I opined just last week here at the FanHouse about Phil Fulmer's relatively new (and indubitably unsavory) position on the coaching hot seat, which is roasting his prodigious hindquarters even as his team prepares for the '07 season. Once college football's number one coach in winning percentage (he went 45-5 from '95 to '98, not coincidentally during Peyton Manning's heyday), the Big Man in Orange has become a lightning rod for criticism in Knoxville.And it looks like Athlon agrees with the disgruntled masses; the company's pre-season SEC rag puts Fulmer at the head of a short list of hot-seat coaches. The list:
1. Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee
2. Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss
3. Al Groh, Virginia
4. Tommy Bowden, Clemson
5. Tyrone Willingham, Washington
Athlon explains themselves thus:
"The Vols haven't won an SEC title since their national championship season of 1998. Speculation around Fulmer only increased in the spring when athletic director Mike Hamilton told a sports-talk radio station that Fulmer would not be getting a raise. Quarterback Erik Ainge is back but Fulmer has some holes to fill on the defensive line."That's not all: in the last five years, Fulmer has only one bowl victory (and in '05 the Vols didn't even play in the off-season.)
Phil Fulmer plays an old-school, smashmouth type of football. He is without a doubt a first down and a cloud-of-dust coach. But is that an outdated mode of thinking in the SEC, where strength is but a prerequisite, and untouchable speed is considered a conference trademark?
Tennessee always recruits well. But Fulmer just hasn't found his way to that top-tier ledge that colleagues Urban Meyer, Les Miles and Pete Carroll seem to operate upon with impunity. Good, but not great recruiting: a death-knell in the brutal Eastern Division.
When Miles and Meyer waltzed into the SEC from out-of-conference coaching jobs and immediately took over their divisions, the Big Orange Nation grew justifiably agitated. Vol fans feel that Tennessee should always be in the mix. Fulmer's fate now rests in the hands of Erik Ainge, who needs a strong senior campaign to keep Fulmer out of the fire.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-06-2007 @ 11:39AM
The U will be BACK! said...
Fulmer is definitely on the hot seat. But I do have one minor correction. The height of Coach Fulmer's career did not take place during the Peyton Manning era. I know everyone has this love affair with Manning, but don't give him credit for what he didn't do.
Tennesse won the 1998 National Championship, but it was Tee Martin who was the QB of that team. That's a little factoid that a lot of people tend to (like to) forget.
And no matter how you slice it, that was the height of Fulmer's coaching career. And without that National Championship on his resume, which came from a Tee Martin-lead team, Fulmer probably would not still have his job.
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7-06-2007 @ 1:25PM
Gamecock Man said...
How many games do you guys think UT will have to win for Fulmer to keep his job?
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7-06-2007 @ 3:27PM
rowefork said...
I say 9 at a minimum. 8-5 and it's adios.
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7-06-2007 @ 4:00PM
Gamecock Man said...
yeah, I would agree, rowefork. I think Fulmer is in an interesting position--UT will probably win 9 or 10 games this year, which will be enough for him to keep his job. But they probably won't win more than that, so there will still be a lot of unhappy people. And the years to come look even worse. I know the UT folks expect the Vols to do better than 3rd best in the SEC East, and it looks unlikely that they can do it consistently in the upcoming years. UF and UGA are obviously in a better place, and the Gamecocks look to be ready to jump in the mix on a more permanent basis. And some Alabama beatdowns are probably in store with Saban taking over. He may last this year, but more than that, I don't know.
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7-06-2007 @ 4:34PM
The U will be BACK! said...
9 is a pretty decent guess.
I don't think you can require ANYONE to win 10 games and keep their job.
And I don't see 8-5 as a sufficient record for him.
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7-06-2007 @ 5:27PM
Steve said...
I don't think it's a question of the number of wins. I think Fulmer needs to win the SEC east. Mike Hamilton is no Doug Dickey (see coaches Petersen and DelMonico), and Fulmer has lost his "sacred cow" status. An SEC east title would at least prove to the administration that the program is moving forward. The status quo (another Outback Bowl) won't cut it.
