Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been hearing a few grumbles from Phillip Fulmer supporters regarding UT’s basketball season. Yes, Fulmer and basketball.
I blew it off knowing that you always have grumblers whenever losses come.
But this week I got an excellent e-mail from a very knowledgeable Vol fan. Someone who is close to the program and close to Fulmer. His e-mail was well thought out, and it meshed with some of those other grumbles I’d heard.
He wrote (and I paraphrase): “I wonder if Mike Hamilton will hold the coaches he’s hired to the same standards to which he held Fulmer.”
The suggestion from some of these Fulmer-backers: “Bruce Pearl’s having a bad year, let’s see if Hamilton fires him.”
It’s completely fair to wonder if UT’s athletic director will judge his hires as he judged the coaches he inherited. My guess is, in the long run, he probably won’t.
New bosses usually bring in their own people when they see a job performance issue. It’s human nature. Hamilton inherited Fulmer, Buzz Peterson and Rod Delmonico in the Big Three sports. They’re all gone.
It’s also human nature to protect one’s self. Pearl, Lane Kiffin, and Todd Raleigh are now connected to Hamilton. He needs for them to do well. I’m guessing he’ll give them all the support that they need to succeed. It’s his tail if they don’t. So I would expect him to have a slow hook.
That said, the question I’ve been hearing, “Wonder if he’ll hold Pearl to the same standards as Fulmer?” isn’t a fair question right now in March of 2009. It might be a fair question in, let’s say, five years.
Fulmer is a beloved figure to a lot of Tennessee fans. He should be. He won a national championship, won 152 games, and he’s departed with about as much class as a man in his position could.
But he also had taken over one of the top 10 football jobs in the country. He took UT to an even higher level, but then things plateaued and fell off. Could he have fixed the program? We’ll never know.
But of the 52 losses Fulmer suffered, 21 came in his final four seasons, while he lost the other 31 over a 12-year span. That’s a four-year drop after taking over and sustaining a good program.
Pearl is building a never-was program. Kentucky, Arkansas and Florida all have national titles. The Vols have never even made an Elite Eight. Kentucky and LSU have won more conference titles than UT. Kentucky, Arkansas and Alabama have more all-time wins.
Yet, regardless of how the Vols finish this season, Pearl already has led them to the best four-year record in school history, 94-33 since 2005.
In addition, Tennessee had never finished three consecutive seasons ranked in the national polls. Yet they did just that in Pearl’s first three seasons.
They couldn’t do it under Ray Mears. They didn’t do it with Ernie and Bernie. They never did it under Jerry Green. Only under Pearl have they done it.
His “down” year (in which his team could still make the NCAA tournament for just the 17th time in the school’s 100-year history) is coming while he’s still trying to build a program.
Therefore, it’s not a fair comparison to say, “Well, they fired Fulmer after one bad year . . . The situations are totally different. And 17-10 is hardly 5-7, by the way.
If Fulmer had received heat in 1999 or 2000, then OK. But he received a decade’s grace after the 1998 national title.
If Pearl struggles for the next three years, and then gets the Fulmer treatment, then that also would be OK.
But not now. Not yet. The situations don’t match-up.
Those folks who supported Fulmer, though their anger is with Hamilton, not Pearl, don’t do Pearl any favors when they make these types of comments.
And Kiffin should be prepared to hear this as well. He should be ready to hear more of it.
If Kiffin goes 5-7 in Year One, you can expect to hear, “Well, why don’t they fire him?”
As though seasons take place in a vacuum, where we only need look at one year’s results to make perfectly fair comparisons to another year.
Pay no attention to the fact that Fulmer had overseen a bit of a decline and that Kiffin is inheriting a program that is down in talent. The pro-Fulmer, anti-Hamilton folks will believe that Kiffin’s first sign of trouble, even if it’s in his first year, should result in a dismissal.
That’s what they believe happened to their guy.
Love towards Fulmer is understandable. The anger towards Hamilton, if you’re a Fulmer-backer, also is understandable.
But comparing Kiffin’s results in a rebuilding effort or Pearl’s results in a plain ol’ building effort to those of Fulmer show a lack of understanding when it comes to the overall situations surrounding these men.
It’s an argument grounded in passion, not in logic.
John Pennington hosts the Hall’s Salvage Sports Source on Sunday at 11 a.m. on WATE.
