OuterMonVOLia

StageVol on our new OC

2008-01-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

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StageVol
Mystic Knight of the TPosts: 460(1/11/08 12:37)24.118.131.160Reply Edit Del
Re: Some of you guys really are looking like Gloom & Doo
The argument from Vols fans I know -- none on this board -- has always been that there is NO ONE out there equipped to come in and coach at UT, either as the head man or an assistant, UNLESS he is a "Tennessee Man". I might as well have had blood shooting out of my eyes every time I hear that shitt.I've been telling work colleagues and friends for years that UT desperately needed to look at other successful programs as models to see how it's done. Hell, I've emailed Mike Hamilton and called others in Knoxville as well saying the same things . . . I've only gotten responses when the subject was something like a new scoreboard on the women's softball field. More to the point, this IS the point: Go Outside the Family. When you look at the coaches guys like Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier have brought to their staffs over the years, it's not been guided by alums and/or BOT members telling them who they should hire. They hire who fits what they do, best. And if best at say Florida, when Spurrier was there, happened to be a defensive guy named Stoops that no one had ever heard of, that's who he'd bring in.So what the hell am I trying to say -- well, I agree with both Brassy and Tux. We've all lamented that Fulmer needed to bring in someone as an OC who had every credential Brassy mentioned. Big props for Fulmer on the hire irrespective of the fact it was made known he had to make some significant changes. And for me, I'm thrilled by the hire . . . . . to a point. Here's where I agree with Tux: Let's see what happens in the fall. This is a board with what I like to call Great Football Minds, or GFM's for those of you who prefer acronyms. Every one of us in OM will know within one game whether or not Clawson has free reign to do what he wants on offense. Play-calling, gameplans, halftime adjustments, 4th down situations near midfield ----- it probably won't even take a full game to see how much control Clawson has.
BrassVols
Self-Styled CommentatorPosts: 3093(1/11/08 12:54)149.32.192.34Reply Edit Del
Well said.
(This message was left blank)
________________________________________________________________________"Sheep (and a few smart people post on VolChat.Smart people (and a few sheep) post on A51.Really smart people (and no sheep) post on the site BK refers to as "moronville."The people on that site are so smart that BK won't dare post there . . . although he does lurk".BTalley, comparing the intellect of Vol chat sites.

