An Open Letter to Coach Fulmer

Dear Coach,

As head coach, you brought class to a UT program that had been in search of a great coach since Doug Dickey had been at the helm.

Considering he was your head coach, I guess you’d say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

You know, before posting this, I was curious to see how one of the most storied NCAA coaches of today compares.

Coach, your won/loss record outstrips Joe Paterno’s.

And he doesn’t have to contend with the weekly barrage of talent that teams in the SEC have to face.

Florida…Alabama…Georgia…Auburn…

These teams have been on your plate every season since you became head coach.

And let’s not forget the SEC Championship game.

Wonder how the hero of Penn State…or any other non-SEC coach…would have fared with this backbreaker of a schedule.

I am royally pissed that UT couldn’t give you at least one year to regroup.

Yeah, 2008 sucked.

And 1998 shined.

You see, I was in the stands in 1968 and 1969 as a student and watched the dynamic team that Coach Dickey assembled.

But as great as he was, he left Tennessee to return to Florida, his alma mater. (To his credit, he returned some years later as AD)

So we got Bill Battle, who did great as long as he had the players Dickey had recruited. Once he was on his own, it got kindof sorry.

And Johnny Majors, who had played for Tennessee, but could never bring the magic he’d had at Pittsburgh.

Coach, you brought us gold.

You recruited Payton Manning who made watching UT football a joy.

The year after his departure, you brought us the national championship.

Up until this year, when opponents faced Tennessee, they knew they were in for a tough fight…maybe their toughest of the year.

When I saw who you hired for offensive coordinator, I was really concerned that he would not be able to fill the shoes of Cutcliffe.

Regretfully, I was right.

Even with this sorry season, UT should have given you at least one more year to hire a more suitable offensive coordinator and get some better talent at quarterback.

But, a “what have you done for me lately” attitude lead to your dismissal.

I apologize from the bottom of my heart for those heartless bastards.

Know this.

You were appreciated by hundreds of thousands of Vols and millions of UT fans.

And we will all miss you.

To paraphrase a Garth Brooks country song,

"Good Ride, Coach

Good Ride."