So what do Tennessee Volunteer football fans want in a new head coach?

Someone who is a tireless recruiter. You have to work harder at Tennessee than at other schools because of the lack of in-state talent.

Someone who will be here for a long time. I think stability is even more important at Tennessee than it is elsewhere because of the aforementioned talent gap in Tennessee vs. elsewhere. So probably a youngish candidate.

Someone who will develop players after they’re recruited. This is arguably one of the biggest deficiencies of the Phil Fulmer era, especially post-2001.

Someone who can stand up to the relentless media scrutiny. This is a tall order, and unless we get someone who has already coached at this level, we won’t really know until the spotlight is on them.

Someone who embraces our tradition. That doesn’t mean living in the past, it means, well, not being Bill Callahan.

Someone with a distinctive style of play that will give Tennessee football an identity in the years to come. Nick Saban is a defensive mastermind known for ferocious 3-4 defenses. Urban Meyer is known for high-powered, fun-to-watch spread offenses. Tennessee at times has been 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust, at times has been Wide Receiver U, and now seems to lack an identity. We need something to hang our hats on that will give opponents something extra to think about.

Someone who is a disciplinarian. For whatever reason, possibly because we’re in the South where people are raised with more servile attitudes, kids who come to play for the Vols seem to respond to tough love. This isn’t USC.

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I have no idea how to prioritize any of this, sorry. It’s all important.

Joel’s statement of “…somebody who puts a premium on molding kids into responsible adults.” + Rusty’s comments = what we had in The Papa. Unfortunately our “fans” forced him out as soon as wins became scarceer than in the past seasons.

I hate it, and strongly disagree with it, but it sounds like our “fans” simply want a guy who wins games at any cost.

I don’t think a spread guy is the way to go. I think the spread will be figured out in 5-10 years and guys like Mike Leach and Brian Kelly will be a dime a dozen.

And I agree with you Aerobab. When I think of all the qualities I would look for in a coach, Fulmer pretty much fits the mold.

Real tears. That’s all I want.

is that “wins” isn’t on anyone’s list yet. Sure, it’s almost certainly assumed, but you’d think someone would have mentioned it. And it’s perhaps the only thing that led to where we are.

Thinking it over a bit, I want somebody who will love the players as if they were his own family like how Fulmer did. I’m ok with the Lombardi winning=onlything mentality at the pro level, where football is a job; I’m not really ok with it at the college level. There’s certainly no requirement that a coach care that much about the livelihoods of the players, but it’s a special thing to have. The same applies to professors; the ones I remember best are the ones who cared about their students as people.

We’ll get somebody who is a good coach and recruiter; that’s not really in doubt. (It doesn’t guarantee they’ll succeed here, but they’ll be good at those phases of the job nonetheless.) How much they really care about the players is a different question.