Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer knows plenty about offense.

He played offensive guard at UT in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was an offensive line coach and an offensive coordinator at UT before he succeeded Johnny Majors as head coach in 1993.

He knows enough about offense to keep his distance from it.

UT finished 101st out of 117 Division I-A teams in points per game this season. It finished 89th in yards per game. More significantly, it finished 5-6 -- its worst record in 17 years.

With numbers that low, someone had to go.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Randy Sanders resigned -- effective at the end of the season -- after a loss to South Carolina. Offensive line coach Jimmy Ray Stephens and receivers coach Pat Washington were fired after Saturday's season-ending 27-8 victory against Kentucky.

Someone had to go. So Sanders, Stephens and Washington went.

And Fulmer went looking for new assistants.

It doesn't work that way everywhere. When a Steve Spurrier-coached team goes bad on offense, no one puts his offensive assistants in the crosshairs. You know it's his offense, just as you know head coach Mark Richt is in charge of Georgia's offense. You might also know that when UT's offense struggled under Majors in the early 1990s, critics usually targeted the head coach -- not Fulmer, the offensive coordinator.

Fulmer isn't the only head coach who relinquishes the reins of both the offense and defense to coordinators. But if a head coach takes such a detached approach, how does he earn his millions?

He recruits. He manages assistants and players. He deals with the media. He sells the program.

And when the program goes south, he fires and hires. Or does he?

It's worth noting why Stephens said he was dismissed. He said Fulmer told him he had to make a change because the new offensive coordinator was bringing in his own offensive line coach.

So the Stephens family shouldn't blame Fulmer for his dismissal anymore than fans should blame Fulmer for the offense. In fact, you shouldn't blame Fulmer for anything. He's just the head coach.

If the defense falters, see defensive coordinator John Chavis. If the offense falters, see the next offensive coordinator, David Cutcliffe, whose hiring is expected to be announced today. And if the next offensive line coach is a dud, see the offensive coordinator again.

If there's a problem with team chemistry, it's a lack of senior leadership. A losing season is attributed to injuries, a difficult schedule and bad luck. A UT player breaking the law or a jaw is a youthful error in judgment.

Who says UT isn't effective with the spread offense? Fulmer spreads blame around as well as anyone.

But there's no excuse for this team going 5-6. And there's no excuse for the lack of discipline in the program.

I expect Fulmer -- or his offensive coordinator -- to hire competent assistant coaches. I expect UT's offense to improve. I expect Fulmer and whomever he hires to recruit well.

But good assistants, an improved offense and outstanding recruiting aren't enough. The program needs strong, decisive leadership.

And that's not something a head coach can delegate.