touchdowns, running left, right, up the middle, around the end, all over the Cats. Even Jonathan Crompton completed that beautiful touchdown pass to Denarius Moore.

If there was a way for Coach Fulmer to go out, that might have been it: being carried off the field by a pair of seniors going out as a winner.

Honestly, that seems like a distant memory now, because these last two weeks have been all about new head coach Lane Kiffin and (a) the speculation of the staff he might/is assemble/ing and (b) the Sherman like march of recruiting. I think the guy finally returned to Knoxville a couple of days ago after tearing through the state, the West Coast, Ohio, and who knows where else. He’s gotten a commitment from Eric Gordon, some visits from guys who weren’t probably planning on it, and consideration from guys who might have had Tennessee out of the picture.

I am convinced Lane Kiffin did not sleep during his two week recruiting tear...

It’s obviously been two weeks as Tennessee’s coach, but so far so good if you ask me. He said at his press conference that he was going to try and outwork other coaches, and so far you can’t really say he hasn’t done that. And we’re still waiting on the completion of his staff, which won’t happen until after the NFL season most likely. Of the last regime coaches who are still in limbo, I would expect Latrell Scott to be the most likely to stay. And of course I think it’s all-but-official on Monte Kiffin as the defensive coordinator, which is great. Still awaiting word on Ed Orgeron and the rest of the staff. Lane was given an extra million for staff salaries, and Tennessee fans are being kept waiting on the potentially all-star staff Tennessee could have next year.

Finally, as fans, let’s give this guy a chance. If you watched the SEC Championship game, you realize we are quite a bit behind Florida. In fact, I firmly believe that the SEC going forward will be an Urban-Saban world that the rest of us will be living in. To be competitive, Tennessee was going to have to hire someone who could compete with those two guys in recruiting and X’s and O’s. Is Lane Kiffin that guy? Only time will tell. Some are skeptical (you know who you are), but I’m not. He’s young, he’s energetic, and I think he has a chance to be great.

Also, a shout-out to former offensive coordinator Dave Clawson, now the new head man at Bowling Green. Seriously, I wish him much success at his new place, and I’m glad he landed very much on his feet. Now I just hope he doesn’t take Latrell Scott with him…

2. Eric Berry gets Manninged

Someone explain to me how Eric Berry didn’t win the Thorpe award over Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins. I know Jenkins is like a no-brainer first round NFL pick and whatever and it’s harder to make a statistical impact at corner because you don’t get thrown to blah blah blah but that’s pure robbery.

It’s crap like that gives me plenty of reason to not care about any of the postseason awards, including and especially the Heisman. Call me a homer, bitter, whatever, but just like much of the rest of college football, it’s quite political.

Playing a DECEMBER road game against a team with a guy named Christmas: bad idea

3. Not sure any of us expected that…

My last basketball related words were of the high-praise variety, following the Vols win over Georgetown in the Old Spice Classic semifinals. Since then, Tennessee lost to a good Gonzaga team, sleep-walked by UNC-Asheville (mad props to Tyler Smith for turning the first triple-double in Tennessee hoops history), and got smoked by a Temple team playing at a high level at home.

Now I’m an optimistic guy, so here’s why Vols fans shouldn’t be totally freaking out: first, J.P. Prince was out and, though he gets a bad rap at times, he is quite a valuable guy for Tennessee. In addition, this was Tennessee’s first true road game with a number of new guys, Temple is no slouch, it’s still December, and Bruce Pearl is the coach. Remember two years ago when Tennessee went to South Carolina in mid-February and got run out of the gym similar to Saturday? Yeah, that team had less athleticism and they reached the Sweet 16. Let’s not get too bent out of shape here…

That said, things aren’t all hunky-dory. Defense is an issue. The press has been for the most part ineffective especially against Gonzaga and Temple, both of whom have experienced guards. Wayne Chism has yet to continue the growth and progress he made last year, and the platoon of him and Brian Williams have struggled the last couple of games. The three-point shooting has also been inconsistent.

It doesn’t get easier, as Tennessee faces off against Marquette in Nashville Tuesday night. The Eagles also have experienced guards in Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. It will be interesting to see how Tennessee will bounce back from Saturday’s loss.