Plight of the Vol Fan

2006-11-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

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egbert Mystic Knight of the T Posts: 356 (11/13/06 16:08) 68.59.57.206 Reply Edit Del All
Fostermom...
...I guess I should have replied in the other thread, but it was getting pretty long so I decided to start a new one. This one will be plenty long so relax, sit back, and enjoy the flight. I sense that you are entering the zone where I was after, oh, say the 2002 season. I was probably in denial that Fulmer was really at the core of what was wrong with the program up until that point, and I had hung onto this unrealistic thought up until probably last year that he would indeed do what was the best thing for the program and upgrade his staff. He never did, and even the Cut rehiring was due to Sanders' self-inflicted departure. I don't know what would have happened had Sanders not resigned, but I doubt that Ainge would have played as well as he has this year; I doubt that the offense would be averaging 30+ points (at least until the Arkansas game was factored in) per game; I doubt the receivers would have become a strength instead of a liability as they were under the previous WR coach because I don't think Troop would be coaching WR's without the cards falling as they did. I don't know for certain if any changes would have been made or if several changes would have been made, but my money if I bet would be on the former. What I think you're going through is what I, and I think so many, have been through -- I'm just at a more advanced stage than you. I finally realized, last year, that the stubborness and arrogance of Fulmer was stronger than his coaching abilities. I don't think he had that attitude prior to 1998 -- I think he was "hungry" and I think his staff was hungry as well. I think once he won the MNC in '98, he became arrogant, complacent, and stubborn. I believe that we're seeing the fruits of that now. And while UT muddled on, winning around 75 or so percent of it's games post 1998 MNC, other programs in the SEC -- Georgia, Auburn, LSU to name a few -- upgraded, either in the head seat or at key positions on the staff like coordinator. What we've seen since then is the result of complacency -- I liken it to GM and Ford before the Toyotas and Nissans of the world became so mainstream. Folks wonder why Toyota does so well -- it's because it passed two slumbering, bloated US car empires in GM and Ford. The same thing, IMO, is happening, and has been happening, at UT. Sure, Fulmer has won enough games at UT since '98 to be considered a "success" at most programs in the country. He hasn't won enough championships since '98 to be considered a "success" at a program like UT -- the second most decorated football program in the conference behind bama. And this is where the separation of most of these programs that ARE winning championships comes into play -- Fulmer has not had to deal with things like probation, etc. Spurrier simply leaving Florida doomed them to a few years of mediocrity. bama is a mess because of it's meddling administration and overzealous boosters. Donnan was never a top notch coach for UGA, and the AD understood it. Auburn has a good coach in Tuberville, but has had even better coordinators -- Petrino, Borges, Chizik for example. LSU hired a guy in Saban who, while a hired gun, closed recruiting borders and coached the talent up. Fulmer just looked at his 8-3, 9-2, 7-5 type teams every year and said "this staff rocks". Indeed, it didn't rock, and people without orange blinders on knew it. In not so distant times, Fulmer saw the best coordinator that UT has had in a long time leave, and elevated a guy who has no business coordinating a top-level SEC offense rather than going out and getting a proven coordinator (thus the inspiration for my scrolled quote below the pic of Ainge, formerly of Cut). Fulmer had the opportunity to go out and get a top notch DC several years ago, and promoted a guy who has no business coordinating a top-level SEC defense (and make no mistake, even Chavis couldn't screw up the talent UT had on hand on defense during the 90's. With a decent DC I think UT could have won at least one more MCN while Manning was our QB). Fulmer then let the offensive coordinator stay for 6 1/2 seasons before said coordinator proactively made the change FOR Fulmer, and Fulmer has let said defensive coordinator stay for nearly 12 full seasons now, getting exposed badly in big games -- and some not-so-big games that turn into slugfests -- just about every season. Top it off with the off the field incidences -- I can't get too mad at him for the bama stuff since I despise bama so much -- but the run ins with the law, etc. have become so commonplace at UT that I wonder, well, when is the next incident going to happen? Your son's recent incident isn't newsworthy in and of itself except that it's a continuation of such things and, quite frankly, it's become an expectation. Off the field issues have become all too commomplace at UT. I wonder what program in the country besides UT would put up with all this stuff. I don't think any would. But then again, I'm 40 years old and this is the same program that has had only 4 head coaches during my lifetime -- Dickey, Battle, Majors, and Fulmer. The latter two comprise nearly 30 years combined. One national title during that time. I think UT can do, and should demand, better. I really, really hoped that Fulmer would be the guy to make things better, and he did for one magical season. What have we done with it since then? Watched the rest of the "big dogs" in the conference pass us by, while our head man worked like heck to get better, all to no avail. Who would have thought that the two biggest jokes of programs in the conference among the big boys for the past few seasons would be bama and UT, the two proudest programs in the conference? Anyway, VFM, sorry for such a long epistle, but that's why I feel like I do, and I hate the feeling, I really do. But I can't deny it either. Every year I hope I'm wrong, and every year I find that I'm not. But at least it gives us all something to talk about.
volunteerfostermom Suzy Sunshine Posts: 752 (11/13/06 16:46) 129.24.158.185 Reply Edit Del
egbert...
Wow.... I'm at work, but I'm going to chew and digest this long post and respond this evening. Thanks for it though....lots to think about.
GhenghisVol Khan Posts: 2863 (11/13/06 16:51) 70.153.222.165 Reply Edit Del ezSupporter
Egxcellent post!
Quote:
what program in the country besides UT would put up with all this stuff
Not many, Florida State comes to mind. For the life of me I dont know why dinosaurs like Bowden, Fulmer, and Paterno hang on as long as they do.
ChattanoogaVol Mystic Knight of the T Posts: 985 (11/13/06 17:12) 198.51.179.254 Reply Edit Del
Fabulous post egbert. Just fabulous!!!
(This message was left blank)
- - - - - - - - - “I like the sarcasm because it's usually adult enough for me to appreciate. I like the humor because it is some of the very best of any internet humor I've been privy to. Most of all I like and respect the vast array of football knowledge here. This knowledge is truly second to none. I don't mind saying that anywhere”. – fostermom on www.outermonvolia.com 8/15/2006 "You all make me proud to be a part of this board with the way you continuously do the right thing as a whole. I'm touched". - fostermom on www.outermonvolia.com 8/15/2006 "Nobody holds back on OM. I respect and appreciate it. What I like most of all is that NOBODY is exempt from the ass whuppin's that take place here. (My behind is still sore from the ones I got here last week)". - fostermom on www.outermonvolia.com 10/2/2006 "I think all of you are looney! But it's that very charm that keeps me coming back"! - fostermom on www.outermonvolia.com 10/30/2006
volunteerfostermom Suzy Sunshine Posts: 753 (11/13/06 17:20) 129.24.158.185 Reply Edit Del
Chatt....
Shouldn't I be gettin' paid for that free advertisement???
HermitageVol Acolyte of Unlimited Posting Power Posts: 42 (11/13/06 17:23) 68.53.117.12 Reply Edit Del
Re: Fostermom...
I think Fulmer was so obsessed with Bama, he forgot about everything else. Everything from that point on started to slowly errode away. Calgon--take me away!!!
ChattanoogaVol Mystic Knight of the T Posts: 986 (11/13/06 17:31) 198.51.179.254 Reply Edit Del
Probably...........
Those are good quotes fmom, and seeing as your "famous" and all, I thought they would make a good sig.
- - - - - - - - - “I like the sarcasm because it's usually adult enough for me to appreciate. I like the humor because it is some of the very best of any internet humor I've been privy to. Most of all I like and respect the vast array of football knowledge here. This knowledge is truly second to none. I don't mind saying that anywhere”. – fostermom on www.outermonvolia.com 8/15/2006 "You all make me proud to be a part of this board with the way you continuously do the right thing as a whole. I'm touched". - fostermom on www.outermonvolia.com 8/15/2006 "Nobody holds back on OM. I respect and appreciate it. What I like most of all is that NOBODY is exempt from the ass whuppin's that take place here. (My behind is still sore from the ones I got here last week)". - fostermom on www.outermonvolia.com 10/2/2006 "I think all of you are looney! But it's that very charm that keeps me coming back"! - fostermom on www.outermonvolia.com 10/30/2006
egbert Mystic Knight of the T Posts: 357 (11/13/06 18:06) 68.59.57.206 Reply Edit Del
Shoot, VFM...
...I was at work when I wrote it! I just came home to grab a coke, read the board, and started typing! I do want to say this, after re-reading my post -- I'm not trying to convince anyone of how to feel about Fulmer. He's obviously done some good things at UT, and it hasn't been all that long ago that I was one of his, to borrow a phrase, "apologists". I always thought that Chavis was a horrible decision for reasons mentioned in my post, but the talent was there enough to make Chavis, well, not an asset but at least not an insurmountable liability. I think the return of Cut has exposed Chavis once again -- only the presence of Sanders could make Chavis look good by comparison. But I digress. Or degress, however you spell it. Fulmer is what he is. A coach who is probably somewhat better than many on here give him credit for being, but certainly not as good as his record, if that makes sense, which it probably doesn't. His one standout forte' has been recruiting, and I'd rather have great talent and mediocre coaching than vice versa. When you combine mediocre recruiting with mediocre coaching, you get 2005. He needs to finish in the top 10 every year for UT to be in contention, not just once in a while. That's my opinion, anyway. Anyway, again, I'm not trying to convince you in any way to like or dislike Fulmer. Nor to trust or not trust him. You know him a lot better than I do -- I spoke to him once on Vol Calls back when I was drinking the kool-aid during the 1996 season, and that's it. I do think he cares about your son, and all of his "kids", as you as a parent should demand from the caretaker of your son for the four years he's in college. I don't think he loses games, or throws away leads in games only to win by the narrowest of margins, just to hack me off. I do think he keeps Chavis around just to mess with me, though.
Ray In The Way Acolyte of Unlimited Posting Power Posts: 74 (11/13/06 18:27) 74.224.83.214 Reply Edit Del
I expected Penn and Teller to leap out at the end...
pull Egbert through the screen and say: "Well, Ray, you picked Fulmer in '93 didn't you? And put him back in the deck without looking, right? Now for the last 5 or 6 years, you just can't figure out why they heck you're feeling the way you do about your beloved VOLS, right? Well, let's open this box and show you what Egbert's written...now, does it all make sense? Sure it does. It's all so simple. Let Teller and Egbert show you how the trick was done...here, sit down and read it again. Remember: there's no magic...only a fat magician! Thanks, Egbert. Well done.
SFOVol Mystic Squire of the T Posts: 239 (11/13/06 19:42) 64.161.139.66 Reply Edit Del
Excellent summation of how many of us feel Eg....
as you well know, you and I are of a like mind on this whole issue of the state of UT football and the current coaching staff. One thing that your post triggered for me was ongoing concerns about Fulmer's ability to recruit as effectively as in the past. As you pointed out, the inability of our current staff to "coach 'em up" means that we MUST have a talent advantage to win games in the SEC. Fulmer has indeed had such an advantage for most of his years as head coach (esp. 94-99), but the rest of the SEC has now caught up and/or surpassed us in the talent department. If this trend continues (and there is no reason to believe it won't) we are basically relegated to 2nd tier status in the SEC. We will not win any championships and will basically become on par with South Carolina and Arkansas on a regular basis, with an occasional bright spot year (2001,2004) mirrored by just as occasional a very down year (2005). And basically no championships unless we get a perfect storm of things to go our way. When it comes to our recruiting, it basically comes down to how well UT can recruit the Southern states. Sure, we recruit nationally and will reel in a big fish periodically from outside the South, such as a Stallworth, Meachem, Munoz or Ainge, but for the most part we have to recruit the South well. The years that we have had big success have been based on the play of guys from the South - Shuler, Manning, Martin, Lewis, Pickens, Coleman, Grant, Henry, Stevens, Wilson, Witten, Henderson, Haynesworth, Allen - all guys from the South who were recruited nationally but chose to stay near home because of the chance to play for a national power like the Vols and a likely ticket to the League. Fast foward to today and the picture of UT recruiting in the South is pretty bleak. A brief subjective breakdown of the southern states: Tennessee - Well we should have success here since it is the home state. I don't read a lot in to the departure of guys like Patrick Turner, because we will lose the occasional big fish. As we all know though, we can't make a national power out of strictly local talent. Alabama - While the Tide is down, Auburn has had a lot of success beating UT in recruiting (Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown) of late and they are a better draw than us right now. If Bama ever truly comes back, we can expect to be shut out here for all the top rated talent. Georgia - with as many SEC championships as Fulmer in 1/3 the amount of time, Richt has effectively shut Fulmer out of Georgia by consistently beating him and by hiring his #1 recruiter (Garner). Florida - we have little chance for long term success here, especially with the 3 big programs there and with Meyer being able to beat Fulmer on and off the field. South Carolina - we have gotten a lot of talent out of SC (Haynesworth, Steven and Hefney to name a few). I think we will continue to get an occasional player from there, but Spurrier will eventually shut us out of this state for the top talent if he has decent success. North Carolina - We have had some good success here (Shuler, Crompton, Pickens, Hardesty), but not for all the effort we have put in here,IMO. We always seem to lose 1-2 top guys here at the end. Virginia - See North Carolina. Lots of effort (Brooks, Parham) with little success. West Virginia - don't know if we have ever signed anyone from here, or if there is much talent worth pursuing there. Louisiana - Like South Carolina, we have landed some big time talent from here (Manning, Wade, Carey). Saban basically shut us out of the state, and there is no reason to believe that they won't fire Miles soon enough to correct that mistake and keep anyone (UT, Texas, Arkansas) from having any real long term success there. Kentucky - While we've landed some good players from there, we never seem to dominate Kentucky like it seems we should. Arkansas - Well we used to pretty much get whoever we wanted here - Houston, Smith and Shelly to name a few recent ones, but after last weekend there is no reason to believe it won't become like Georgia, where a few losses in a row to the Hogs means we will basically be shut out of the state. They are on target for a top 10 and/or BCS bowl finish this year, meaning that Fulmer is going to have a hard time convincing guys to leave the state to play at UT so they can finish 3rd in the SEC East and not go to the NFL. Mississippi - Ah, our last and best hope for continued dominance of any of our in-state SEC brethren. Since both Ole Miss and MSU are in such a downward spiral themselves, UT should be able to cherry pick some good talent from Mississippi. This may be the main motivation for hiring the otherwise unheard of Matt Luke and Curt Roper. In a nutshell, our best hope from where we are right now is to recruit Tennessee and Mississippi well and hope that one of the other big states (Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana) has a coaching change that allows us to start having success in those states again, or we will continue to be stuck in mediocre land with no end in sight. The scariest part of our downward spiral is the hopelessness that we will ever be able to win championships in the SEC without a drastic turn of events in recruiting. All of the above leaves me with not much hope that Fulmer can pull us out of this tailspin, or how long it will take someone new to do it when he is eventually replaced.
BrassVols Mystic Knight of the T Posts: 1155 (11/13/06 20:50) 70.144.59.205 Reply Edit Del
Lot of common ground there eggie....
a lot of what you wrote resonates with me. I had a few other "data points" along the way that tended to crystalize the situation with Fulmer to me: - 92 (3 games temp) - 98: Early on I loved PF as a HC because he was the anti-Johhny. A players' coach and an assitants' coach. Johhny went through staff like no one else. I liked the fact that Fulmer was going to establish a more stable staff. What also stands out about this period was a definite elevation of our program from one that occasionally won an SECC but had no clout on the national level to one that became a national program, in several respects. Primarily, with the signing of Heath Shuler and afterwards of Manning, we were no doubt a hot commodity in the eyes of most top tier HS recruits. Success begets success in recruiting. - The promotion of Chavis from within was an absolute stunner to me and the inner circle of Vol friends I had back then, and some of those friends had contact/dialog with the staff very often. We were totally befuddled, as it came out of the blue. The resulting Baptism of John by SoS, who scored 83 consectuve offensive points on his ass between the 2nd half of the 95 game and the 1st half of the 96 game was all the prima facie evidence I needed to know Fulmer had made a terrible mistake. I don't care how good Danny Weurffel et al were, no other defense in the SEC got RAPED like that by SoS. - Obviously the Sanders promotion was deja vu all over again. No need to beat that dead horse. - Loosing Rodney Garner to UGA was a milestone in the decline of this program. It may not have been avoidable, but it was still a milestone - a strategic body shot. - I initially became very concerned about PF's ability to maintain the programmatic momentum he had built after winning the NC when I got reports from people who had very close and frequent interraction with him and his staff about recruiting in early 99. Basically, what I heard was that the staff, certain assitants who will go unnamed, one in particular who has been discussed a great deal here recently, were displaying an extremely arrogant attitude about recruiting. "We're Tennessee, we're national champions, we'll take who we want", shit like that. That to me was an example of an organizational attitude that if it persisted would eventually destroy the success the program had achieved. - The defection of Chris Simms. I don't care how you spin this, this lead us to starting a true freshman at QB in 00, a year that saw many of the common problems pop up that we saw for years after that. - 99 team exhibited the fat dumb and happy complacency that was 180* out of phase with the team from THE YEAR BEFORE. We made an All American out of Alex Brown by neglecting to even attempt to block him, then lost to an underdog Arky team when we were ranked 3rd in the nation with a win putting us in the SECCG and subsequently NC game. This with a roster STOCKED FULL of experienced, upperclassmen NFL studs. - The final straw for me was the SECC in 01. Another squandered SECC and shot at a NC, with Chavis just getting his ass kicked and being unable to adjust to soimething that LSU did over and over and over. - The 02 UF metdown game, getting our asses kicked in Neyland by Miami, then the embarassing no-shows in the 02 and 03 Peach Bowls, getting drubbed by mediocre ACC teams was all the evidence even the most CLUELESS sheep should have needed that massive staff overhaul was in order. Fulmer's subsequent non-actions were just more nails in the coffin for me - evidence of a dysfunctional, inept, irresponsible leader.
________________________________________________________________________ "Sheep (and a few smart people) post on VolChat. Smart people (and a few sheep) post on A51. Really smart people (and no sheep) post on the site BK refers to as "moronville." The people on that site are so smart that BK won't dare post there . . . although he does lurk". BTalley, comparing the intellect of Vol chat sites. ________________________________________________________________________
BrassVols Mystic Knight of the T Posts: 1156 (11/13/06 20:57) 70.144.59.205 Reply Edit Del
Re: Egxcellent post!
Quote:
what program in the country besides UT would put up with all this stuff
This actually needs to be stated: "what program in the country with the financial, facility and fan base resources of UT would put up with all this stuff". Answer: Penn State is all I can think of. FSU hasn't sucked bad enough long enough to qualify (but they're getting close).
________________________________________________________________________ "Sheep (and a few smart people) post on VolChat. Smart people (and a few sheep) post on A51. Really smart people (and no sheep) post on the site BK refers to as "moronville." The people on that site are so smart that BK won't dare post there . . . although he does lurk". BTalley, comparing the intellect of Vol chat sites. ________________________________________________________________________
AtlantaVol Banned MOFO Posts: 2011 (11/13/06 21:25) 66.32.255.29 Reply Edit Del
Additional info on Garner
1)Fulmer kind of put shackles on Garner and put him as TE "coach" as I recall which is nothing but a poor blocking OT in Fulmers "system". Its a wasteland for a coach. Now Garner, to his credit, wanted to advance past the "recruiting guru" crown that he was labeled. Fulmer would not let him. Now how much of that is Cutcliff not allowing him to coach another position I don't know. Garner has progressed to where he has put Seymore, Stroud, Grant, and Pollack into first round of NFL draft. He has Johnson and Moses who will be likely 2nd rounders this year. The guy has turned into a decent position coach but he would have NEVER been given that opportunity at UT. 2)But I did hear from pretty good sources at the time that our boy Wavy Chavy was very jealous of Garner and looked at him as a hired recruiting gun and NOTHING else. Wavy Chavy was jealous of the pub that Garner was getting. And I think that feeling spread at least thru the defensive coaches at UT who were beholden to Wavy Chavy. They even floated the rumor that Garner would get UT into recruiting trouble. UT and Fulmer I really really really feel were "relieved" that Garner left. 3)And 3rd problem was that Fulmer kept him on the usual UT assistant paygrade which is based on longevity to UT instead of VALUE to UT. Richt flew back from the Hawaii SR Bowl last year and left them hanging without a HC- just because Garner was thinking about moving on. Richt threw a title and a bunch of moolah at Garner to keep him at UGA. I think garner makes up around 250K which is double what Trooper Taylor makes at UT. And in point #2 and #3 above I see and hear the EXACT SAME THING with Trooper Taylor as what happened to Garner. I hear Wavy Chavy doesn't like his enthusiasm and the defensive coaches snicker at him behind his back. Fulmer has refused to budge off the seniority pay scale of UT assistants and give TT another 50-75K to show him UT appreciates what he is worth.

