quote:
Firing Fulmer was stupid. If you look at his winning percentage it's even more stupid. But this is the Sec where any down times get you fired fast. Any program, and I do mean any program despite having a good coach will eventually see down times. Some recruits just don't pan out, some get into trouble or you hit that cycle where you lose so many top athletes back to back that you go into rebuilding mode. It's not fair but thus is the coaching job at the best conference in the nation.

I think a very large factor in firing Fulmer was the simple fact that fans had gotten bored with him and when we had some bust recruits the AD was too ready to pull the plug. But Fulmer had been there so long we took both him and the success for granted and thought the success would always be there even if Phil wasn't. In many ways he was a victim of his own success and the fan entitlement that had developed because of it.

After 17 years, the natives were restless and wanted an expensive shiny new toy. Fans wanted flash and excitement and the AD went out and got just that. Kiffin was the anti-Fulmer in every way imaginable and we paid in just about every way imaginable for that hire, including getting stuck with Dooley when Kiffin decided to pack up in the middle of January after the hiring season was over and raid the recruiting class on his way out.

In a lot of ways, I think UGA made a very similar mistake firing Richt and hiring Smart (another shiny new toy that gets fans excited but nothing other than blind hope that he'll do better than the last guy, who make no mistake is a very good football coach, to backup the hiring/firing decision). It may wind up working out for them but there's not much to support the decision in the here and now other than that hope. That said, Smart won't do UGA the way Kiffin did UT so they should be in better shape there if he doesn't work out.