I will be in the house for that game, and if for no other reason, Tennessee should win because I’ve seen Tennessee lose in person all of twice in my most immediate past: LSU in the SEC Tournament two years ago and the loss at Memphis State in Bruce’s first year. I’ll have my camera, so hopefully I’ll get some quality photos and/or video and get to share them with you, the wonderful readers of Gate 21 (no guarantees, however…)

As it is, I’m glad to be back posting again and lawvol and I should have some good stuff going this month.

Images Courtesy of: Michael Patrick / KNS • Michael Patrick / KNS • H. Rumph Jr. / AP (ESPN.com)

Mixed Emotions Reign

As I was making my breakfast shortly before 11 a.m. (I don’t have class on Mondays…), I begin to hear my phone buzzing uncontrollably. Now I’m a pretty popular guy, but not that popular. I’m thinking something’s up, like maybe Tennessee had made a move. I open it up to read…

“After 16 seasons, Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer will announce at 5 p.m. today that he is stepping aside at the end of the season.”

My first reaction is to obviously find some outlet to see if it’s true or not, and I find VolQuest with the news. I start getting more texts from people telling/asking me about it. I don’t really know what things were like on campus because I didn’t ever get on campus but I do know word got around real quick amongst the students.

As I listened to the Sports Animal here in Knoxville while doing some schoolwork and waiting for 5 p.m., I had a number of things running through my mind. Here is a guy who’s spent basically his entire life serving this University and this football program and he has to go out like this. Phillip Fulmer is the only head football coach at Tennessee that I’ve really ever known. How will it look for me for someone else to be running it? What will happen to our all our recruits? Is anybody gonna transfer?

Fulmer

Let me reiterate: Phillip Fulmer is the only head football coach at Tennessee I’ve ever known. I knew it would have to end someday, but like this?

Watching that press conference was torturous. If you didn’t find that press conference hard to watch, I might have to question you as a Tennessee fan. Seriously. It was tougher than watching any of our games this year, and that’s obviously saying something. At first I could hardly even look at Tuesday’s News-Sentinel, which had a front page close-up photo of Fulmer fighting off his own tears.

2008 has been that kind of season, but who really expected this??

Seeing Fulmer up there sincerely saying what he had to say, I found myself fighting off tears. And I DO NOT cry. Ever. It became painfully obvious — and Brent Hubbs and Chris Low said this on local news shortly after — that Fulmer was more or less fired. He said he expected to turn it around next year. I still hope and think it was a mutual decision, and that’s probably what I’ll accept as truth for my own psyche.

Now I’ve had a few laughs at the expense of our team this year and at the state of our program, but I hated where it was. That said, I made sure not to ever be too hard on Fulmer, because he’s the only coach I’ve ever known here and because of what he’s done for the entire University of Tennessee.

After the loss to South Carolina Saturday night, I knew there was no way he could survive this season. Close losses are one thing, but not even being competitive against half the SEC and losing to a lower-level Pac-10 school are a different deal. I knew this day was going to come, but I wasn’t thinking it would be Monday. Honestly I’m not sure how ready I was for it.

Being a positive guy, I’m trying to find reasons to be positive in my head while deep down in my heart I hurt for the man and his family (I’m 99% sure I have a class with the daughter that’s still in school) and the players, who I think feel some anger towards the fan base, as being a cause for all this. I generally see a handful of them around campus on Tuesdays. This Tuesday? Probably no more than two. And I must say they have a right to be pissed off…

But there are reasons to be positive, to be happy. For starters, so far only one of our twenty-something commitments have officially bailed. Now, I’m expecting there to be more, and really the only hope for most of the offensive guys is keeping Latrell Scott and Stan Drayton on board. That remains to be seen. Tajh Boyd, because I think he knows he can start next fall, and both the junior college defensive tackles remain just about in stone as well.

Secondly, despite this have to end with a potentially bowl-less, sub-.500 SEC record, Fulmer will and should get the honoring he absolutely, 100%, without a doubt deserves this weekend against Wyoming and three weeks from now against Kentucky. I for one plan to cut my Thanksgiving break short to drive back up from Memphis to be there for Fulmer’s last game in Neyland Stadium. I can only hope the rest of the fan base — no matter how divided it really is — chooses to do the same.

Fulmer brought home the 1998 National Championship, which now seems like it was forever ago...