It's All About "PHIL"osophy

2006-09-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

In the wake of yet another loss to an SEC rival in our own Neyland Stadium, University of Tennessee Volunteer fans have awakened from a "David Cutcliffe"-induced illusion. Reality is now setting in and the landscape of the future regarding UT football is a dark and dreary one. OuterMonVOLia's very Own SoCalVol, hit the nail flush on the head and explained the reality of it all, with his post, "It's All About "Phil"osophy.

It's all about "Phil" osophy...that was the...
"Mustang Offense"...very offensive...

Any organization reflects the person/personality of where the buck stops (whether they accept that responsibility or not)...

How can Chavis design and recruit for speed and aggressive play, then all of the sudden, make a 180 degree switch in his defensive philosophy when the game is on the line?

How can Cut. cut up a D with slants and attacking weaknesses and mismatches, only to return to the foxhole, when the game is on the line?

How can HSAA's, with supreme talent and confidence, lose their God given abilities and confidence and become a target population for sports psychologists?

"Phil" osophy, that's how...

The answer is Phil Fulmer, who's whole philosophy is based in fear. Fear of someone pointing a finger at his decisions/non decisions. Fear of failure, fear of making mistakes, fear of getting beat deep, fear of the middle third of the field, fear of attacking, fear of everything that the best and brightest delight in...being the best and brightest when your best has to be called upon, in the moment (not on "film").

Fulmer's infatuation with fear, causes otherwise competent coaches to seem incompetent, causes talented athletes to shoulder the entire burden of producing under pressure with absolutely no help, in terms of strategy and tactics (xno's).
The coordinators are the ones to be sacraficed, the players must step up and take the blame and "believe" in his ways...because "He has won a lot of games around here".

I say the program and players have won a lot of games, with waaay to many slim victories of weak opponents and when Phil's best is required, he folds. Urban is right...UT folds because Fulmer folds. Some of Phil's best coached games have come when his back was against the wall and had little to lose. Give him something to lose and he will find a way to do it. For a person that is so lacking in creativity, he is extremely creative in finding ways to snatch defeat from victory.

When the tough get going, Phil's in the fetal position in his "bunker" while the opponent "shoots" his men like fish in a barrel...

And why not? Phil's "bunker" is million dollar, lakefront, comfy, cozy..and he and his are more than well fed.

UT's football program has become "all about the Bunker". Fulmer is a Winston Churchill fan for a reason...I understand he had a nice bunker too...

The reality of UT's football future is not pretty.

BV2's Preseason Editorial

2006-07-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

brothervoliver2's original post

OL - I could say a lot of things about this group. But after days of searching for the right words to sum up this group, one thought kept coming to the forefront - Potentially the Best OL ever to play at UT. Steven Jones and Michael Frogg are studs and will be first round picks in the NFL. Sears is a hoss and David Ligon had one of the best springs in college football history (again). He's up to 390 and bench pressed 960 8 times last week with his left pinky toe. Just an unbelievable physical specimen. Parker and Foster played last year vs. Vandy and Kentucky so they are battle tested.

RB - David Yancey is a 9th year Junior in 2006 and had one of the best springs since Kirston Biggers upstaged Tavio Henson in the last man standing game of Ping Pong Ball in Jock Strap game in 1988. Foster (Australian for Running Back) is sure to get a lot of action this year. Montario Hardesty just screams stud muffin at you and LeMarcus Coker will do his daddy Larry proud this year by getting a ton of draws on 3rd and Long. And don't forget about Jakouri Williams. Probably the best pure back we've had since Tracy Smith.

WR - The Meach, Swain, and Lucas Taylor are as good as it gets in football - college or pro. Bill Grimes is awesome and will breakout this year under Trooper Taylor. Slick Shelley is freakin' slick and will really surprise some. Briscoe has been playing the jug for an extra two hours per day and is ready. This group will surprise.

TE - We'll be walkin; in High Cottam with the Cottam brothers. Both are now 7'8 and 460 after working out in Coach Johnny Long's Injury Waitin' To Happen Workout program. Justin Reed is a shoe in to punt out of the double TE set and don't forget about Chris Brown.

QB - Ainge scored a 32 on the ACT after re-taking it this summer. He is up to 6'8 and wearing a lot of the Cottam's old clothes. Crompton had surgery recently to implant a cap backwards on his head and cut a demo last week for the Backstreet Boys new CD entitled "AARP Benefits." Hardegree can hit a football 100 miles per hour with a tennis racket and the coaches have implemented a Daniel Brooks package when he's in the game. Brooks will be put in as a blocking back and ensure that Hardegree never gets hit.

DE - Jared Hostetter has been whacking off all offseason with Vick's Vap-O-Rub and 20 Grit sandpaper. He is ready, though literally a raw talent. Xavier Mitchell is the best Xavier in Tennessee since Xavier Crawford in the late 80's. Walter "Amy" Fisher is a stud and Rhodes Scholar to boot. He'll be ready. Antonio Reynolds can play. We're fine here.

DT - Justin Harrell is the best Martin Westview player we've had since Chad Clifton. He's bonafide and can even testify if needed. Matt McGlothlin has been working out all offseason with Barry Bonds, but you can't get anyone to talk about it right now. Turk McBride is the purest DT we've had since Jeff Tullis roamed the Hill. Robert Ayers is another in a long line of former Chavis projects who is sure to pan out.

LB - Marvin Mitchell was hands down better than Marcus McNeil then and now. Awesome body lean and can run like a deer in Nike's. Elix Wilson (short for Elixer) had garnered the moniker "Robotussin" due to his Cherry like demeanor. Myers-White or White-Myers is among the best hyphenated players we've ever had at UT in recent memory. Andre Mathis is a stud in the making.

DB - WOW!!! We can cover back here for sure. Wade ran track again this year to ensure he'll be ready for football. Hefney is bad and ready to shine. Iroquois Johnson ran good in May over in the Steeplechase and looks to continue this year.

Intangibles - After not recruiting in 2006, Fulmer and staff are back at it again this year and are sure to land a top 30 type class. Prediction - 14-0 and a 80-0 rout of Ohio State in the NC game.

Hammy's 2006 Season Predictions

2006-07-07T06:30:00.000-07:00

The following post by Hamiltonvol can be discussed by clicking here.

My 2006 football season predictions:

Preseason

1. QB Jim Bob Cooter is reinstated to the team after running several dozen stadium steps.

2. Asked about redshirt freshman QB Jon Crompton, Fulmer says, "Right now he's a little light in the butt, but he's a good kid. He's gonna be just fine."

3. Asked in a followup question what being "light in the butt" has to do with quarterbacking, Fulmer says, "Look, we didn't start this gig yesterday. We've won a lot of ballgames around here, and hopefully we'll be around long enough to win a lot more."

4. Former QB Peyton Manning visits Knoxville to see mentor and friend David Cutcliffe. When asked about the QB controversy, Manning says, "Both those guys have plenty of talent, and both are hard workers. I think the fair thing to do is pick a quarterback and stick with him. Best for the team, best for the kids. I have full confidence in Coach to make the right decision, and I hope we as fans really support the starter, whoever that may be."

5. The next day, an article appears complaining about Peyton Manning's comments, saying they show that he supports Ainge over Crompton.

vs. California

6. Pregame controversy abounds. Cutcliffe wants to base his offense on how many points the defense can hold Cal to, and Chavis wants to base his defense on how many points the offense can score. Fulmer reiterates, "We didn't start this job last week. Coach Cut is a little light in the butt compared to when he was here before, but he's working like heck to make this offense run right."

7. More controversy. WR coach Trooper Taylor announces that the starters for the Cal game will be Austin Rogers, Lucas Taylor, and Josh Briscoe. Asked about this, Fulmer says, "Troop may have jumped the gun a little. Meachem, Swain, and Smith will be starting."

8. Asked for clarification, Taylor says that both his comments and Fulmer's are 100% true.

9. During the 3rd quarter of the Cal game, Dan Brooks, Kurt Roper, and two graduate assistants are caught on camera having a heated argument on the sideline. It later comes out that they disagree on 3rd and long statistics.

10. TN loses when Cal completes an 80-yard touchdown pass on 3rd and 19.

vs. Air Force

11. Game-winning TD catch is made by former basketball player Stanley Asumnu. Asked about it after the game, Asumnu says, "Man, basketball practice under Coach Pearl is WAY harder than football practice."

12. An article appears saying that Manning did not throw with QB Crompton during his previous visit. Internet rumors have it that Manning didn't throw at ALL during his visit; that, in fact, his arm was broken. The author of the article is unavailable for comment.

vs. Florida

13. Kentucky QB coach Randy Sanders is kind enough to visit Knoxville and give a pregame pep talk to the team. He tells the team, "It's kind of like golf: when you're on the driving range, don't swing like your on the course; when you're on the course, don't swing like you're on the driving range." Asked to explain these comments, Sanders says, "It's a lot like umpiring baseball, really: you get paid to call 'strikes' and 'outs,' not 'balls' and 'safes.'"