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Comments » 108
sportsfish writes:
I can't believe we are even discussing or defending this. Pearl has rebuilt a dead program and no matter the wins and losses, I am actually proud to be a fan and enjoy watching them play. Something I haven't been able to say for over 20 years.
dwolfcreek#397971 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
iowavol writes:
Sportsfish, I'm with you. This article is a piece of sh$t with one purpose only - to be further divisive to the Big Orange Nation. I doubt seriously if Pennington even got one email on this subject. It's a rediculous notion. Bruce Pearl is putting a competitive product on the floor. In fact, we ought to consider giving a Pearl a big raise.
Pennington, stick to honest reporting rather than fabricating BS.
VolMoment writes:
Here is an article that wants you to believe nearly all Fulmer backers feel this way. The answer is no, just a few idoits that would think that way. The writer probably heard someone say it in jest. They need to write an article and because of lack of creativity or too lazy to go get some worth while information, they sit in their little chair and say" this would be something I could write." I saw where one of Dever's newspaper is going out of business. The KS survies because of UT, but they had better watch it, "real UT fans" feeling are growing thin due the lack of good reporters. And then these reporters will not be able to get a real job.
Volfantm writes:
Not a well reasoned article, imo.
cincivol writes:
I vote to remove this article forever!!!
vol4gzus writes:
your post is the stink here! Article is saying Fulmer supporters not Coach Fulmer!
As has been said b4 ......get over it please......btw article about Coach Pearl and compared situations from PAST.
rbhobbs73#226545 writes:
All Pennington had to do was read the posts on this site following a basketball loss to see that there were plenty of "fans" that talked about firing Pearl.
I don't always agree with Pennington, but this article is spot on and I agree with him...comparing this basketball season to the 5-7 football season is comparing apples to oranges and is not even close to the same thing. If Pearl goes 13-16, 18-14, 19-13, and 10-21 over the next 4 years, then it will be the same thing as Fulmer's last 4 years. I am willing to bet a c-note that Pearl does not have records anywhere close to those I have thrown out above, over the next 4 years.
I will now don the kevlar and wait for incoming....LOL.
Go Vols!
TommyJack writes:
I think this topic was a real reach for Pennington. Good grief!
Vol23304 writes:
If Pearl posted two losing seasons out of the last two my guess is that he would be on the hot seat. Coach Fulmer took over an excellent program from Coach Majors. He did well for 9 years then could not compete against the best in the SEC. No SEC championships and two losing seasons in the last four year is why Coach Fulmer is gone. Coach Majors was fired after winning two SEC championships in his last three full years. If Fulmer were held to that standard he would have been fired in 2001.
Voluvr writes:
This year compared to where the program was is a vast improvement. Why is even being mentioned? Fulmer didn't just have one bad season. It was ramping down to that point over a 10 yr. period. His stats were great but in the SEC you're expected to win titles at least maybe once a decade.
cdldoc#211897 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
volhammer#634294 writes:
Anyone who thinks Coach Pearl needs to go is a complete MORON !!!
PureOrange writes:
Why would you even entertain the idea of writing such a ridiculous article? It is insane!
Bruce Pearl has done so very much for UT basketball and the university. He does not have to look at a tape of the game to know if we played well or not. He has had some players not give their all at times, but he does not sit on it. He changes things.
Maybe the KNS should think seriously of getting people who can think before they write another stupid article.
Voluvr writes:
I understand if Pennington is upset that he's not rubbing shoulders with Tennessee royalty anymore, but where is his love? With his friend being coach or with THE University of Tennessee?
tennezz writes:
This is crazy, Coach Pearl is the best thing that ever happened to Tenn. basketball!
SEAL_9821 writes:
This article is pointless. I'll gurantee that we couldn't get a better coach than pearl to come in here. Tennessee mens basketball was never heard of until he came here. As for Fulmer, well he opened the exit door for himself several years ago when the program started to decline. I'm so sick of hearing the "Fulmer could have turned it around if he had another chance" nonsense. I am a huge Fulmer fan and have been for years but he let the ship here in Knoxville stop sailing and start sinking. It is what it is KNS so stop posting these ridiculous articles.
Gilvol writes:
If I am not mistaken isn't Tennessee football bigger than one man? Fulmer had a great career at Tennessee, but the Fulmer supporters(not all) that continue to carry on about him is ridiculous. Maybe the Fulmer supporters should blame Fulmer, and not Hamilton for losing his own job. It has gone down hill with discipline, talent, player development, and wins since 2000. I guess people with sour grapes have to blame other people, but of course not the man at fault... Good article John, but just non-sense by this booster.