Finally, let’s be honest. Would Fulmer have turned it around? We’ll obviously never know, and many will argue that a guy who’s done what Phil’s done for this University should be allowed to stay under his own terms, much like Bobby Bowden at Florida State and Joe Paterno at Penn State (really though, how much real coaching does JoePa really do? c’mon people…) have been able to do. Florida State was in the ACC race til this past Saturday and Penn State appears to be headed to an unbeaten season and a Big Ten title.

But the SEC isn’t the ACC or the Big Ten. I don’t have much reason to believe that Tennessee was going to turn anything around with Alabama returning to power and Florida, Georgia, LSU, and the rest of this excellent league. Fulmer has had his struggles against Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, the last two meetings with both being total routs. Was he really going to be able to turn it around playing these two guys on a yearly basis?

There are probably many people who wanted Fulmer gone who now suddenly change their minds, asking how Mike Hamilton could have done what he’s done. I’m not sure he had a choice. When you have widespread booing (that/whom I vehemently boo) and fans selling their tickets to Alabama fans to the point where there’s easily over 25,000 of them in every section of the Stadium then you have apathy.

I was talking with a friend of mine who goes to Auburn Monday afternoon and other than sharing our pains of really bad football seasons, I told him I hope it doesn’t ever get that bad for them as it was for us in terms of fan apathy. It’s been so terribly evident this year. You could even see it this past Saturday night in Columbia – the orange that was there was sparse and mostly gone by the fourth quarter.

I would argue that this apathy was more damning to Fulmer’s cause than his 3-6 record and his team’s lack of competitiveness in the Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina games and lack of improvement through the course of this season.

So who’s next? That’s the (multi-)million dollar question. Mike Hamilton has a tough job ahead of him, and I hope he finds the right man for this job. Who do I want to see as Tennessee’s next coach? I’m not going to answer that yet, though I know very well who my answer is.

I won’t get into all that because this season isn’t over yet. As bad as it sounds for a program like Tennessee, I really, really, REALLY want to make it into a bowl game this year. For Coach Fulmer. For the players. I want Coach Fulmer to go out as a winner — literally. Obviously he’s won so much here and done so much that he’s a Tennessee football legend no matter what. But I want him to win his last four games here, even if the fourth is in Memphis or Shreveport.

Whether you wanted him gone or not, take one of these last three/four games and support a man who’s committed his life to this University and this football program. Throw the records and whatever else out the door — the man DESERVES it.

Images Courtesy of: SESB • Amy Smotherman-Burgess (GoVolsXtra) • Tennessee Official Athletic Site

It’s Bama Week

No Alabama-Tennessee week would be complete without a Big Orange Roundtable, and the Vols over at Third Saturday in Blogtober have been gracious enough to include us in a joint roundtable with their Bammer counterparts in a Orange/White/Crimson Roundtable.

Two side notes: first, if you haven’t been reading the loads of great stuff over at 3SIB, please do so NOW. Never has there been such a great place to see so much good-natured trash talk as there has been over there this week. Second, if you’re looking for the On Remote post, don’t worry: it’s coming tomorrow.

Anyways, to this week’s great questions, which oddly enough have a dominant Stars Wars theme. I’m proud (and comfortable enough with myself) to say that I absolutely loved Star Wars in my elementary school days when the three original movies were “remade.” I had everything – books, action figures of all sizes, models, playsets, etc. – you name it, I probably had it. Seriously, Star Wars was just plain awesome to me (keep word there being was) back in those days.

So of course I quite a laugh out of these week’s questions, and the answers so far have been pretty good. I’ll try to do what I can to keep them up. Anyways…

Death Star

1. Both teams at some point or another have been described as an Evil Empire. If your team is the Death Star, what is it’s planet-destroying weapon?

This is a no-brainer: Eric Freaking Berry. He is a human missile, whether it’s closing in on any throw by the opposing QB or the helpless ballcarrier breaking into the second level. Seriously, you see this aspect of Berry’s game pretty well when you sit at field level a couple times like I have the past two home games.

Berry already destroyed a few things this year, like Knowshon Moreno and Mississippi State specifically. I can’t wait to see who is next (Julio Jones? Glen Coffee?  J.P. Wilson? Rolando McClain?). If Tennessee had 22 Eric Berrys, the Vols would beat the Titans (are the Tennessee Titans really the NFL’s best team?? seriously??) by 30 points – and that’s on an off day.