14. Tennessee's defense and running game are solid in an upset of Florida. RB Foster racks up 168 yards rushing. Asked about his game, a surprised Foster says, "Those wide receivers were blocking for me downfield! I think it may be a new scheme Coach Cut put in this year."

15. Basketball coach Bruce Pearl and former basketball coach Buzz Peterson are seen in the stands selling popcorn. Pearl is wearing a very dark suit. Nearby fans comment that it seems wet, but it is impossible to tell on camera. Pearl sells more popcorn than Peterson.

vs. Marshall

16. TN wins.

17. QB Jim Bob Cooter is re-dismissed from the team for firing a gun into the air during a physics project.

at Memphis

18. Tennessee wins 10-7. Nine different wide receivers see action. Asked about the rather crowded rotation, former basketball player Stanley Asumnu says, "Seriously, Coach Pearl intimidates me a little. I was scared when he ripped off his shirt after the Florida game."

19. Tennessee's linebacking corps, having had four very successful games, comes up with a new motto in honor of former linebackers: "Supporting the act of stealing from the fortunate." WR Coach Trooper Taylor, always the pithy one, suggests they shorten the motto to "Rooting for looting."

at Georgia

20. Tennessee loses a heartbreaker. Former basketball player Stanley Asumnu drops what would have been a drive-extending first down. Asked about the play, Asumnu says, "I think, probably, that Coach Pearl could eat Coach Fulmer. He wouldn't gain a pound either--he's just like that, you know?"

vs. Alabama

21. On Monday of game week, a Birmingham newspaper reports that former Tennessee QB Peyton Manning is being sued by the Crompton family. Apparently, during one of Manning's visits to Knoxville he mooned Jon Crompton.

22. Due to the Manning Mooning lawsuit, Fulmer declines to coach the Alabama game, claiming that if he sets foot in the state of Alabama he will be served with a subpoena. When reminded that the game is in Knoxville, Fulmer quips, "I didn't start coaching five minutes ago. We've won a lot of games around here. For the safety of my players and my family, this is what needs to be done. David will be fine."

23. Tennessee loses another heartbreaker when (a) the defense fails to hold Alabama to fewer points than the offense scores, and (b) the offense fails to score more points than the defense holds Alabama to. HamiltonVol goes mildly insane trying to compose that sentence without ending it with a preposition, which is something up with which he will not put.

at SC

24. Asked about the Tennessee rivalry, SC coach Steve Spurrier says, "I hear Tennessee has 'em a new playcaller over there in Knoxville. Also heard that they're gonna try a new formation, with two quarterbacks in the backfield and no running backs."

25. Asked about the home field advantage at South Carolina, commentator and former SC coach Lou Holtz says, "Well, we had a tough time beating Tennessee at home, but that's because we had to play the Vols. If we had gotten to play William and Mary, we would have had a lot more home success!"

26. Asked about the OC battle between Cutcliffe and Spurrier, former TN OC Randy Sanders quips, "It's kind of like drawing an analogy: it sounds good, but sometimes it just doesn't quite fit."

27. After leading 12-3 at halftime, TN loses as SC racks up 312 yards passing in the second half. Asked about the collapse, Dan Brooks says, "My graduate assistants ran some numbers on that second half, and 312 passing yards is not far from what the competition is giving up in the second half. I think we're gonna be okay."

vs. LSU

28. TN basketball coach Bruce Pearl agrees to give a pep talk before the game. The talk is televised by three networks. The next day 591 students and 58 non-students attempt to walk on to the football team, and 5 recruits commit.

29. Stanley Asumnu quits.

30. Tennessee wins in overtime. QBs Ainge, Crompton, and Hardegree, former QBs Manning and Cooter, and QB coach David Cutcliffe all publicly and coldly refuse to speak to or look at coach Fulmer after the game. The incident is televised. The next day all parties act as though nothing happened. There is a group photo-shoot. Former Volunteer QB and QB coach Randy Sanders takes the picture.

at Arkansas

31. Washington Redskins linebacker and former Vol Kevin Simon is traded to the New Orleans Saints.

32. Tennessee beats Arkansas like a drum. Fulmer: "We're tickled to death with what these guys have accomplished in a tough year. We think we can build off of this offensive effort. Vandy is no slouch, and it'll take a good game to beat them."

at Vandy

33. Tennessee wins by about 30. Fulmer: "I love the way these guys are finishing this year. David's schemes are starting to really work now, and you can just see these quarterbacks growing up. Vandy and Arkansas have some of the best defenses we've faced this year. I'm excited about next season."

34. High school standouts Jimmy and Joe commit to Tennessee.

vs. Kentucky

35. Tennessee stomps Kentucky like a fat cockroach. Hope springs anew among Tennessee fans. Fulmer's contract is extended.

Football Season Approacheth!

2006-07-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

After a nice summer vacation, things are starting to heat up in MonVOLia... We can smell the season coming, and we're firing up the discussions. Come over to www.outermonvolia.com and enjoy the fun!

SoCal's Animal Farm

2006-05-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Fostermom asked another poster a question...

Author
Comment
volunteerfostermom Wagee....a question....?
Quote:
"Phil Fulmer was on the elevator. Auburn was in town, ranked No. 1 in the country and riding the great Bo Jackson toward an undefeated season. I looked at Fulmer, it had been drizzling rain a bit that morning, so I asked, Coach, will the rain have any effect on the game and be an advantage for one team or another? Fulmer never smiled, looked at me and said, "It doesn't matter if it's raining or the sun is shining, we're going to kick Auburn's ass today." By the fourth quarter, Jackson had enough, took himself out of the game and the War Geese were no longer undefeated. It's too bad that the Fulmer on the elevator that day probably no longer exists. "

What do you think are the reasons that caused that change (if, in fact, that change has ocurred)? From a man's standpoint, what would he have had to go through for that to happen? Is there any way, as a man, to get that back?

SoCal busts out with another classic:

Orwell's "Animal Farm" happened...
I cannot believe a local sports writer has not done a spoof on this already (may have something to do with the South producing some of the best writers, but some of the worst readers)... Sure it is human nature to get comfy with "success"...but Fulmer & buds are the "poster children" for "the pigs" of AF.Opens with the great coup, and overthrow of the old Farmer, who was self centered and the "farm" was all about him (Johnny Majors). The coup was designed and carried out by a younger, aggressive (maybe even devious) pig Napoleon = Fulmer.There is much excitement and prosperity following the overthrow, not neccessaryily immediate, but there is just a better "team" attitude and "sky is the limit" view.The Commandments (er, General's Maxims) are dusted off and recited by all, with great reverence.The "team song" Beasts of England (or Rocky Top) has never been sung so proudly....and the "Farm" prospers...Behind the scenes, something is taking place and the suspecious old donkey Benjamin (aka AV ) notices that Napoleon has quietly been breaking the Commandments/Maxims...they seem like lip service. He notices that Napoleon has "run off" any other pigs that question or threaten his supreme leadership. "Snowball" did not stand a chance in Hell) He and the other pigs have been indulging themselves in direct violaton of the "Commandments". They are getting fat and happy, surround themselves with other like minded "pigs", and have completely distanced themselves from the original coup in every way: physically, emotionally and in spirit.They are basically laughing all the way to the bank (or beer trough). They have moved into the "big house" and gotten fat and lazy..while the "Farm" goes to hell, and the others starve to death.In the end, the "Farm" is worse off than it was under the old regime."Snowball" played by Cutcliffe, "the real brains behind the new order"."Boxer" the hard working Horse that gets shipped off to the "glue factory" played by the players?"Bleeting Sheep" played by...this is a tough one?"Four legs goooood, two legs baaaaaaaaad!""Police Dogs" trained to protect the pigs...at least one is named "Thunder".I think the story ends with all the "Commandments/Maxims" forgotten, except one:"All Animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."

Why do they call it a "think tank?"

2006-04-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

According to www.dictionary.com:

think tankn.
A group or an institution organized for intensive research and solving of problems, especially in the areas of technology, social or political strategy, or armament.[Download Now or Buy the Book]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
think tank
A group or organization dedicated to problem-solving and research, especially in such areas as technology, social or political strategy, and the military. For example, The congressional leaders rely too heavily on that conservative think tank. This term originated about 1900 as a facetious colloquialism for brain and was given its new meaning about 1950.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
think tank
n : a company that does research for hire and issues reports on the implications [syn: think factory]
Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University

First, humbletx pointed out winning percentages by program over the previous 6 years.

Not to be outdone, LiveToRide bounces back with the Football staff salaries.

birminghamvol, not to be left out, combines the two and uses a ratio of win%/salary to provide the "value" these programs are receiving for their dollars. His post is in LTR's thread, and replicated below. It is a must read for any fans of high dollar programs.

birmy's post:
I combined this with the winning percentage numbers humbletx posted below for the past 6 seasons. Who do you think is getting the most bang for their buck when you compare salary ranking with winning percentage ranking?

........................salary rank..........win% rank............ratio win%/salary
Georgia..................9................................5...............................0.556
VT........................15................................9..............................0.600
Michigan..............16..............................14..............................0.875
FSU......................13..............................15..............................1.154
OSU......................6................................7................................1.167
Texas.....................2................................3...............................1.500
KSU......................19..............................29.............................1.526
Florida..................11..............................17..............................1.545
Nebraska..............12..............................19..............................1.583
LSU......................5................................8...............................1.600
Maryland.............14..............................27..............................1.929
Minnesota............17..............................44..............................2.588
Colorado..............18..............................49..............................2.722
Michigan St.........20..............................68..............................3.400
Iowa.....................7................................25..............................3.571
Wisconsin............8................................33..............................4.125
Tennessee............3................................17..............................5.667
California............10..............................60..............................6.000
Auburn.................1................................13............................13.000
Texas A&M.........4................................57............................14.250

A few things that I noticed ...

1. Auburn has 1 coach in HIGH demand who they pay a ton of cash in AB. They have also had recent (past 2 year) success that saw Tubby get a HUGE salary increase. That is why they are on the low end me thinks.

2. For all the bitching and moaning about how UT doesn't pay it's staff enough and can't compete salary wise with the big boize .. the numbers just don't prove that (aka it's "BUNK" for you griddie spys who can't follow along in real, no simplified terms). You pretty much have a LARGE supply of old farts and porno 'stache rejects who aren't a threat to go anywhere. I'm sure the $$ went up this year with the addition of Cut and the raise Chavis had to get to match Cut. But besides Trooper .. NO ONE is sending out "feelers" for these guys ... AND WE STILL PAY THEM TOP DOLLAR DESPITE THEIR LACK OF PRODUCTION.

3. Georgia has their shitt together

4. How can "coach" look at this and ask for a raise/extension when it's OBVIOUS he alone is what causes the overall salary to be high for the staff? Is this why the inept clown keeps sub par staff members ... so he doesn't have to pay them and can keep more jack for himself (at the expense of the quality of the program)? See Coach Bowden, Beamer, Brown, Carr for coaches with similar stature (in longevity) as "coach" Fulmer .. yet they get the job done better .. with equal or less money.