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
not referring to you but that applies to this forum as well---too many here dont think before they post or they are incapable of thinking----the article was just feeding those idiots of ours that started all this nonsensical talk---if we going to call out the KNS call out our posters who start such stuff
volnknox writes:
Pennington- go back to your so-called sports show for halls salvage, You can't even get that right, you seem to be worried about selling advertisment than talking about ut sports. getting tired of your 1 hour long tv advertisment show.
gnm53108 writes:
Even a rumor that Coach Pearl's job is in jeparody is outragiously stupid and FALSE.
VolJunkie writes:
In a week where I thought nothing could top the "Who Should Play CBP in a Move" article/poll for BS content and stupidity, along comes this to prove me wrong. This is so bad on so many levels ...
Go Vols!
VolJunkie writes:
Meant "Who Should Play CBP in a Movie" ... mea culpa.
dwolfcreek#397971 writes:
come on phil you are guilty .
TK writes:
Ever coach has a down/rebuliding year. When you replace all the mins that this team lost from last year with newcomers. It is going to be a rough up & down year. Look at Pat and the Lady Vols this year. The players she had to replace and how up & down the ladies have been. Both Pat & Bruce will right their teams. Plus, it is not fair to judge a team until the season is over. What if either of the teams get hot and go to a final four? They had a bad year??? John I watched the show last Sunday. You think the men's team will be worse next year. The one point that Dane Bradshaw tried to make and you dismissed. Which players will get better as sophmores next year? Look at Scotty...if he makes (not takes...but makes) a couple more shots next year he is going to be at 15 to 18 a game. Maze will have a full year with the team. I think Woolrich will take a big step forward. I also think Emmanuel Negedu will become all sec sooner than later. He brings huge energy to this team. He just happens to play behind the two best players on the team. I have faith that Pat will turn her team around if not this year next. I have the same faith in Bruce.
1stBaseHelton writes:
Hey fellow Vol fans check this out!http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/N7DL...
utmdm writes:
Good response.
bluetick writes:
Yea good idea. Let's get rid of this guy. How about lets get Peterson or Green back on campus. P-L-E-A-S-E! Ignorant article. Bored are you? Write about something else dork.
utmdm writes:
Maybe we need a comparison of this reporting staff vs the staff from say 25 years ago.
tvol71 writes:
I very much appreciate what coach Fulmer did for UT, since he won only the second (although should have been others under Neyland) national championship and produced excellent teams in the past. The fact of the matter, however, is that he has not beaten FLA since Bourbon Myer got there, and they were only close once, and hasn't been close to Bama in Saban's 2 years there. He has not kept up with the competition. If Pearl has a couple of more mediocre years, then he should probably go to, but not time for that yet. Even Raleigh, whose team is off to a dismal start, should get one more year to get going. Just seems to be a bad year for UT athletics.
budd#207344 writes:
If some supporter of CPF wrote you and said that CPF was fired after one bad year he is either reallly stupid or a liar
rockytopman writes:
Pennington, you're such a dork.
shipperman#280095 writes:
I agree totally. Fulmer won nothing after the National Championship, nothing. A 10 year drought would get most coaches fired. Foolmore stayed about 7 years too long
OrangePride writes:
Woaaaaa here.......what am I reading? Are you people down at the KNS for real even reporting and bringing this comparative up? First of all, UT Football did not struggle just this year, OK? It has been declining for at least 5 years, and some would say the last 9 years. Our SEC success in the two years before last could easily be said to be as much a Cutcliff influence as Fulmer. So this insanity of talking about this year as "bad year" for BP and "will he be held to the same standard" is nonsense. BP has totally transformed Tennessee basketball and brought back high expectations. He is, without any question at all, one of the premier coaches in college basketball. More than that, he is total Volunteer who loves this school. It's more than just a coaching job for BP. I think it is really unfortunate that you and KNS add fuel to this negative claptrap because we are only tied for second in the SEC right now. How about, for a change, you give a try to just allowing for some years to be less good than others without lending credence to the idiots who want championship seasons every season or they begin calling for coaching changes. Bad job on this KNS!
ZR writes:
Whin are we going to beat Kensucky?
