If you made a list of all that has gone right for the 2006 Tennessee football team, David Cutcliffe's name would top the list this Christmas.

It's not just what he did. It's what he didn't do.

He didn't get a head-coaching job.

You probably expected UT's offense would improve with Cutcliffe's return as the team's offensive coordinator. If it did, you probably expected Cutcliffe would land a head-coaching job.

Instead, the offense improved, and Cutcliffe stayed. Talk about a winning parlay.

And the biggest winner is head coach Phillip Fulmer.

Who knows where Fulmer would be without Cutcliffe? Who knows if he would still be UT's head coach?

With Cutcliffe, Fulmer is on the verge of another 10-win season. He also is probably on the verge of receiving a raise.

You could argue that he should endorse the check and hand it to Cutcliffe.

But UT's turnaround from a 5-6 season in 2005 isn't just a tribute to Cutcliffe. It's a testament to Cutcliffe and Fulmer together.

Fulmer is as comfortable with Cutcliffe running his offense as he is with John Chavis running his defense. Cutcliffe shares the same comfort zone.

Cutcliffe isn't comfortable getting too much credit for UT's offensive resurgence. He doesn't want you to mistake the offense for a solo mission. It's about the players, the staff and the head coach.

"(Fulmer) has been tremendous," Cutcliffe said earlier in the season. "We understand each other.

"He sees things in the run game, in pass protection. He's great about reminders: 'Against this, have you thought about that?'

"I lean on him for his help. We've always been good together."

The results back him up.

The only risk in hiring Cutcliffe was the possibility of losing him after one year. Fulmer was willing to take that risk, and it has paid off.

Fulmer made a less obvious move after last season. He moved assistant coach Trooper Taylor from running backs to wide receivers.

That worked, too. Just as UT's running backs improved significantly in the first year under Taylor, so did the wide receivers.

The staff changes aren't all that worked out. The team won as many games as it should have.

Fans might lament those lost leads and narrow losses against Florida and LSU, but those were superior teams. So was Arkansas, which handled the Vols with ease last month.

Although it failed against those three nationally ranked teams, UT didn't lose to inferior opponents. It held on against Air Force and Kentucky. It came from behind against Georgia and Alabama.

Given this team's talent and schedule, 9-3 is a best-case scenario. The bowl match-up was a bonus.

Sure, the Capital One Bowl is slightly higher up the food chain, but that would mean spending the afternoon with top-10 Wisconsin, whose power-running game would pose all kinds of problems for a vulnerable UT defense. The Vols are better off leaving that assignment to Arkansas.

Penn State won't present nearly as great a challenge in the Outback Bowl. Its running game is OK but not nearly as formidable as Wisconsin's. And although it has a solid defense, it's apt to struggle against UT's offensive speed.

It already has been a good post-season for the Vols. Chavis was honored as the national assistant coach of the year, senior offensive tackle Arron Sears was named the outstanding blocker in the SEC, and wide receiver Robert Meachem made All-American.

Now, they're headed to the beach for Christmas. And they're taking their offensive coordinator with them.