Comments by VOL7
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Posted on October 26 at 12:45 a.m.
The Phillip Fulmer Era is now officially over at UT...
There may not be an announcement next week or even the next, although I'm fairly certain it will come within that time. The Phillip Fulmer Era is now officially over at UT. Tonight's embarrassing loss with fans pouring out of the stadium in the 3rd quarter, confirms the total disgust of the entire Vol Nation.
Fulmer has no one to blame but himself for tonight's loss or for the demise of his regime. The fans were there early & loud tonight. It was the loudest Neyland Stadium had been all season long & perhaps as loud as it was when we played & beat Florida in 1998.
However, there were more Alabama fans at Neyland Stadium than at any time in history. Had they known tickets would be so cheap, there would have been thousands more there. Tickets were going for $10 or less each, & the only buyers were Bama fans. It was a pathetic turnout for this classic rivalry on the part of the home team's fans, but those that were there were loud & proud. Gaping holes in the north & east upper decks were evident thruout the game, & many rows on the west side lower deck stayed empty the entire second half, as fans began to leave at the half, even though we were still within 10 points at halftime.
Fulmer was far too loyal to inferior assistant coaches. He was far too loyal to seniors & juniors who were less talented than sophomores & freshmen, & who failed to provide needed leadership. He simply has worn out his welcome among UT fans. Apathy has set in on The Hill.
Posted on October 15 at 2:11 p.m.
read my post again. i said 8 games in knoxville in 2009 & 9 games in tennessee in 2010. we have 7 games in knoxville, 1 in nashville, & 1 in memphis in 2010. UT fans predominate in both nashville & memphis over vandy & memphis fans, so it will be like having 9 home games for UT in 2010.
Posted on October 15 at 12:52 a.m.
Hamilton is a money man. He sees the dwindling attendance, the drop in concession sales, the possibility of having to postpone facilities upgrades when donations are withheld, the apathy that has cast a pall over Big Orange Country. A new coach, a fresh face, a real energized proven winner is what is required. Let's hope it isn't someone like Grobe. UT needs to hit a home run with this hire, as it did with Pearl. A true open national search with every agent being contacted by a search firm to gauge interest is the only way to go. There will be plenty of coaches expressing interest. We just need to select the right one & let the search go where it leads us, not with some predetermined choice in mind.
It's an exciting time to be a Vol fan. We are on the cusp of winning some championships in 2009 & 2010 with our favorable schedule on tap, 8 games out of 12 in Knoxville in 2009, & 9 games out of 12 in Tennessee in 2010.
Posted on October 15 at 12:51 a.m.
The interesting part of the interview is that UT is definitely considering doing what Clemson did, releasing their coach before the season is over. In UT's case, I'd say they'll let Fulmer stay on until the season is over no matter what, but his resignation, whether voluntary or forced, would be announced in the next couple of weeks, effective at the end of the season.
The candid part is that Hamilton all but admits he was out-negotiated & gave Fulmer too much of a buyout severance package. It is believed that Thornton leaned on Hamilton to put that much in the contract, told Hamilton he would pay it if it ever came to that, & then reneged later when push came to shove & Haslam confronted him about it.
Fulmer appears all but resigned to his fate. He would have to be the biggest dunce in America not to see the handwriting on the wall. All of this stupid talk on this board about booing & how posting bad things about our players & coaches is dooming our program is nonsense in the face of the fact that every media outlet in America, national, regional, & local, sees the plainly obvious problems in our once-proud program & the need to take swift, drastic action to correct it. The media knows what a great job UT is & how it is being filled with someone that is now subpar.
Posted on October 15 at 12:50 a.m.
Remember that Hamilton is merely a mouthpiece for President John Petersen, who's making all of the decisions in consultation with the UT Board of Trustees. Remember also that Governor Bredesen still wants UT to make big budget cuts & didn't vote for Petersen to be UT's President. He was in the minority of 10 in the 11-10 vote of the Trustees that elected Petersen. Bredesen voted for the other finalist.