Smallmike4pres writes:
I am glad to see most of the posts are from knowledgable fans. I have said it once & will say it again, if you think Pearl should go, you are a complete moron & have absolutely NO UT or sports in general knowledge. But from the looks of it, not many think that, just this idiot writing the story.
acolvol#632266 writes:
Pat Summitt is having a bad year. What about it Pennington, is this your next article?
newtonrail writes:
I am amazed again why Pennington draws such fire. Is his article a reach? Maybe. I live in Cleveland, Tn. so I can't always get Knoxville Sports Talk, except on computer. This past week I have been able to hear several shows when fans were close to calling for Pearl's head. Now this is obviously an "Knee Jerk" minority. I don't see the tie in with Fulmer at all. Personally I'm a huge Pearl advocate, not a Fulmer fan, and for a variety of reasons, not fond of Mike Hamilton at all. Where does that fit in some box? I remain a loyal listener/reader of John Pennington when I can catch his weekly radio appearance. Say what you want, the guy knows sports. Perhaps this article was off in it's premise, but let's face it, it's a slow sports news time for a guest editorialist.
dcvolfan98 writes:
• Which program was more recently ranked #1 in the nation? football or basketball?
• Which program has hosted ESPN College Gameday more recently thereby giving UT some national exposure?
• Which program has had two losing seasons in the past four years?
• Which program has failed to be competitive with its key conference rivals in the past four years?
Anyone else want to fire Coach Pearl after a 17-10 season and a potential NCAA berth? If you do, why don't you give up your orange and trade it in for black and gold?
Slystone writes:
If UT was to fire Pearl he'd get hired by another D1 school before the Vols could hire a firm to search for a new coach. WTF came up with this lame brain idea? Yes, it's been a tough season but realistically it is no reason to fire him. Even if next season appears to be a duplicate I wouldn't fire him. He has some players coming and few on this team that I am sure he'd like to see move on. No justification in this. To compare it to Fulmer is ridiculous. Everyone has seen the demise of the Vol football team over the last 7 or 8 yrs. As someone mentioned earlier Summitt is having a bad year why isn't her name brought up then? Because she will get it turned around. Same thing with Pearl, he will get it turned around.
ChuckG writes:
Pennington you are an idiot. I can not believe I was disappointed when you got laid off from the radio. The more I read your articles and listen to you on the radio the better I understand who you are; and that it a arrogant jerk. On the radio you repeat your points, all most verbatim, at least two times if not three times just to hear yourself talk. Jim Rome anyone? You seldom let any callers through, and you act is if you are right and anyone else is not. Now you are writing an article discussing firing Coach Pearl. The piece gives credence to the vast minority of idiots that know nothing about basketball and should not be given a voice. By obliging these morons, whether you happen to agree with or not, you are validating them. You are small time get over yourself.
Cherokee writes:
This has been stated in many different ways on volchat, mainly because it's fairly obvious to most people with any sense.
The crack about UT making the NCAA for only the 17th time "in 100 years" is another one of those "technically true but quite misleading" types of comments (like the one that used to be passed around about UT football not having one in Gainesville since '71, as if they had played there every other year in that time frame, which they had not). The NCAA Tournament has not been around anywhere close to that amount of time, and even in it's beginnings it wasn't at all clear that it was superior to the NIT. And it also did not used to include 64 (65) teams. I think it started out with 32, maybe even less, so that historical comparisons in college basketball are extremely difficult because of the constantly and significantly changing criteria for measuring success.
Other than the misleading comments about the b-ball program (we've got a better history than Pennington gives us credit for here), and the otherwise "Captain Obvious" argument, it was a fair column.
Cherokee writes:
Next column: a treat, as we are enlightened on why it is too soon to fire Pat Summitt. LOL, I like many of Pennington's commentaries, but this one was pretty underwhelming.
letshave1more writes:
JP YOU ARE A MORON!! GO FIND ANOTHER JOB BECAUSE YOU SUCK AT THIS ONE.........
dma38256#264746 writes:
Long live Bruce Pearl......
knoxhomeowner writes:
i say pennington is more than reaching...........Bruce is an huge asset to the VOL community. Unlike some sports writers in knoxville.
Go4Two writes:
Which year denotes the SEC EAST Championship.
golfballs03 writes:
i can't believe this is even an article. it is insulting. fulmer was having losing seasons and missing bowl games. he lost control of his team, and at one point it seemed like a player a week was getting arrested.
MANVOL writes:
This is a Stupid article and anyone who thinks Pearl should be fired is an idiot. Even though we have struggled with a Lofton and smithless team. Last i checked we are still in the hunt for an east title and making the tournament..We have the stupidest fans on the planet.Go Vols beat Gators!!
golfballs03 writes:
John Pennington, you are a waste of space
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