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ESPN-Sources: Fulmer Agrees to Step Down As Vols Coach

zoony

By zoony
in The Tailgate

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zoony

zoony

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Hallelujah! Finally :point2sky: (I wish Fulmer the best, just not as Volunteers coach. This should have happened 4 years ago)

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http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3679810

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Phillip Fulmer, who a decade ago brought Tennessee its first national championship in 47 years, will not return as the Volunteers' coach next year, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

An announcement is planned for Monday at 5 p.m. ET at Neyland Stadium. Fulmer, who has won 150 games at his alma mater and is the dean of SEC coaches, met with Tennessee officials Monday morning, and they reached a mutual agreement that it would be best for all parties if Fulmer did not return next season.

The sides also agreed that the 58-year-old Fulmer would coach the remainder of the 2008 season, his 17th in Knoxville. He signed a new seven-year contract last summer that was worth $2.4 million this season. A buyout of the contract after this season would cost $6 million.

The Vols (3-6, 1-5 SEC) have lost three of their past four games and are in danger of posting their second losing season in the past four years.

"Anybody that likes Tennessee and cares about what the product looks like on the field is frustrated," Fulmer said Sunday night, according to The Tennessean.

In the story posted on the Nashville newspaper's Web site, Fulmer told his coaches in a Sunday meeting to shield the players from their frustration. SEC

"It's about our energy, the looks in our eyes, our demeanor and how we approach it in meetings and film sessions," Fulmer said about his coaching staff, according to the Tennessean. "We're professionals and we have and we will continue to be looking forward to playing."

There had been increasing scrutiny on Fulmer, who took over full time on Nov. 29, 1992 and has been at his alma mater as a player, assistant coach and head coach for more than 30 years.

The Vols won the national title in 1998 and were one of the top programs in all of college football in the 1990s, but the program hasn't been the same this decade. Tennessee has lost 31 games since the end of the 2001 season.

Chris Low covers the SEC for ESPN.com.

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zoony

zoony

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The SEC is so competitive they're going to need a big name, or someone with a helluva dynamic offensive/defensive philosophy.

Whoever it will be will have to coach against Meyer, Spurrier, Saban, etc. I don't know if it is Lane Kiffin- I'm not sure he could compete against those guys. Recruiting will be 90% of it- what kind of recruiting experience does Kiffin have? (not a rhetorical question, genuinely curious)

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China

China

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Recruiting will be key, especially in the SEC. But with the exception of Fulmer's national championship team, and Peyton's teams, Tennessee was never a real powerhouse. Their previous national championship was 47 years earlier. I expect that Tennessee will stay at the bottom of the SEC for the next few years under their next coach, and alot of people will then appreciate Fulmer more. Not that I'm a fan of his; it's just that I think that his replacement likely won't be any better, and that the expression "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." is applicable here.

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zoony

zoony

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Recruiting will be key, especially in the SEC. But with the exception of Fulmer's national championship team, and Peyton's teams, Tennessee was never a real powerhouse. Their previous national championship was 47 years earlier. I expect that Tennessee will stay at the bottom of the SEC for the next few years under their next coach, and alot of people will then appreciate Fulmer more. Not that I'm a fan of his; it's just that I think that his replacement likely won't be any better, and that the expression "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." is applicable here.

Tennessee gets more fan support than any other SEC program. Check attendance records.

With the resources available to the head coach, there's no reason in the world to put a product like what we've seen on the field.

And TN has historically been a top-tier college football program. You need only look as far as the talent that has come out of the school. If you're measuring simply in terms of number of National Championships- well, I'm sorry that TN doesn't have the gift of playing in softball conferences like the Pac-10. They actually play real teams during the course of the year. Extremely difficult to string together a perfect season and make the title game. Hell, Spurrier was known as the greatest Coach in Florida history and he had 1 Nat'l title.

.....

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dcoles11

dcoles11

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The SEC is so competitive they're going to need a big name, or someone with a helluva dynamic offensive/defensive philosophy.

Whoever it will be will have to coach against Meyer, Spurrier, Saban, etc. I don't know if it is Lane Kiffin- I'm not sure he could compete against those guys. Recruiting will be 90% of it- what kind of recruiting experience does Kiffin have? (not a rhetorical question, genuinely curious)

i'm not sure about Kiffin's recruting experience but the fact that he can be linked to USC (Pete Carrol) and the NFL (Raiders)

I would think he has enough credentials to impress a bunch of 17 and 18 year old kids.

or they may just go out and try to steal a coach, how happy is Spurrier at USC?

