Started By
Message
re: How did Tennessee become such a dumpster fire after being a traditional power for decades?
Posted on 10/19/21 at 8:32 am to BrotherDawg84
Posted on 10/19/21 at 8:32 am to BrotherDawg84
quote:
I didn’t take long. I have a computer and electricity.
0
Posted on 10/19/21 at 8:37 am to madmaxvol
quote:
The rise and fall of Tennessee football in the 90's to early 2000's can be tied directly to the loss of David Cutcliffe as the OC
They should've negotiated more with Cutcliffe to bring him back, either after Lane or the Schiano fiasco, IMO.
Cutcliffe was supposedly on board both times if he could've brought his assistants, but the decision-makers weren't having it.
I believe the sticking point the second time was that UT was paying exorbitant buyouts to Fulmer, Pearl, Dooley, Jones, and some administrators, to the tune of about $24 million. Thus, any incoming coach would have to retain some of the assistants already on-staff in order to stop the bleeding.
Cutcliffe was loyal to his guys and didn't want to leave them behind (and maybe didn't care for some of the existing staff), and Tennessee didn't want to pay any more buyouts.
Posted on 10/19/21 at 8:39 am to oracle of joemaha
Not trying to be flippant but Tennessee is the Nebraska of the SEC.
They both have great fanbases and administrations in the 80's and 90's but sold them fools gold on how great they were. Recruiting began to slip and both schools are now in a freefall. Both Nebraska and Tennessee have poor to middle high school football programs and both are having difficulty in recruiting out of state talent.
IMHO Nebraska is done.
Population growth in Tennessee is the Vols only hope.
They both have great fanbases and administrations in the 80's and 90's but sold them fools gold on how great they were. Recruiting began to slip and both schools are now in a freefall. Both Nebraska and Tennessee have poor to middle high school football programs and both are having difficulty in recruiting out of state talent.
IMHO Nebraska is done.
Population growth in Tennessee is the Vols only hope.
This post was edited on 10/19/21 at 8:40 am
Posted on 10/19/21 at 8:41 am to artompkins
quote:
They weren't a power for decades.
What were the winningest football programs in the country from 1926 to 2001?
1) Tennessee - 0.733
2) Alabama - 0.730
3) Ohio State - 0.728
4) Notre Dame - 0.728
5) Michigan - 0.722
6) Oklahoma - 0.717
7) Penn St. - 0.709
8) Nebraska - 0.703
9) Texas - 0.684
10) USC - 0.682
So UT was a power for decades...they haven't been a power for the last 2...but were pretty powerful for the 7 decades prior to that.
LINK
Posted on 10/19/21 at 8:44 am to RelentlessTide
quote:
Too much inbreeding
Posted on 10/19/21 at 8:46 am to 1BIGTigerFan
Blame Fat Phil Fulmer!
Posted on 10/19/21 at 8:47 am to oracle of joemaha
Really though. They were under major investigation and the NCAA was prepared to bury them if Fat Fulmer didn’t help them bury Bama in the Albert Means fiasco. They were given a pass but had to completely change their institutional control processes in return.
Prior to the Means debacle, UT was a free for all for players. How else did they recruit 5 star talent nationally to come and play in Knoxville damn Tennessee with a hillbilly fan base? Those players just loved the culture so much that they gave the stiff arm to USC, UCLA, Penn State, Michigan, etc.?
Guaranteed not having to attend classes, having their coursework done by others, Knoxville PD letting Fulmer handle all criminal issues in house and giving courtesy rides home after breaking the law, etc..
It was a Wild West scenario that was the only reason that UT was successful in being a national recruiting powerhouse.
It ended when they were close to getting hammered. A ton of shenanigans would have been exposed. Luckily, they had the snitch option to play with Fulmer and the Albert Means fiasco. It was the high profile investigation that the NCAA was zoned in on. They wanted that elephant hide more than they wanted Smokey’s. Fulmer handed it to them. UT would have been better off getting hammered for a couple of years IMO ,instead of closing down shop. They could have found a way to be more discreet in their practices and would not have lost their life blood of National recruits. Instead, their admin went all in on a total clean up and put themselves as a disadvantage that reverberates to this day.
Prior to the Means debacle, UT was a free for all for players. How else did they recruit 5 star talent nationally to come and play in Knoxville damn Tennessee with a hillbilly fan base? Those players just loved the culture so much that they gave the stiff arm to USC, UCLA, Penn State, Michigan, etc.?
Guaranteed not having to attend classes, having their coursework done by others, Knoxville PD letting Fulmer handle all criminal issues in house and giving courtesy rides home after breaking the law, etc..