Get owned Knowshon

Berry is a special special player. A once-in-a-lifetime type player. And he’s just a sophomore. He still has half his career left – assuming he stays four years. And as of this week I’m one of his over 3,300 friends on Facebook…

More like fifty-meter wide for Tennessee

2. What is its two meter wide exhaust port?

Easily the toughest question this week…where do I start? At first it was the QB play. That’s changed. Then it was special teams (I bet we punt to Javier Arenas Saturday night too). Britton’s back now. Then it was the running back rotation. Lennon Creer was the leading rusher against Mississippi State. At times it’s the schemes in the secondary. The Vols had two pick-sixes and gave up 3 points last week.

I guess that leaves me with the offensive line. It doesn’t matter who you put at running back if the line can’t open up any holes. With Anthony Parker potentially out Saturday night, the line becomes really thin. For all the hype these guys got in the preseason, they have to be the biggest disappointment, right?

Here’s to hoping it stops Saturday night. Terrence Cody is now out, so that helps tremendously. This line needs to just get pissed off and blow Bama up in the trenches. It’s going to be a real challenge, but I think these guys are capable. I mean, have you seen Vlad Richard? Jacques McClendon benches over 600 pounds. It’s not like Ramon Foster and Chris Scott are little guys, either…

My weak attempt at my first fark: Darth Saban...man do we need Lawvol back or what??

3. Everyone is looking forward to Eric Berry vs. Julio Jones. What is the next matchup you’ll be keying on in this game?

In the trenches. Bammer has been really studly along the lines in both of their best games this year, the win over Clemson and the first half battering of Georgia in Athens last month. Tennessee in the trenches? Ehh…

Surprisingly, the defensive front hasn’t played that bad. They had Tyson Lee running for his life last weekend (perhaps giving them a confidence boost), knocked NIU’s QB out and were everywhere against Auburn as well. Unfortunately, Alabama is none of those. Georgia pushed the Vols around, but that had as much to do with the fact the Tennessee defense played 80 snaps than anything else, really.

Alabama has the best offensive line that Tennessee has faced to this point. If they can slow down the Tide rushing attack and get some hurries on Wilson, it greatly enhances Tennessee’s chances for the win. Obviously that’s easier said than done, but it’s not impossible by any means.

I’ve already discussed the other side of the trenches coin in Question #3, so I won’t go much into that. But Tennessee will have to run the ball to have a prayer of winning Saturday night. Can they do it?

4. The Tide and Vols will scrap it out under the lights at Neyland. Do you like this arrangement and does the later kickoff time provide an advantage to either team?

I would imagine if any advantage comes from the time of the game itself, it’s Tennessee, simply because naturally night SEC games are supposedly louder than earlier games. Or so says the theory – I might just be reaching, looking for anything to increase my very slim hopes that the Vols don’t get run out of the stadium…

Seriously, though, the crowd – those that have been there (only my fellow idiot students have been lacking, leaving over 1,000 for the Bammers), at least – has been pretty into the past two night games for a MAC team and a bottom-level SEC team. If they aren’t amped up for freakin’ Alabama, then…well I don’t even think that’s possible. How long before the Tide crush any hope is the real key…

As for if I like this arrangement, that’s just silly. Of course!! Tailgating and gamedays are one of favorite aspects of being here in Knoxville and being in college. And now I get to enjoy it for probably something like 8 hours Saturday.

Advantage – me!

5. Since the Tide had a bye week and the Vols didn’t bother to play that weekend either (zing!) we’re going to say this is the Third Saturday in October just to justify the name of one of the greatest rivalries in college football. In three thousand words or less, turn over the kettles of white-hot liquid hate upon thine enemy.

I believe that (a) I already addressed this yesterday and (b) I certainly went over the 3,000 word limit. So I’ll just take the easy, slacker way out and link it. CLICK HERE!!!

Update: by Lawvol…

Hopefully, HSH won’t take it personally that I am adding to his post, but he did call me out on the fark of Saban.

Thus, here are my humble additions to the Star Wars Edition:

Can the Jedi Prevail?

-OR-

Will Darkness Take Control?