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zoony

zoony

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or they may just go out and try to steal a coach, how happy is Spurrier at USC?

Spurrier is a native of the area, his family still lives here. Hmmmm.... :)

(nah, he'd never do it, and TN fans would never allow it. At least I think)

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China

China

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Tennessee gets more fan support than any other SEC program. Check attendance records.

With the resources available to the head coach, there's no reason in the world to put a product like what we've seen on the field.

And TN has historically been a top-tier college football program. You need only look as far as the talent that has come out of the school. If you're measuring simply in terms of number of National Championships- well, I'm sorry that TN doesn't have the gift of playing in softball conferences like the Pac-10. They actually play real teams during the course of the year. Extremely difficult to string together a perfect season and make the title game. Hell, Spurrier was known as the greatest Coach in Florida history and he had 1 Nat'l title.

.....

I never said they didn't have good fan support.

After reading your post, I did a little research and found that Tennessee is second in the SEC with the most SEC titles. News to me. I guess I don't recall hearing much about Tennessee until Peyton Manning came along. Not sure why, but it just is. So I stand corrected on their being a historically top-tier team.

But I stand by my statement that I don't think the coaching change will produce a huge improvement. As you yourself indicated, the SEC is tough. Somebody has to be in the bottom half. I think it is Tennessee's turn (much as Nebraska has been down in the dumps in recent years). It will be interesting to see who they choose as coach. I don't think lane Kiffen is the answer, just as Bill Callahan wasn't for Nebraska.

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zoony

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But I stand by my statement that I don't think the coaching change will produce a huge improvement. As you yourself indicated, the SEC is tough. Somebody has to be in the bottom half. I think it is Tennessee's turn (much as Nebraska has been down in the dumps in recent years). It will be interesting to see who they choose as coach. I don't think lane Kiffen is the answer, just as Bill Callahan wasn't for Nebraska.

I think folks around here can handle losing- (well, as well as any fanbase, lol) - but whats at issue here is just not being competitive whatsoever. Losing to UCLA :doh:

The problem with Fulmer is that he's been running the same offense since 1996. Yah, it was effective then. Nowadays, its old and predictable. Teams love playing TN, they know there will be no surprises.

So sure there is no guarantee that a new coach will be successful. But the amount of resources at his disposal will rival any program in the country. Ohio State, USC, Alabama, etc. - none of those programs would have any kind of competitive edge over TN just because of who they are.

It's a premier college football program that produced some of the greatest players in NFL & CFB history. Whoever the coach is will have a tough schedule, sure- but he can never say he didn't have every resource/opportunity at his disposal.

Fulmer has flat out stepped on his own :censored:

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TuckahoeSkin

TuckahoeSkin

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Zoony,

I had no idea you were a Vols fan. I've been following them since one of my best friends went there in the late '80's.

Fulmer should have moved on a couple of years ago. That loss to Cal in the opener last year never should have happened. Good luck to him. It wouldn't surprise me if he ended up at UVA after they finally run Groh out of town.

Hang in there Vols fans.

By the way, my wife is from New Zealand and her very first football game was the UT-Bama game at Neyland four years ago. It was a 7:30 kickoff and she thought she might be able to do some shopping during the day. Little did she know that we meant business when we cracked the seal on a fifth of Maker's Mark at 9:30 in the morning. It kind of skewed her perspective on football. ;)

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Ford

Ford

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They bring in too much talent to be where they are. I can't think of that one DB's name but he is a serious presence on the field and fun to watch. The one thing I've heard Vols fans complain about the most is Fulmer's stubbornness and unwillingness to hire outside the program. I wouldn't be surprised if a decent hire got them back on track sooner rather than later.

Also ... damn newbs can't figure out which forum to post this in ;)

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zoony

zoony

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we meant business when we cracked the seal on a fifth of Maker's Mark at 9:30 in the morning. It kind of skewed her perspective on football. ;)

Nicely done! :applause:

But Makers Mark at a UT game? For shame! Jack Daniels or local-cough-brew, FTW! :silly:

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lovetoaster

lovetoaster

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Gruden? WTF, seriously? where are you hearing this?

That has been bounced around for years...he coached at Tennessee, his wife is from there and he still has an affinity for the school and the area. I think he has a home somewhere around Knoxville. And they would pay him a boatload of money.

Depending, and maybe regardless of the Buccaneers season, I think he may be the frontrunner.

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/comments/fulmer-stepping-down-at-ut-gruden-rumors-already-started/

http://www.footballrumormill.com/tag/jon-gruden/

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=63772

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