From the Nashville Tennessean

MidTNDawg · Nov 5, 2008

Long but see how much this sounds like us. BTW, sent to GB

KNOXVILLE - The writing has been on the wall for years. 

 The firing of Tennessee football Coach Phillip Fulmer on Monday was a culmination of various troubles that had permeated the Volunteers program for years. A valiant finish last season quieted some of Fulmer's naysayers and won him a lucrative contract extension this summer. But by the time the season began this year at UCLA, Tennessee was already showing signs of serious ineptitude. It's unclear which of the team's problems most drove Athletics Director Mike Hamilton to make a coaching change. But a handful of issues were certainly major contributors, including continual losses to main rivals, one of the worst offenses in UT history, and a lack of consistent success in recent years. With that, a new successor will be named in the coming months and it will take a special sort to pull on the headset amid intense expectations and scrutiny. "I would say he needs a good playbook and an elephant's hide," said Ivan Maisel, a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. "It's going to be tough." The job description at UT is different than most others. The most obvious difference is the need to bringing in talent from throughout the nation, something many high-profile teams don't have to do. Teams like Alabama, Florida and Southern Cal can lock down their borders to compete for conference and national titles. Tennessee's prep talent, although improved in recent years, is not considered elite. "I think the next guy, and this sounds deceptively simple, but the short answer is he has to recruit," Maisel said. "The long answer is figuring out how to do that. It's a lot different than when Fulmer had Tennessee at its peak. The landscape is different." UT's latest recruiting class was the worst of Fulmer's tenure. But the coming class is ranked sixth-best by Rivals.com and proved that the coach could still lure top talent to Rocky Top. But some other problems proved too deep to be quickly fixed during the season, assuring Fulmer's successor will have his hands full trying to restore Volunteers football to its former glory. Among the problems that cost Fulmer his job: The lack of a top-caliber quarterback who can compete consistently in the Southeastern Conference The offensive woes are a trickle down effect from the quarterback position. Jonathan Crompton did not pan out after four starts. Nick Stephens started the next five games, but was benched for multiple series against South Carolina on Saturday. One of the reasons was to inject some life into the offense, but it failed. "I didn't think we got any spark at all from it," UT offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said. Crompton was a highly touted recruit coming out of high school and UT's coaches figured they had a ringer ready to take over after Erik Ainge's departure following last season. They couldn't have been more wrong, and that failure to judge talent, as much as anything, left the Volunteers in a bind. An inability to move the football and score points No matter how UT finishes the season, this year's team will live in infamy as an offensive failure. Nationally, UT is No. 114 of 119 teams in scoring offense with 17.0 points per game. They are No. 105 in rush offense and No. 99 in pass offense. The reasons were many. In addition to the quarterback trouble, starting running back Arian Foster's production plunged after a 2007 season that saw him gain 1,193 yards. This year, Foster has racked up just 458 yards, with three games remaining. The offensive line has also deteriorated, allowing 18 quarterback sacks this year, after giving up a nation-low four sacks last season. "This year has been a bit different ... because we haven't been able to fix the problems of our offensive football team," Fulmer said. Upsetting fans with lopsided losses to key rivals When an emotional Fulmer addressed the media Monday, he choked up when thinking back to the big wins he had throughout his career. "I thank our fans who have supported me and our teams in Neyland Stadium, in Tempe, Arizona, with great victories in Athens, Ga., Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Ala., Gainesville, at Notre Dame, at Baton Rouge, and at Miami and in Atlanta." Most of those big wins, however, did not take place recently. For example since 2005, UT has gone 3-9 against Florida, Alabama and Georgia. Failing to contend for championships on the regular basis Hamilton, like most athletic directors, loves championship banners. He said the goal of the football program is not to finish .500, and wants championships won every few years. UT, however, hasn't won a Southeastern Conference championship since 1998 - the year of the national title - but the Vols did reach the SEC Championship game three since then, including last season. That has given some college football experts pause. And while most appear to agree with Hamilton's move, some still question if a coach's body of work matters any longer. "You got a guy that's won three quarters of his games, seven division titles, a national championship, and we all treated the announcement as if it were a fate accompli," Maisel said. "That to me is screwy." Reach Bryan Mullen at 865-712-4090 or [email protected].

From the Nashville Tennessean

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