5. Cal has a proven comoditity (who can turn a program around) IN HIGH DEMAND which warrants a high pay for their head coach. Does ANYONE want "coach" Fulmer? Why pay this underproductive, inept, clueless "coach" that much for TERRIBLE RESULTS? Is it worth 2.2 Mil a year for a freaking RECRUITING COORDINATOR????

6. Arguably .. ONLY Texas A&M gets less out of their football program (in terms of on the field results) than UT does. And that is due in part to the fact that they payed Fran big bucks .. only to have TERRIBLE results. And you can bet your "azz" he's on his way out after 2 years.

All this being said of course .. we must always keep in mind that ... "Football isn't rocket science, it's much much harder" ((TM) Ronald Tosh -2005)

"Fire the Poocher"The Ghenghis Group™

From Vol-Addict: HOMER and SHEEP defined

2006-02-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

Some of the other guys could probably give a better definition of 'homer' and 'sheep' but I will take a shot at it anyway.

IMO, a "homer" is someone who absolutely refuses to look at their favorite sports team objectively. They get very defensive whenever anyone criticizes their team, the coaches, or any other aspect of the program, no matter how valid the criticism might be. They basically have their head in the sand, and they don't want to hear any bad news, even if it is legitimate news. They want to think that EVERYTHING is 100% wonderful, and they often lash out at people who offer criticism (even constructive criticism that might be on target).

For example, someone with homer tendencies might tend to "buy into" spin that attempts to show the program in the best possible light, but may not be the most objective description of the situation. I think many fans fall into this category, and I don't think there is any big problem with this either.

To some extent, most fans have some homer tendencies, IMO. I probably have some myself, even though I try extremely hard to look at everything as "dispassionately" as possible (from being forced to do that as an auditor for 28 years).

The "homers" I have a problem with are the ones who will defend Fulmer 100% of the time, even when criticism is EXTREMELY valid, and they attack those who are actually trying to look at the situation dispassionately and objectively. They try to spin things in the most positive light possible, even when the actual record is quite poor. I don't have that problem very often, but it has happened occasionally.

And I expect it will happen a lot less often in the future because even the "homers" have been forced to acknowledge that there were huge problems this past season that the coaching staff did not handle very well. I think even the least objective fans were forced to acknowledge some of the problems this past season, and so they will be less likely to attack those who offer constructive criticism in the future.

As for the definition of "sheep," I would say that "sheep" are those fans who "blindly" follow the leaders (Fulmer, etc.) without ever "questioning" anything the leaders do or say. They have 100% confidence in the coaching staff and think they are more than capable of addressing every single problem that arises. It is an unrealistic mind set, IMO, and that is why those fans are called "sheep."

Hopefully the above comments will give you a general idea of what we are referring to when we call fans "homers" or "sheep."

Discuss in the FORUMS

FosterMom Wants To Know What Will It Take For Fans To Believe In Phil Fulmer Again

2006-02-09T05:18:00.000-08:00

Here is what the

Tennessee Vol Blog

has to say about the topic.

You can see that there is lot of doubt in the minds of UT fans on whether Phil Fulmer can turn things around. As one poster at OutMonVOLia stated, Phil Fulmer has never had to build or re-build a college football program. He inherited a pretty rock-solid program when he was inserted as the head coach at UT. Read the posts and feel free to add your response.

GreatGourdAlmighty's "Airball!!!!!!!!"

2006-02-03T06:20:00.000-08:00

So PF’s attempt to close out recruiting with a trey from downtown falls to the floor without ever threatening the rim. Airball. 0-5 from the field. I choose the basketball analogy on purpose because the contrast between the UT football and basketball programs is so unbelievably striking right now. What I take away from NSD isn’t so much that we signed lower ranked players than usual, or that we should be “disappointed” in the quality of players – that may or may not translate onto the field 2 or 3 years from now. What gets me is that PF continues to find ways to disappoint and de-energize the fan base, while Pearl achieves success after success and creates a fever pitch around the basketball program.I don’t pretend to be an expert on recruiting, but I do know a lot about business strategy and brand management, and the role of the CEO in building successful organizations and brands. This recruiting finish is another in a long line of communications, decisions and actions that produce the end result of leaving fan base (customer) feeling like it’s been collectively kicked in the groin. Performance/expectations = perception. Perception matters a lot and it’s a CEOs job to manage it. PF’s failure has been nothing short of epic.The failure to produce a positive “surprise” on signing day, coupled with the loss of another top recruit to Ears, and whiffing on two-team battles with the likes of West Virginia and North Carolina….in essence, the airball at the buzzer….means that once again the Vols underperform, and Big Orange football brand loses value with existing and potential fans and players. This, on the heels of- Off the field embarrassments, including assault and battery- a debacle of a season- Being mocked by the national media, which, love them or hate them, matters a lot when you are committed to a national recruiting strategy - muddled CEO communications that fail to take full accountability or outline a clear turnaround strategy- executive hiring decisions that are at best boringly pragmatic, and at worst, the re-hiring of Ole Miss retreads that ignore the demographics of our recruiting baseEven IF the sum total of these “moves” is marginally better performance on the field next year, the damage to the brand has already been done and will take years to recover. There are absolutely ZERO rational reasons to be excited about, and pay a premium for, the Big Orange brand. ZERO. And by the way, “paying a premium” in the recruits’ eyes is leaving the home state or turning down another premium brand program, so this perception stuff has real business consequences. So I see the recruiting finish more as another damaging, de-energizing blow to brand/perception than a good or bad recruiting haul…whether the actual players pan out or not, who knows? Meanwhile, Bruce Pearl is demonstrating masterful leadership on all dimensions. Granted, he has the advantage of being new and inheriting low expectations. But even if the wins weren’t coming as quickly, he would still be articulating a clear strategy, producing an entertaining product, energizing the student body and demonstrating a knowledge of Tennessee history/pride. He is actively building the brand on AND off the court. He not only “gets it”, he manages “it”…actively. Actually, the only sign of life from PF is that he is consistently showing up in his size XXXL sweater vest next to Pearl’s bench. Unfortunately, it just reminds everyone what an inarticulate blob he is next to a leader like Pearl.

Click here for the forum topic

Vols Recruiting Class of 2006

2006-02-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

K Chad Cunningham
LB Dorian Davis
DE Walter Fisher
DT Blake Garretson
S Justin Garrett
WR Quintin Hancock
OL Ramone Johnson
K Daniel Lincoln
RB Dustin Lindsey
OL Jacques McClendon
OL Darrius Myers
DE Chase Nelson
OL Cody Pope
WR Stephaun Raines
DT Jarrod Shaw
TE Lee Smith
QB Nick Stephens
TE Luke Stocker
DE Victor Thomas
LB LaMarcus Thompson
WR Brent Vinson
LB Gerald Williams

List and Bios

SoCalVol's AniVOL Farm

2006-02-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

Fulmer's state of the "Union"...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and "Union" is the proper term. UT football, under Fulmer now sits proudly alongside such great "leadership" models as the teamsters and UAW.

All three are firmly grounded in the Orwellian "Animal Farm" brand of "communism". And for all the hard-working, honest, decent auto workers and trucking folk, no disrespect, but these "organizations", along with an equal measure of bad, corrupt, non-union management have all but destroyed two American industries that were once dominant. The "Animal Farm" only last as long as the next coup is ready to revolt.

The bottom-line, at least to me, and to Fulmer (at one time), was that UT, with it's massive budget, facilities, best conference, best atmosphere...has no excuse to NOT play for National Championships. Fulmer, himself used this "mantra" as a battle cry, and gained great favor upon taking the HC job...and what set him apart day one from "Old Major", I mean, Majors.

The sheeple, the "ignorant masses", whomever can compare and contrast UT and Ole Miss, Vandy, Arkansas or whatever "alsoran" program and atttach some sort of "esteem", but unless that NC Goal has changed, the ONLY thing that matters is how UT is positioned vs those that more than likely will be playing for the NC's...
USC, Texas, Florida, OSU, OU, Miami, FSU, LSU and maybe a few others like Mich, ND and UGA/Auburn, etc.

As long as there is ONE program, so far ahead of UT in talent and coaching, like USC the hope of any shot at a NC is fast approaching zero.

USC, has averaged over 4*'s in talent in the past four years, they like the other powers play a game that looks nothing like what UT under Fulmer has put on the field in recent memory. They have a professional staff, that is young, energetic, competent and play, not only to win, but to demoralize opponents. Other programs are close and have legit shots to, simply by the "fruit" of their well managed organizations.

What has changed for the worse? Neyland?, Gibbs?, the UT academic support? the indoor practice facility? the budget?, UT's acadmic hurdles for a SA's?

It is Fulmer that has changed, or simply been revealed for what he has been all along, but is simply not willing to accept the change in the game and his own conference. As he has attained "more to lose", he has done less, and surrounded himself with "yes" men, and "advisers" that are not threat to him. (Just as Napoleon did in AF). The truly virtuous (and competent), "Snowball's (Berry, Marrone, and to some degree Trooper) have either been run off or "knocked back down" into the party line. Orwell aptly named Snowball, because he did not stand a chance in hell...

Fulmer has made a career of NOT maximizing potential and talent, but by living off the incompetence of others like Goff, Donnen, and Dubose. I sincerely think he is no better coach than these guys, but just had a much better program to attract talent that pounded these hapless leaders. Bama has not been "Bama" during Fulmer's entire HC career, and Phil has done all he can, to keep it that way...mostly off the field. How Bama kept some of those games even close it a tribute to their uniforms.

Fulmer lacks personal discipline, abhors decisions-making of any type and is simply not an "alpha male"...he would make a good Union shop steward, but those guys are usually about themselves and their "buds", not the best interest of the "customer", stock holder, or bottom-line.

He is a control-freak, that does not delegate and then controls next to nothing, except the out put and potential of the program, as a result of his lack of vision, slow twitch decision-not making, discipline...and yes, character. The sheeple want to praise him as a "Good Christian Man" (I have no idea if he is or not, and am not a theologian...don't even know how to spell it), but have read the parable of talents, and Phil does not approach his "stewardship" of this program in a WWJD manner. He may be the man with one talent, but then just as predictable as he has been to the AF model, he buries the talent in a hole...JC called this "wicked".

Player, Parent, Alum, Sidewalk Alum, Fan...whatever is owed more than this...because the ONLY ones that do not suffer from this brand of "stewardship/leadership" are the middle aged, tubby guys, who's checks keep clearing.