That being said, it is obvious from reading this News-Sentinel story that the decision has been made to make a change at the top of UT's football program, absent some miraculous finish that no one expects. It appears that a 6-6 finish will be the final straw. Should Fulmer finish 7-5 & win a bowl game, making UT 8-5, that might complicate matters, but there appears to be not much chance that will happen. At 6-6, even though UT is bowl eligible, it might not get a bid.
Posted on August 25 at 1:10 p.m.
once again, slive has proven to be a weak commissioner. football isn't the only consideration here. UT fans get shortchanged the most, as they want to view their men's basketball team & baseball team & the lady vols basketball & softball teams. mike hamilton should have stepped up & demanded this. SEC sports are the most popular nationally. pay-per-view is a ripoff. we could have helped recruiting tremendously at UT by pushing for the SEC network.
Posted on May 27 at 5:44 p.m.
what a surprise! NOT! olive oyl has always been a thug & his current NBA teammates put him in his place earlier this season when he tried to bring his thuggery into professional basketball. hopefully someone else will elbow the rest of his teeth out. he's still missing the one that our UT player knocked out in gainesville in our recent domination of the gaytors.
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Posted on May 21 at 3:08 p.m.
lisa glenn is a shining star as a coach. UT is fortunate to have her & to have the facility it has for crew. i wish we had a men's crew team, too. the melton hill lake course is one of beauty as well.
Posted on March 6 at 9:55 a.m.
obviously billy g didn't get the memo that UT beat florida last nite. when his UK team won in columbia, he was watching the gaytors leading the Mighty Vols. however, his hopes of sniffing a share of the title were snuffed out by Bruce Almighty, who has a better record against 2-time national champion donovan than any coach in america. we need to give pearl what gillespie & donovan are making, since he's beating both of them.
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Posted on October 26 at 12:46 a.m.
The only game left on the schedule that is a reasonably sure win is Homecoming against Wyoming. The stadium may be half empty for that one, even though it won't be on TV except by pay-per-view. One wag asked me if that meant that would pay UT fans to watch it. That's how bad it has gotten in Big Orange Country.
Saban beat UT with a team made up of mostly freshmen & sophomores, a team that has virtually no talent beyond the starting 22, a team that has the least depth of any Bama team in history, a team that should still be reeling from probation but that is on a path to the national championship game.
Mike Hamilton will have to act soon to stop the bleeding before more Big Orange blood is spilled. He has the full backing of Dr. John Petersen to pull the trigger & get a new man at the helm for 2009. An announcement will be prior to the end of the season that Fulmer is either retiring or resigning & being bought out. He will basically be forced out & paid off, whatever it is called, effective at season's end.
Fulmer has won only 1 out of the last 10 games he has hosted at Neyland against Top 10 teams. It would be an abomination to let him hang around to try to win more games than the General did. His national championship of a decade ago is now a distant, hollow memory. He is a shell of what he used to be as a coach. He is a nice man, a decent man, but has now outlived his usefulness to his University. It is time for him to move on & for him to realize it himself.
UT's top choice has already been contacted & been apprised of our interest in him. An all-out effort will now be made to secure him privately through his agent, even though a search firm will ostensibly be retained to vet all potential candidates. He is a top name in football, a top coach who is a proven winner. UT will settle for nothing less, no coordinators or up & coming head coaches from smaller schools.
Look for him to be in place in plenty of time to salvage recruiting, & also look for him to challenge for the SEC Championship each of the next 2 seasons. UT has 8 games at home in 2009 & plays 9 of its 12 regular season games in Tennessee in 2010, with 7 of them in Knoxville, & 1 each in Nashville & Memphis, so the Vols have the most favorable schedule they've had to win it all the next 2 years.
On Is the battle lost? Fulmer 'working to get it fixed'