It was a Wild West scenario that was the only reason that UT was successful in being a national recruiting powerhouse.
It ended when they were close to getting hammered. A ton of shenanigans would have been exposed. Luckily, they had the snitch option to play with Fulmer and the Albert Means fiasco. It was the high profile investigation that the NCAA was zoned in on. They wanted that elephant hide more than they wanted Smokey’s. Fulmer handed it to them. UT would have been better off getting hammered for a couple of years IMO ,instead of closing down shop. They could have found a way to be more discreet in their practices and would not have lost their life blood of National recruits. Instead, their admin went all in on a total clean up and put themselves as a disadvantage that reverberates to this day.
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:20 am to oracle of joemaha
quote:
How did Tennessee become such a dumpster fire after being a traditional power for decades?
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:32 am to Eli Goldfinger
quote:
Tennessee doesn’t have favorable HS football demographics.
I disagree. The state of Tennessee produces plenty of talent. The problem is the Vols don't sign them.
Tennessee signees of in-state five and four-star recruits since 2015 (per Rivals)
2022 - 1/15 (a lot can change between now and signing day, but 12 of these 15 players are committed to different programs)
2021 - 1/11
2020 - 7/12 (their best in-state signing class as of late)
2019 - 2/14
2018 - 5/14
2017 - 4/15
2016 - 2/10
2015 - 2/13
Total - 22/104 (21.1%)
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:33 am to artompkins
UT has had decades of sexual misconduct swept under the rug & ignored by the NCAA.
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:35 am to artompkins
quote:
They weren't a power for decades.
Hogwash. Before 2000, Tennessee won at least one conference championship in every decade since the conference was founded with the exception of the 1970s.
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:42 am to Dirk Dawgler
quote:
Really though. They were under major investigation and the NCAA was prepared to bury them if Fat Fulmer didn’t help them bury Bama in the Albert Means fiasco. They were given a pass but had to completely change their institutional control processes in return.
You do realize that Fulmer wasn't the only one to turn in Bama on the Albert Means scandal...he was just the only one who was revealed as as source at the time.
Fulmer not the only source
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:44 am to madmaxvol
quote:
They weren't a power for decades.
What were the winningest football programs in the country from 1926 to 2001?
1) Tennessee - 0.733
2) Alabama - 0.730
3) Ohio State - 0.728
4) Notre Dame - 0.728
5) Michigan - 0.722
6) Oklahoma - 0.717
7) Penn St. - 0.709
8) Nebraska - 0.703
9) Texas - 0.684
10) USC - 0.682
So UT was a power for decades...they haven't been a power for the last 2...but were pretty powerful for the 7 decades prior to that.
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:47 am to oracle of joemaha
Fulmer got lazy plus Richt at UGA hurting their pipeline into GA. Kiffin was a bad hire. Then Dooley (although it was hard to get someone better thanks to the timing).
Butch looked like a good hire.
Germy was horrible, I knew he was Muschamp 2.0 from the get go.
Obviously too soon to judge Heupel.
And karma hitting hard (if you believe in that kind of thing) over Fulmer being a snitch.
Butch looked like a good hire.
Germy was horrible, I knew he was Muschamp 2.0 from the get go.
Obviously too soon to judge Heupel.
And karma hitting hard (if you believe in that kind of thing) over Fulmer being a snitch.
This post was edited on 10/19/21 at 9:48 am
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:53 am to MetroAtlantaGatorFan
quote:
Kiffin was a bad hire
I dont think he was necessarily a bad hire, I think his exit strategy and the ensuing decisions by the AD were the nail in the coffin. If he had stayed he might have done pretty good.
Posted on 10/19/21 at 9:59 am to VFL1800FPD
quote:
I dont think he was necessarily a bad hire, I think his exit strategy and the ensuing decisions by the AD were the nail in the coffin. If he had stayed he might have done pretty good.
Absolutely a bad hire. He had 1 year of head coaching experience and bombed.
Posted on 10/19/21 at 10:00 am to madmaxvol
Yes. But they were the only one who was also under a major investigation at the same time. Fulmer snitched and the UT investigation got ditched. Swept away.
Posted on 10/19/21 at 10:06 am to MetroAtlantaGatorFan
quote:
Absolutely a bad hire.
He went 7-6 his first SEC season and then left. You can't just say "he was a bad hire." It's impossible to know what he would have done had he stayed. Kirby Smart had 0 yrs as HC experience...did that make him a bad hire?
Should have hired Gary Patterson though.
This post was edited on 10/19/21 at 10:14 am
Posted on 10/19/21 at 10:08 am to VFL1800FPD
Brian Kelly was supposedly in the mix as well.
Page 3 of 5
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News