The ONLY question now (unless you believe that you will get a different output from the same or less inputs) is:
what is the final & total cost UT's upper management (if there is such a thing), is going to bear at the expense of all those "stake holders". Fulmer has created this mess with his own actions, non-actions and denial...much like a prisoner who arrogantly approaches a "parole board" with no acceptance of responsibilty, contrition or accountability...it is always someone else's fault...and stoops as low as to blame "kids", whom he has failed to teach fundamentals and discipline.

Put him "back out on the street" and the overwhelming evidence is that he will be back before the "parole board" again for the same "offense"...UT's admin has used the same approach with Fulmer as he has with players, and you wonder why so many "kid's" dreams are dashed, seriously injured and simply unfulfilled.

UT's football HC position is no different than any other "job" except it pays more than most. It is a special postition, in that he is in a position to teach and mold future "role models" (or cast offs), depending on the job he does. It is not a lifetime position like a the Pope or a Supreme Court judge...it is just a job that requires basic skills that maximize the overall value of the inputs. Again, is the overall program less? Has that program failed to attract more than adequate talent? What's the problem here? Judging from a quick look at the "nations top 150" some of the best are just not willing to "roll the dice" on UT under Fulmer, too much at stake, dispite all the great things the overall program is.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/sioncampus/09/15/best_weekends0916/

Link to Forum Topic

Background Checks for Football Players?

2006-01-29T12:10:00.000-08:00

Given the string of arrests this past year, perhaps UT should consider criminal background checks on recruits? This article briefly touches on the issue, and it's interesting to see what coaches fall for and against such checks. Richt at Georgia is actually against background checks. That's a very interesting stand for a teacher of young men. His stated reason is a level playing field, but could it be "don't ask, don't tell" me if I've got a criminal on my roster? Could Tennessee's off field issues have been the root cause of the season of missed expectations?

Check it out and let us know what you think in the forums.

Google Headlines now fed to the Blog!

2006-01-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

If you look to your right, you will see a real time feed of Basketball and Football headlines. From now on, you can stop here for the most up to date articles on the Vols Hoopsters and Gridders. Please let me know what you think of this feature.

Today's other UT Articles

2006-01-26T06:56:00.000-08:00

Sportsline spread on CBP

Silence Blogs on Foley's indignation

Recruiting Maryville paper

Jackson Sun on Recruiting

Birmingham News Recruiting

Richt's contract extension
Richt's contract extension2

Kentucky.com talks Randy Sanders

Springfield Sun on Pearl's excitement

UT in the News

2006-01-26T06:36:00.000-08:00

Vols over Mississippi State (some are duplicate articles in different papers)
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=cbask/news/AEN4000888.htm
http://www.forbes.com/business/manufacturing/feeds/ap/2006/01/25/ap2477650.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cbasketball/2061AP_BKC_T25_Tennessee_Mississippi_St.html
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060126-035559-5673r
http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060126/SPORTS0601/601260455/1002/MTCN0302
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/gvx_columnists/article/0,1406,KNS_18619_4416765,00.html
http://www.wbir.com/sports/news.aspx?storyid=31617
http://www.dicksonherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060125/SPORTS0601/60125013
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=260250344
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/25/sports/s202344S34.DTL
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_417401.html
http://www.accessnorthga.com/sports/newfullstory.asp?ID=100440
http://www.southernstandard.net/news.php?viewStory=28242
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/basketball/article/0,1426,MCA_466_4416720,00.html
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_79263.asp

Other articles of interest:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=211282&pub=1&div=Sports
http://www.reflector-online.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/01/25/43d78d293af8e
http://www.thedailytimes.com/sited/story/html/228455
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/gvx_vol_basketball/article/0,1406,KNS_19596_4412887,00.html
http://tennessee.scout.com/2/492506.html
http://tennessee.scout.com/2/492501.html
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_79171.asp
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sports/2006/jan/24/520015395.html
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060124/SPT0104/601240335/1035
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_79100.asp

Dallas paper note on 5k fine
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/colleges/13707520.htm

Miscellaneous
http://msuspartans.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/012406aaa.html
excerpt:"MSU Is A "Powerhouse Program" - ESPN named Michigan State one of the 10 "Powerhouse Programs" in college basketball. Of the 10 schools featured, only seven were division I men's programs. MSU was joined by Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, Division II Kentucky Wesleyan, and the Tennessee and Connecticut women's programs. The television program featuring the list was part of ESPNU's Honor Roll series. "

Outer MonVOLian Finances

2006-01-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

Let's see any of our friends publish THEIR financials... not gonna happen

SoCalVol says "Coach 'em up!"

2006-01-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

"Seriously, how many Pro Bowl linemen has Fulmer coached since taking over as HC?...or EVER for that matter? And the best players UT has EVER had were "man-child types" that were on a "physical" trajectory that was NFL bound. Jamal Lewis, Leonard Little, John Henderson, Haynesworth, Henry and even Manning "drug" this staff behind him. How many HSAA OLmen have signed with UT and "disappeared"...

Manning may have even "taught" our offensive braintrust how to over-think the game. Football is NOT a science. This "control freak", analysis paralysis, type just does not lead to rings. UT's staff trying to "control" offensive output (guessing at what an offense must do, based upon what the D, MAY be able to do...is defeatest from the get go). IMO, an offense is supposed to be offensive, and should have TD as the goal every time they touch the field. And the best DC's want to get the ball back and score themselves. It all goes back to this technician vs visionary approach to the game. Most of UT's truly great players were at their best when they "just played the game". T-Rob checked out of 80% of the crap JM and our O-staff sent in. Jamal Lewis was at his best when he knew the least and just ran hard, same with Leonard Little. Our staff putting more value on what a player "knew" vs what they could do (Levine over Lewis) cost the program plenty...and maybe JL flirting with a 2k TFR season. Al Wilson played his whole UT career "outside the UT box"...just like T-Rob did.

It's a game, and our staff trying to overthink with less than steller IQ's is as absurd as it gets. Fulmer has wasted most of his HC'ing career trying so hard "not to blow it", he has seen teams with two and three times the talent...eek by and get blasted when the talent was even or close...by guys that went out and played the game the way it was meant to be played. He has been schooled by all "schools of ball" Florida's finesse and the Huskers brute and some of the in between lately from Auburn and UGA.

Sure Fulmer has a ring, but he should have had 2-3 more shots and UT; "his" program should have a legacy of Pro Bowl OL'men that dominated in college, should have several coaches that move on to HC jobs (or pro jobs) and have a history of true dominance and postitioned to compete for NC's going forward. Stucky leaves, UT gets soft, Manning leaves passing game disappears, Wilson leaves leadership leaves...what is it Phil and his crew actually do?....strap on a feed bag and watch some more "film".

Fulmer is the classic "technician" that thinks the "whole" is just a sum of the inputs. It explains why he values pure talent so much and has absolutely "no football personality" to think of. He does not understand or believe in the "intangables", like psychology and a true philosophy. And why the great coaches and leaders can "drop their "franchise" into any program and hit the ground running. Read "the E Myth" and the analogy of the "pie lady"... fits Fulmer to a tee, he does not see or understand the value in true systems (sure you tweek to compensate for change), and thinks all problems are fixed by just "working harder/putting in more hours" doing more of the same stuff that was not working in the first place. The business world is full of these types...running head on into bankruptcy...of course Phil has a "rich uncle" (the UTAD) that keeps writing him blank checks...and letting him take a huge compensation...when the financials are falling apart. He is burning equity that Neyland and Dickey earned....and is arrogant enough to think it is his...if the UTAD is dumb enough to keep him afloat, more power to him."

Read the entire thread here.

Manning shows his a$$?

2006-01-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

TennesseeTuxedo started quite a discussion on www.outermonvolia.com when he posted that "Peyton Manning was a great Volunteer and arguably the best passing QB to ever play in the NFL. I have nothing but respect for his abilities on the field.

Manning dissed and embarrassed his coach on national TV and then pointed the finger of blame at his offensive line in the post game interview. Thats were I draw the line of respect for Manning. Thats right out of the Pac Man Jones playbook of excuses.

In the post-game interview he stated he wanted to be a good team mate, but that the Colts had several breakdowns in pass protection. He credited the Steelers for their pass rush but again stated that their were numerous pass protection breakdowns by his team mates.

There were some protection breakdowns on the part of his team mates, but you don't call them out and point fingers at them in post-game interviews on national TV. Its not like every pass he threw today was a good pass.

As far as the dissing of his coach, the shake off of the punt team turned out work fine for the Colts. However, Manning could have callled a time out to disccuss it with Dungy. The way he handled it, made Tony Dungy look like a total imbecile."

This post and all the interesting responses can be found by clicking here.

The Forgotten Tight End At UT

2006-01-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

The Forgotten Tight End At UT
Everyone knows that the tight end is the most overlooked position in the University of Tennessee football offensive scheme. The Vols use of the tight end is the biggest waste of scholarships and talent known to collegiate football. We might as well just play another offensive tackle at the position.

In the past, some fans have questioned the wasteful use of the position by Phil Fulmer. His apologists always retorted that the Vols tight ends were not talented enough for the Vols to use consistently in the Vols passing game or they would say that if we had anyone as talented as Jason Witten that we could then and only then feature the tight end prominently in our offense.

Look at the other teams around the country at all levels of football and how they use the tight end in intricate ways other than as an extra blocker. Most teams force the opponent to account for the tight end and make them guard him with a safety or linebacker. Phil Fulmer is content to allow our opponents to cover our tight end with a defensive tackle and allow the other team's defense to let the free man roam the field to make plays unobstructed. Do all of the other collegiate teams in the nation have better talent at tight end than UT? Or are the other coaches just more offensively opened minded and smart enough to fully utilize the entire field?

The Vols have landed some decent tight ends in the recruiting wars in recent years. Chris Jackson is a potential devastating weapon on offense, but is more under-used than John Daly's 3 wood. Then you have the two Cottam brothers. Are other teams' tight ends that much better than ours that we refuse to use them in a way that benefits our offense?

Knowing this, we are recruiting several high school tight ends. Some of them project to be defensive ends or linebackers. For the ones who look to play tight end, why would they trust Phil Fulmer's word that UT will use the tight end in the future? He's been saying that for years and we have only known what the word "tight end" actually means in two of the years. If you look in the University of Tennessee official dictionary, next to word "tight end" it says see picture and one can see a photo of an offensive tackle. Some one is very confused.

Pearl Brings Excitement Back To UT Basketball

2005-12-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

Its hard not to get caught up in the excitement of UT basketball. After all, Vols fans don't have a bowl game to follow in the aftermath of the disastrous 5-6 2005 University Of Tennessee football season. We at least have a coach and team that plays hard and dictates the tempo of the game to the opponents.

Its still early in the season and we have yet to begin SEC conference play, but you have to say that it is fun to watch University of Tennessee basketball again. Its been a long time coming. Bruce Pearl is the man of the hour across the state of Tennessee. Vols fans are getting more for their money out of Pearl than they get out of their football coach and his efforts are showing rewards already in the short time he has been on campus at UT.