The Rest of the Roundtable is linked here. Please go read their answers, their’s are probably better than mine – though I did like my answer to #4 (and it brought some great comments). Hopefully Lawvol can get a chance to post his own as comments – this is his site after all…

- 3SIB
- Curveballs For Jesus
- Fulmer’s Belly
- YMSWWC
- SESB

Images Courtesy of: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images (Daylife)

[Note:  This post is exceptionally long—even for me—and I apologize for this.  I simply felt that a lot of these things needed saying, and I really haven't heard them elsewhere.  Thus, if you'll forgive my long-windedness,  I promise there is a point to this.  I just felt this that this isn't a simple issue, and thus I needed to explain.  -Lawvol]

Of all the posts I have ever written as a blogger, all the comments I have ever posted on message boards and other blogs, all the public professions I have ever made regarding the Tennessee Volunteers, this one is by far the most difficult one for me.  I’d really rather not be in the position of feeling it necessary to write this.  To fail to address the issue, however, would be to ignore the giant looming cloud over the heads of all of the Vol-faithful, regardless of their thoughts or position.

Obviously, I am talking about the “situation” with the Tennessee Football coaching staff.

For the record, I am a Phillip Fulmer fan.  I believe that he has done more for the Tennessee program than anyone else over the last fifteen years.  I credit him with taking Tennessee from the mish-mash of the middle tier of college football and propelling the Vols to the very pinnacle of success.  I credit him with bringing the program into the modern era.  I credit him with making many of the things to which we as Tennessee fans have become accustomed possible.  I like Coach Fulmer, or the “Great Punkin” as I routinely refer to him (with no slight or insult intended).

I guess that makes me a homer…

To the best of my recollection, the only time I have ever openly criticized the Tennessee coaching staff was during the past off-season when off-field incidents involving Vol footballers were escalating alarmingly, by my mind calling into question the integrity of the program and the University of Tennessee itself.  Aside from that, I have always refrained from going after the coaches like so many seem to want to do.  I wrote a little about this after the UCLA game, stating:

… I would say that I am more appropriately a Homer for all coaches across the landscape of college football who are constantly questioned, rebuked, and derided by tens of thousands of come-lately armchair geniuses.

It is a peculiar characteristic of so many fans that they believe that simply being a follower of a team for a given length of time makes them an expert on how things should be done.  Make no mistake, as a sports blogger, I am as guilty of this offense as anyone—at least to some extent.  There are things that anyone with a brain can assess and analyze based purely upon common sense, life experience, and the fluff that resides between our ears.

* * * * *

These sorts of basic truths are fairly and frankly within the grasp of us all, and thus the rightful ability to comment on such profundities resides with each and every person who follows college football.  In much the same vein, I think it is reasonable for many (note, I did not say “all”) long-term fans of the sport to comment on what a given team does, or in most cases, did.

Beyond that, however, it seems to me that trying to profess what the best way to coach a football team—a team to which most have no access except through their televisions—is an endeavor which necessarily makes the speaker feel smart and important, while simultaneously making them look foolish and arrogant.

I have absolutely no idea about what it takes to coach a major college football team.  I’m completely clueless.  Furthermore, I have no idea what it is like to play on such a team.  Again, clueless.  I am also willing to bet that most who are attacking Phil Fulmer and the Tennessee coaching staff at present share my level of experience and insight.  So, at a minimum, I guess I am among equally-ignorant equals when it comes to assessing the coaches.

Unlike many others, however, I am not going to attack the Great Punkin, Dave Clawson, John Chavis, or any of the other coaches.  I am simply going to speak about what I do know and speak from the heart:

Though I first watched Tennessee under Coach Majors, most of my life as a Tennessee fan, student, and alum has been during the tenure of Coach Fulmer.  I think he is a man of integrity, a man of honor, a skilled and adept football coach, and a great leader and teacher for the young men he coaches.  I have such deep respect for what he has done.  In his 17-year career as Tennessee’s head coach, Fulmer is 148-47-1 (.759), he has won 10 or more games in a season nine times, he has won or tied for the SEC East title seven times, he has won 2 SEC Championships, and the 1998 National Championship.  I remember all of these “good old days” like they were yesterday.