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7-06-2007 @ 5:27PM
rowefork said...
The East is so competitive now, all bets are off. Yes, I am a Gator-homer but here's how things will shake out, in my estimation. This is the year that UGA, SC, Tenn, and UF all finish 5-3 in the conference with a massive tie-break to figure out who goes to Atlanta. To do that SC is going to have to take three from UGA, Tenn, UF, Ark and LSU and win the games they are supposed to like Vandy, UK, MSU. That is a tall order. The others are in the same boat. 5 tough games each and they'll be lucky to take 3. The team that takes 4, wins the games they are supposed to, wins the East.
This will be the most compelling and exciting year for the East AND the SEC. If any of them come out 6-2, and it's not UF, I'll root for them in Atlanta because they deserve it. The winner of the West will be 6-2 or 7-1. Just my humble opinion but when you look at these schedules, it is going to be awesome. I bet ESPN and CBS have their best ratings ever for SEC play. Even Lincoln Financial/JP will have great numbers this year.
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7-07-2007 @ 9:23PM
Hometown USA said...
Fulmer is certainly on a hot seat. 9 wins or else in 07 or it's bye bye. There is no doubt that the SEC was the toughest conference in the nation this past season. It should be again in 07 also. I would really love to see those 2 new national powers "West Virginia and Louisville" play more than each other for MNC consideration. Lets say like join the SEC for a couple of years and play snot knocking ball with LSU, UF, UGA and soon to be Bad Ass Bama again, then see how powerful they look. Oh yes, Arkansas Nutt is on thin ICE too for the forseeable future.
That is my take
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7-08-2007 @ 4:14PM
vols preview said...
I don't think he deserves to be on the hot seat but with all the money out there and in the society we live in today that is how it is. Now if they wanted to fire him because the game may have passed him by, and some of the decisions he makes on the field are poor, that is a different story.
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7-08-2007 @ 5:36PM
Todd\\\'92 said...
I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember how fat phil got his job but it was by stabbing his mentor and supposed friend (Johnny Majors) in the back. I have never understood the vols reasoning for that move either.....Johnny Majors built the program back to respectability after the program had fallen to mediocrity. Majors suffers a heart attack near the end of the 92 season and fulmer finishes up the season as interim and lobbies for his job.....what a sleaze. Let the axe fall on Fat Phil.
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7-09-2007 @ 12:46PM
mnktigers said...
Obviously not a Vol fan but to be on the hot seat after winning 80+% of your games shows the attitude on Rocky Top. This need to win at all cost may be the reason why you see a sudden rise in incidents involving UTK players. Fulmer has to get the best players and not the best people. He is doomed if he does and doomed if he doesn't......in other words He's doomed!!!!
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7-11-2007 @ 1:05AM
Bill said...
Houston Nutt not only bleongs on the list of coaches on the hot seat, his name should be the first one listed.
I think Tyrone Willingham has one more year but with the short fuses so many of these coaches work with, who really knows. Your opinion is as good as mine.
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9-16-2007 @ 1:53PM
Buck Gosnay said...
Has anybody noticed that every comment from people who admit they're not Vol fans say they don't understand why we have a problem with Coach Fulmer. If you were competing against the Vols with Fulmer in charge would you want to give up that edge? Does anyone really think we go into any big game with a coaching edge when matched against the top coaches across the country. Show me any D1 school with more fan support and better facilities with the same results.
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9-16-2007 @ 6:36PM
Leland said...
Coach Fulmer has too much baggage beginning with the questionable means by which he replaced Coach Majors. Second, he is obviously a tattletale. As I told Coach Majors in a short message I sent him when he lost his job at Tennessee, players wont play for a coach they can't trust and time will prove that his players wont play for him. I do not know how others view the players' performance against California and Florida, but I wittnessed a lack of effort in both games on both sides of the ball. Coach Fulmer must go. Bobby Johnson at Vanderbelt could restore this program quickly!
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