Here are a few more articles from the major newspapers across the state and other sports outlets:

Vols Beat Texas

Vols Dial Long Distance I Upset Win Over Number 6 Texas

The Memphis Commercial Appeal Does Not Even Mention Tennessee's Win On Its Online Edition

KNS:Vols Upset Texas

Bruce Pearl:This is a great win for Tennessee Basketball

Vols Stun Longhorns

Its a shame that the largest newspaper in the 2nd largest metro area in the state of Tennessee does not carry the news of such a huge victory. Do I smell some jealousy from the Bluff City?

Upside Down Sports World at Tennessee

2005-12-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

What does recruiting matter at UT? The Vols have stacked nationally ranked top 5 football recruiting classes on top of another for the past 7-8 years. What do the Vols have to show for these great recruiting hauls? Z-e-r-o Southeastern Conference titles since 1999. Remember we play for championships at UT, not meaningless victories over Kentucky, Memphis, or Vanderbilt.

In the wake of the 2005 "Train Wreck at Rock Bottom" season, the Vols recruiting fortunes have taken a strange but expected turn for the worse. Read Ron Bliss's column, A look at Tennessee recruiting: Strange days, indeed. Bliss points out the changes in recruiting outlooks at Tennessee. The Vols football team is currently ranked 53rd nationally and 10th in the SEC in football recruiting behind the likes of Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Mississippi State. Now, there is a lot that is going to take place between now and national signing day that will hopefully change the Vols' recruiting fortunes and frankly recruiting is about filling needs rather than winning some meaningless artificial recruiting guru rankings.

On the other hand, Bliss mentions the change of recruiting status for the Vols basketball program, led by new coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl's first recruiting class at Tennessee is ranked 12th by one recruiting service and 16th by another. Both of those services believe that Tennessee had a better recruiting haul than national powerhouse and SEC opponent Kentucky. Pearl, in just his first 8 games as the leader of the Vols' hoops team, is showing why he has been a winner everywhere he has been in his career. If Bruce Pearl can continue to recruit top notch talent, meld that talent into a cohesive unit, improve their skills, and win at Tennessee, some great times are head for Tennessee fans.

Funny how a perennial downtrodden basketball program has turned its fortunes around with good coaching. While on the other hand, the roles seem to be reversed with the UT football program.

All Time Program Rankings

2005-12-10T18:31:00.000-08:00

Going back to the early years, but only looking at current IA schools, these are the rankings/ratings for the top programs. What is your opinion of these rankings?

Discuss in the Forums

Titles since 1891

2005-12-10T16:37:00.000-08:00

Here's the list of the most successful programs since 1891 by the RW ranking system. There were a few shared titles. See the detail below for the years.

Here's the summary:

Looking at Fulmer under RW Rankings

2005-12-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

Here's a look at Fulmer's rankings as Head Coach. Overall, the averages are excellent.

He has had some great seasons. What these numbers fail to show is how close UT was to earning multiple MNCs during his early years and including 2001.

Now, take a look at the split before and after the MNC in 1998.This is where things start to get a bit uglier. You can see the huge difference in the variation between CPF1 and CPF2. CPF1 was a consistent high performer. CPF2 is erratic and unpredictable. The red lines indicate the range of expected values for future seasons. As you can see, CPF1 expected a 1-20 ranking. CPF 2 expects a 1-71 ranking.

This is where the upward trend is truly visible. It would have been near impossible for CPF to stay where he was the first 6 or 7 years, but he is now performing below a level that is acceptable by one of the highest paid men in college football. 2006 should be an interesting season.

Discuss this post in the Forums

All Time UT Retrodictive Chart

2005-12-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

Discuss this post in the Forums
This image shows how we've fared over history by Ray Wait's system. We were not ranked by his sytem until 1902, so the early years have no data points. Note that the best run by his system was the late CJM, early CPF timeframe from 1989-1999 where we finished 4th, 9th, 12th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 3rd, 8th, 3rd, 1st, and 12th.

Ray gives us the title in 1938 and 1998, with 2nd place finishes in 1956 and 2001. We finished 3rd in 1950, 1951, 1985, 1995, and 1997.

Our average ranking since 1902 is 28th.

If you cut out the pre-SEC years, our average ranking is just shy of 20th.

In a future post, I'll include a comparison of different teams' rankings through a similar time period.

If you look by coach, CPF has performed the best under this ranking system.

Rank Coach

RW Rank HC
13.62 Fulmer Average
15.50 Dickey Average
15.95 Neyland Average
17.25 Barnhill Average
17.29 Battle Average
26.25 Wyatt Average
27.19 Majors Average
27.98 Grand Average
30.00 McDonald Average
42.00 Robinson Average
44.00 Fisher Average
48.00 Britton Average
49.67 Levene Average
52.40 Banks Average
54.33 Bender Average
58.80 Clevenger Average
59.00 Stone Average
67.00 Crawford Average
71.00 Depree Average

Discuss this post in the Forums

Jason Allen's Injury Puts NFL Career In Jeopardy

2005-12-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

Jason Allen was one of the greatest players to come through the University of Tennessee football program. Allen was a fine ambassador of the program and proudly displayed what a student-athlete is supposed to be. Jason Allen did everything and more that was asked of him. An unfortunate injury may have ended his professional playing career" before it even began.

A medical professional who posts on a Tennessee Titan's message board as "Bongo59", has stated on a few occasions that Allen's injury may prohibit him from living out his dream of playing in the NFL. "Bongo59" works as a medical consultant with the NFL and the Tennessee Titans. He is a regular poster on Tennessee Titans message boards and provides regular scoops. His flow of information is not always popular with all posters, especially when it flies in the face of what they believe. In most cases, Bongo's information is solid.

"Bongo59" states that the nature of Jason's injury does not bode well for fulfilling his dream of playing in the National Football League.

"OK very simple to understand.................Bo's hip was completely dislocated out of the socket....(ball of the joint out of the socket)........the blood supply to the Femoral head (ball of the socket) is through the ligamentum teres.............if torn there is a loss of blood supply and resultant avascular necrosis.......that is a career ender...................Allen had a dislocation but the joint never jumped the acetabulum which is the socket the femoral head ( ball)fits into but he did tear his ligament and lost blood supply to the head of the femur.............meaning he is in severe danger of AVN............the docs are trying to work this issue up now...........his MRI was not good news and it is to be confirmed by PET scan this month.............bottomline..............he will not be drafted this yr because of this injury ...............no one will chance it.........and put serious money on the block...........Grant had a minor Fracture of the acetabular socket that did not effect the structural integrity of the joint or its motion and had no effect on the blood supply to the femoral head.........the bone healed without incident and no long term damage..................Priest Holmes had the same injury last yr.........i hope this helps."

One has to wonder, that amidst reports that a few underclassmen on the UT football team may look at making themselves eligible for the NFL Draft, if Allen's decision to return for his senior season and his injury may have an impact on their decisions.

Retrodictive Rankings

2005-12-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

I've been hunting for a solid way to compare/contrast teams, coaches, etc... back to the beginning of Football. I believe I have selected the most realistic of the retrodictive systems.

Using Ray Wait's retrodictive system, not his predictive system, I will be publishing some interesting comparisons of UT teams to each other. I will also be looking at other programs for some valuable perspective. I hope you find these entertaining. If you do, please drop in on Ray's site and thank him for his work in putting his system together. If you read his site, you will see that he credits David Wilson for coming up with the basic system first. Ray got there independently and David added some tweaks based on Ray's work. Anyway, history aside, be on the lookout for some new analyses based upon this system of rankings.

Tennessee made their debut in 1902 ranked 19 out of 73 teams. Not a bad way to start, eh?

A tale of 2 Fulmers

2005-12-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

If you compare the record of CPF up to and including his MNC versus his record since, the results are STAGGERING! Before beating B-daddy in the Fiesta, Fulmer was sporting a winning percentage of 85% not including his 4 wins and 0 losses in 1992!!! Since that time, he is averaging only 69.6% of games won. To put that in perspective, coach Dickey won 70.7% of the games he coached and Coach Battle won 71% of the games he coached. Interesting, eh?

Gazing Into My Crystal Ball...The Future....Is......

2005-12-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

Lets gaze into the crystal ball and see what the future holds for the Vols, coming off a very disappointing 5-6 record in 2005. What does the recruiting season look like? Where are the nation's best football players taking their football talents and plying their trade for the next few years?

Looking down the list, you don't see the name Tennessee listed next to their names under the already committed column. You have to look all the way down to number 67 to see Jacques McClendon listed as already committed to Tennessee and he is still visiting other schools.

Rocky Top has been in a downward trend as far as winning percentage and margin of victory go, in the past 7 seasons, despite hauling in some of the very best talent in the nation on the recruiting trail in recent years. That was when UT won more games than they lost. If Rocky Top can't work with the best talent in the land, what will Rocky Top do with lesser talent as it looks like they will get after the Train Wreck at Rock Bottom 2005?

SEC awards handed out by ESPN

2005-12-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

ESPN hands out awards in the SEC

"While most people drank the Kool-Aid being served at Eastern Division favorites Tennessee and Florida during the preseason, Georgia quietly went about its business."

The orange Kool-Aid was quite tasty, but it left you with a huge hangover by November.

"Biggest disappointment
Tennessee
For all his success at Tennessee, Phillip Fulmer never seemed to get the credit he deserved for his consistency. A down year for the Vols was an eight- or nine-win season. That all changed this year. Picked No. 3 nationally in the preseason, Tennessee bumbled to its first losing season in 17 years by losing five of its last seven games and finishing 5-6. Offensive coordinator Randy Sanders resigned after the loss to South Carolina, and Fulmer purged most of his offensive staff. The Vols even lost to Vanderbilt for the first time in 23 years. When you factor in all the off-the-field trouble involving Tennessee players that occurred before the season, it was nothing short of a nightmare on Rocky Top."

I don't know that I can add any commentary on top of that little summation. The lone Vol on their All-SEC team? LB -- Kevin Simon, Tennessee

Discuss this in the Outer Monvolia forums

Hold Onto Your Seat

2005-12-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/govols/article/0,1406,KNS_294_4297852,00.html

The Knoxville News Sentinel is reporting that UT season ticket holders will contribute or else give up their seats. The UT Athletic Department said in a released statement that there will be no grandfathered tickets on the east and west sidelines behind the team benches.

Season ticket holders who have had their on the sidelines behind the benches will have to ante up with the contribution, have their seats moved to one of the end zones or transfer their seat to a family member. However, they will get a discounted rate from the VASF.