Coach Fulmer has done a lot, a whole lot…

By the same token, things simply have not been good for the Vols for some time now.  Here are a few statistics:

Last SEC Championship: 1998 (No Coach in UT history had a longer drought and retained their job)

Last BCS Game Appearance: 1999

Only one Top-10 finish this decade (2001)

Last 50 Games 32-18 (.648) [Johnny Majors was 39-9-2 (.780 wins only / .820 wins & ties) over his final 50 games]

Failed to finish in the Top-25 twice this decade in any poll and finished 25th in the AP in 2000 (unranked in Coaches Poll)

Signed a recruiting class outside the Top-20 in two of the past three seasons

5-12 versus Florida all-time

14-13 in the last 27 SEC Games

28-27 (.509) versus Current SEC Coaches

• 0-4 versus Urban Meyer (Florida)
• 1-2 versus Les Miles (LSU)
• 3-4 versus Mark Richt (Georgia)
• 1-3 versus Nick Saban (LSU & Alabama)
• 5-8 versus Steve Spurrier (Florida & South Carolina)
• 3-3 versus Tommy Tuberville (Ole Miss & Auburn)

Coach Fulmer has a winning record of 15-3 against Rich Brooks (Kentucky), Sylvester Croom (Mississippi State), Bobby Johnson (Vanderbilt), and Houston Nutt (Arkansas only)

Over the last decade (since 1998) the Tennessee Volunteers under Fulmer are:

1-8 (.111) at home versus Top-10 Teams

17-23 (.425) versus ranked teams

13-21 (.382) versus Florida, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, and Alabama

Statistical Analysis Courtesy of: Tony Basilio.com

These numbers speak volumes…

Of course, I am enough of a realist to understand that no team—whether Tennessee, Southern Cal, or the Green Bay Packers—can have a championship year every year.  Every great team has bad years.  It just seems that it has been a long time since Tennessee has had a truly good year.  I freely acknowledge that in 2007 Tennessee had what, on paper, looks like a good year.  In 2007, the Vols went 10-4 and won the SEC East.  That said, even the most stalwart Vol fan would have to admit that Tennessee won the SEC East in a highly unorthodox manner.  Tennessee was beaten in the 2007 season opener versus California 45-31.  Two weeks later the Vols were annihilated by the Florida Gators 59-20 and were subsequently thumped by the Alabama Crimson Tide 41-17.  The only reason that the Vols made the trip to the  SEC Championship Game was that—under league rules—the tie went to Tennessee since the Vols defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in head-to-head competition.  In other words, the Orange and White backed into the Eastern Division title.

Prior to that, really since the 2001 season, the Vols have underperformed versus SEC and national rivals, and have—at best—been a mediocre team from a statistical perspective.  During that time, I cannot recount the number of times that the Vols have barely beaten teams that were wholly inferior in terms of talent.  What’s more, the Volunteers have regularly failed to meet the expectations of fans and analysts when considered against teams with similar recruiting classes and resources.  Then of course there was the 2005 season, or—as Joel at RTT describes it—“The Season of Which We do not Speak” in which Tennessee recorded a 5-6 record.

It seems that Tennessee has struggled at every turn since winning the 1998 Championship…

Jump forward to this year and the UCLA game, in which Tennessee loses to a UCLA team which the Vols were projected to beat handily.  As I and others have said, there is absolutely no reason that the Vols should have lost that game.  To make bad matters worse, since defeating the Vols, the Bruins have gone on to lose two more games in which they failed to score a single touchdown for the first time in 44 years. (HT Get the Picture)  Tennessee then managed a lackluster win over a clearly out-matched UAB team before playing the Florida Gators.  As I said in my “Marching Orders” piece earlier this week, that game was one of the poorest displays I’ve ever seen from a Vols squad.

Although I cannot really recall when it all started, the Tennessee fanbase began growing restless as early as 2002.  Even then, there was a small but vocal minority of fans that felt it was time for Fulmer to go.  Those voices of criticism were largely ignored by the masses until now.  After the Florida defeat, those voices have swelled to the point that they can no longer be ignored.  Just looking at the Vol-blogosphere, there are fewer and fewer that support Fulmer and even more voices criticizing than ever before—including 3SIB’s Ghost of Neyland, SouthEastern Sports Blog, YMSWWC, Curveballs for Jesus, Basilio,  MoonDog, the absurd Coacho Ocho, and Gate 21’s own HSH.

So here I am…

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This Week’s Roundtable is hosted by: Loser With Socks

A Day Late, and a Dollar Short…

This week’s Big Orange Roundtable is hosted by Jai Eugene over at Loser With Socks.  As has been the case for most of my life over the past few months, I am running behind, so I’ll get right down to it.