Recently, UT Athletic Director, Mike Hamilton, had said that sales of the new club seats were going well and that everything with the project was moving along smoothly. You can bet that we are seeing the effects of a 5-6 season and staying home without a bowl game. How much longer can the UTAD continue to bleed the fans, who support the program financially, while Phil Fulmer continues putting a poor product on Shields-Watkins Field inside Neyland Stadium?

Hey, its the Christmas season. Tis better to give than receive...right?

A private lair?

2005-12-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

So is this the super secret base of the Horde? Maybe we ought to show Chuck & Ron how to use it and then they could create their own and have the true Vol fan paradise they long for.

Ranking the UT Coaches All Time

2005-12-06T05:10:00.000-08:00

I’m personally tired of hearing how CPF is the best coach of all time. This absurdity is spouted with regularity by the CPF apologists who want everyone to quit criticizing him so the won’t lose their practice passes and insider status. News Flash: Every season CPF stays in charge without making necessary changes to improve the program, the less your practice pass is worth. This doesn’t mean recycling coaches in the coaching version of the FRS (Fulmer Relocation System). If you don’t know what that means, go to the OuterMonVOLia forums and ask for a definition. What changes does he need to make? He needs to hire some talented assistants who are on their way up, not a tired assistant on his way out. He needs to unleash his new offensive coordinator to install a new, high powered offense that makes use of the talent that he (yes, CPF gets the credit in my book) has brought into the school. I don’t buy that the talent has fallen. I argue that the coaching has REALLY fallen.

Here’s the truth. You cannot argue with the facts. Neyland won more games than CPF will coach (unless he makes the changes). This data is sorted by winning percentage. Neyland set the bar so high, that only 3 coaches other than he and CPF are above the program average of 67.3% of games won.

My Top 5 Rankings:

The General. No case necessary, as he owns 23% of the program’s all-time wins.
Barnhill: Look at what he did elsewhere! If he had been a bit younger, he could have followed Neyland with similar success. Instead, he did a great job keeping it together until the General could come back and continue his work.
Fulmer: He took the talent Majors brought in and did great things. Sure he was a handful of losses from 4 MNC’s instead of 1MNC… but at least he used to be good enough to get us close. The longer he coaches without making dramatic improvements, well, that’s a dead horse I don’t need to beat anymore.
Majors: If he hadn’t been stabbed in the back, I am fairly certain he would have earned his second MNC (and first leading the VOLS). He had the pieces the year he was fired, and just needed to let them gel. Majors would have beaten Florida in 1993 and had us playing for a title in the Sugar Bowl.
Dickey: Only because Battle completely collapsed.

Click here to talk about this in the Outer MonVOLia forums

The Book of CPF

2005-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

In the literary world, there are five essential parts of a plot: The Introduction, the Rising Action, The Climax, the Falling Action, and the Denouement. This concept can be applied to any movie, book, TV show or play. I like to think this concept can be expanded and applied to every definable cycle. With that in mind, I delved into the cycle that is the head coaching tenure of Phillip Fulmer at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

The Auspicious Introduction

CPF (as we will call him from this point forward) was offensive coordinator under head coach Majors starting in 1989. Majors liked to hire the most talented coaches he could find. Consequently, his turnover was rather high. Many of his former employees went on to successful careers as head coaches at the college level, or some level of NFL coaching. CJM developed players for the NFL and coaches for both college and the NFL.

In 1992, CJM missed some games due to health reasons. CPF filled in on an interim basis and went 3-0, with victories over SEC opponents Florida and Georgia. Johnny felt the knife halfway into his back at this point. When he returned from his hiatus, he won at home over Cincinnati 40-0, and on the road over LSU 20-0. He then laid three successive eggs at home vs Arkansas and Alabama, and on the road at South Carolina. He won out over the sisters of the poor and knocked off BC in the bowl game, but by now his fate was sealed. CPF had knifed CJM squarely in the back, and begun his reign as head ball coach. All hail Dickey, ruler of all things VOL, abandoner of tradition, embracer of the almighty dollar.

The Rising Action

CPF chose David Cutcliffe as his offensive coordinator and kept Marmie as his defensive coordinator. He felt “safe” with these two. CPF charged through his first season in what would become his trademark fashion: He beat everyone but Florida, then got creamed in the bowl game. 1994 was a bit tougher, as he had to go through a few QBs early on, and dropped 3 out of 4 (4 out of 7) before being saved by Tennessee’s annual trouncing of the sisters of the poor.

In 1995, CPF selected Chavis as his new defensive coordinator. This move cost UT the national championship this season. In the Vols only loss of the season, Florida put 62 points on Chavis’ defense, and exposed his mustang as “the package of choice” for any opponent with a passing game. If the Vols had schemed for this game (a somewhat foreign concept under CPF), this would have been the first of 3 consecutive national titles. The Vols had enough talent this season to beat Ohio State in the long spikes bowl.

In 1996, CPF led the Vols away from the title yet again. He realized that losing to Florida wasn’t enough to keep a title from Knoxville, so he dropped a game against weak sister Memphis. This put him into the Citrus Bowl where he felt much more comfortable. Therefore, CPF deviated from his pattern by winning two bowl games in a row.

In 1997, UT narrowly avoided a national title by squeezing defeat from the jaws of victory against Florida. With Senior quarterback Peyton Manning, and a roster full of future NFL stars, the Vols got STEAMROLLED in their bowl game vs Nebraska, 42-17. Like 1993, this was a trademark early CPF year. The talent was there for a third national title, but CPF blew it again… but his winning percentage ROCKED!!!

1998 was the year UT was supposed to be “down”. We lost all universe, future hall of famer (but not good enough to win a Heisman) quarterback Peyton Manning. We had some nobody from bammerland in to lead the team, and expectations were low. Sure, we still had enough talent to beat the 2005 Tennessee Titans, but we didn’t know that then. This was a perfect setup to the perfect season… one that even coaching couldn’t stop. Fate decreed that Syracuse would choke, the Florida kicker would choke, and the Arkansas QB would trip on the ghost of Cedric Houstons to come. Fate also drove down to Tallahassee and broke their QB to seal the deal. This brings us to…

The Climax

Despite all the recent articles portraying the 2005 preseason as the indicator that the empire was falling, the signs began appearing as early as prior to the 1998 National Championship win over Florida State. Remember that a climax involves the main character receiving new information (Cutcliffe resigning to take over at Ole Miss), the main character accepts the information and then ACTS on this information (which determines whether or not he gains his objective). Now we all know the action was Fulmer hiring Randy Sanders as offensive coordinator, but the objective? I look at the objective as becoming the greatest head coach ever at UT, therefore I’d have to say his choice led to failure. The Vols finished their title run by beating a depleted Seminole squad, and they say CPFs head grew three sizes that day.

The Falling Action

1999 saw lofty expectations (again) lead to average results. The Vols regained their tradition of losing to Florida, and proceeded to drop “Fate’s make up” game against Arkansas. CPF capped it all with his trademark beat down in the bowl game, as in taking the beating. When it comes to bowl games, CPF is a catcher and not a pitcher.

2000 looked like an aberration at the time. The Vols started 2-3 before the annual sisters of the poor salvation. They finished 8-4, marking CPF’s worst year since 1994, thanks to the trademark bowl bend over.

2001 was another year where the pieces were almost there for a national title run. The talent was exceptional, but the coaching was typical. Fate tried to do her part by moving the Florida game to the end of the year. CPF tried to make up for that by losing to Georgia in game 4 of the season. The Vols won out, earning their way into the SECC game. This is the point many call the “jumping of the shark” by CPF. He had a chance to get into another BcS national title game. He led LSU at halftime. LSU came out with a backup QB and TB in the second half and beat the #2 Vols. That was the day I decided not to go back to the Georgia Dome until things changed. CPF may have made the same decision, eh? He didn’t go back until 2004. The Vols took out their frustrations on a Wolverine squad that made black strap molasses look like white lightening. CPF pitched for once.

2002 was another “aberration”, as the Vols limped to a mediocre 8-5 record. The only thing worth mentioning is that this is the year the “Peach” performance reared its head. The Vols go into a 2nd or 3rd tier bowl, massively favored, and fail to show up. This is about the time when many decided to jump on the fire Randy Sanders bandwagon. I held off for a few years. I’m a coaching conservative compared to my farsighted brethren of MonVOLia.

2003 was a blah kind of year, with a 10-2 Vols team (due to losses to Auburn and Georgia) overlooked by all the bowls who recognize a good team when they see it. Thus, the 2nd Peach bowl debacle occurs. UT goes into Atlanta and gets creamed by an ACC also-ran.

2004 was a set up. The Vols dropped games to Notre Dame, and Auburn (twice), made a visit to the Georgia Dome, and finished a respectable 10-3. The expectations were low based upon 2003 and the quarterback situation. What the experts failed to take into account was that Randy Sanders had not had time to screw their heads up yet.

2005: The year of false hope. The Vols enter into the season as one of several contenders for a match with USC in the title game. The pre-season is generally listed as the reason for this team’s failure, but it had been building since 1998. The lack of discipline had cropped up in various incidents and events. These are well documented in recent media articles (see past events involving Omari Hand, Troy Fleming, etc…) and so I won’t rehash them. The 2005 Vols set new records for futility by an offense. They were so bad they made the 1988 Vols look explosive! The lowest scoring UT team since 1964, this team gave the message boards plenty to talk about. Half the team refused to play when Ainge was in the game. The Clausen half refused to listen to the coaches. This truly was a team divided, due to multiple factors. Discipline was lacking, coaching was woeful, and the California Pickle mark II drove in the final stakes.

The Denouement?

While his predecessor sent many coaches on to bigger and better things, CPF has kept the same ones around indefinitely. The only changes have been those almost forced upon him. We anxiously await the 2006 Volunteer squad. With new (old) offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe in place, the fans are anticipating improvement. While the bar is buried in the sand, exceeding it should be certain. On the other hand, raising it for future seasons may prove more difficult than expected. The UT staff has consistently taken talented players and coached them down. Thus, they rely upon incoming recruits they have not screwed up yet to contribute greatly to the team’s success. This year’s recruiting class looks to be the worst ever. Unless the new (old) coaching staff can correct the mistakes of the past, 2006 will be another disappointing year. With CPF is in charge, the Vols may never reach the top again. That’s why I hope the 2006 season is CPF’s denouement.

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A few charts for you

2005-12-06T04:48:00.000-08:00

I’ve updated two graphs to share with you. The first graph illustrates the winning percentage for the 13 full seasons of CPF’s tenure as head coach via a trend analysis. I won’t get all geeky with you, but the red line is the trend and it is not going in the right direction.

The second graph is more damning of the program. This indicates the average margin of victory via trend analysis over the 13 years of CPF. Things sure started off great, but the only place to go from here is negative territory. With the sisters of the poor at the end of our schedule, this is inexcusable. Of course, so is losing to one of the sisters.

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