Here are my thoughts for the week:

Week 8

(Questions in Sort-o-Teal-like color)

1)  In a perfect world, what time would your UCLA Kick-off start?

I’m with Thomas over at YMSWWC in wishing for a 7:00 pm EST start.  I know that there are a lot of folks that live out on the left coast, and that they’d rather not have the game start at 4:00 pm their time, but … well … they should’ve thought of that before moving out there.

Besides 90% of the people who are actually going to watch the game will be from SEC Country anyway.  Of the remaining 10%, aside from UCLA’s 3 real fans and Rick Neuheisel’s mother, all the other folks watching the game will be SEC transplants on the West Coast who are used to having weird times for quality football games — like 4:00 am on a Tuesday.

Of course, based upon my experience from making the trip out to LA for the 1997 Tennessee – UCLA game, most (at least 5 – 7,000 of them or so) of the SEC transplants will already be at the game drowning out the deafening silence that is so usually associated with UCLA home football games.  I mean, I’m glad that UCLA gives 15 – 20,000 seats at every game to the disadvantaged youth from the LA area, but it’s not much of a home field advantage.

To the UCLA fans’ credit, however, there is a special helmet that the team occasionally wears — just to salute their fans.

Hmm… not exactly the same as being at an SEC stadium…

2) Sometimes doing the right thing is tough. Sometimes we have to choose between bad and worse.  I have known snipers that get bothered even though what they did was absolutely right. It seems being a coach would have some similar circumstances. Did you think that  Coach Fulmer and staff ever lose any sleep over their choices?

Of course I’m not privy to everything that goes on in the Tennessee football program, so I’m just speculating (which has never stopped me before).  Ignoring that, I imagine that the Great Punkin is much more likely to lose sleep over the painful realization that he still has several more weddings to pay for as his daughters grow older, than he is to lose sleep over matters pertaining to his decisions as a football coach.

Fulmer is many things — great football coach, awe-inspiring orator, terror at the Chinese Buffet, dancing phenom, master of international diplomacy, winner of the world quilting competition, beloved figure in the State of Alabama, his lawyer’s best client, man of distinction — but I have always felt that he is a man of great integrity who always trusts his gut (no pun intended) and does what he believes is right, as Willie Nelson so aptly described:

And every time I follow what I’m feeling, I end up in the same place my heart would have me go.

If there’s one rule in life I trust, it’s everything outside your gut, ain’t necessarily so.

– Willie Nelson

My experience is that that Fulmer generally trusts his instincts and he rarely second guesses himself.  The case of the phrase “Randy Sanders, Offensive Coordinator” is a good example of that.  Thus, I’d be highly surprised if there are many things from his career he regrets in that way.

The same would be true for “Smilin’ Mike” Hamilton, perhaps with the exception of his having attended Clemson, which is … well … bad, but at least he now has 2 reasons to pull against Alabama this weekend.

3) Nick Saban is going to start 10 freshman against Clemson.  Why is he doing this and did he just buy another year of grace from the Red Elephant Club?

So, Slick Nicky wants to try playing with 10 freshman.  Well, more power to him, but it’s going to be a long night at the Georgia Dome if he does.

My guess is, however,  that one of several things is actually going on here:

1. He’s lying.
2. He believes that if he sets the bar low for the game against the Tigers — by being able to claim that he was handicapped by having largely freshmen on the team — the Bammer faithful won’t call for his head after the first game.
3. After a long talk with Mike Shula over martinis in the bathtub, Saban has realized that he can make just as much money doing absolutely nothing other than admiring himself in the mirror, and thus hopes a 65 – 0 loss on national television will get him fired and a chance to start living the easy life.
4. He’s an idiot.
5. He finally realized that all those bribes he gave local judges in Alabama — though improving his chances of getting out of speeding tickets — are not going to result in all of his regular starting convicts players being released.
6. When asked by Pete Rose — for reasons Pete said he simply couldn’t go into — Saban agreed to play the freshmen.
7. The 10 freshmen are all the brothers of the girls down at the “Brass Pole Gentlemen’s Club” and the girls said if Nick gave their brothers a shot, they’d make it worth his while.

Yeah, it’s probably a little of all of them…

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