Should Phillip Fulmer retire?

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jan 3, 2007 10:16 AM EST

This was posted by regular commenter Smitty as a comment to the Outback post-game awards. It deserves some attention of its own, so I'm re-posting it over here. What do y'all think?

Update [2007-1-3 13:2:56 by Joel]:Welcome, Rivals message boarders! I'm not a "Fulmer-hater." I don't believe Smitty is, either. I like Fulmer and think he is doing a good job. The point here, I think, is that things are getting more and more difficult in the SEC, and the figures are sobering. Thanks for coming by, and have a look around while you're here.

Well we can never fire Fulmer, but I hope he decides to step down after next season because he is just running the program down. We play not to lose more than we play to win. Let's look at the stats

Fulmer's Record Since 1998

Years without SEC title: 8
Years without BCS bowl: 7
Years without top 10 ranking: 5
Years without AP Top 25 ranking: 2000, 2002, 2005, probably 2006
Years with 3 or more losses: 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 (5 straight years and 7 out of 8 )
Years with 4 or more losses: 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006
Years with 5 or more losses: 2002, 2005
Years with 6 losses: 2005
Years with multiple losses to unranked teams: 2003, 2005
Years with loss within last 2 games of season: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 (EIGHT straight years and counting)

4-8 (.333) vs. Spurrier: (2-3 since 1998)
2-4 (.333) vs. Richt
1-3 (.250) vs. Tuberville
1-2 (.333) vs. Saban
0-2 (.000) vs. Meyer

9-16 (.360) 1999 - present vs. FL, GA, LSU, AUB (thank God for Zook!)
7-15 (.318 ) 2000 - present vs. FL, GA, LSU, AUB
5-14 (.263) 2000 - present vs. FL, GA, LSU, AUB excluding games vs. Zook
5-12 (.294) 2000 - present vs. FL, GA, AUB
3-11 (.214) 2000 - present vs. FL, GA, AUB excluding games vs. Zook
5-9 (.357) 2000 - present vs. FL, GA
3-8 (.272) 2000 - present vs. FL, GA excluding games vs. Zook
2-5 (.286) 2000 - present vs. GA
8-14 (.363) vs. Top 10 teams 1999 - present
1-6 (.142) vs. Top 10 teams at home 2000 - present
6-12 (.333) vs. Top 10 teams 2000 - present
17-19 (.472) vs. Ranked Teams 1999 - present
2-5 (.285) Bowl games since 1998 (all double digit losses)
2-7 (.222) Postseason record since 1998 including SECCG (all double digit losses)

Losses To Unranked Teams:
2006 PSU 20 TN 10
2005 Van 28 TN 24
2005 SC 16 TN 15
2004 ND 17 TN 13
2003 Clem 27 TN 14
2003 Aub 28 TN 21
2001 GA 26 TN 24
2000 LSU 38 TN 31
1999 Ark 28 TN 24

Footnote: only AP polls were used for ranking purposes.

When ever a big time job or a pro job comes open, you never hear Fulmer's name as a possible can[d]i[d]ate. I wonder why that is?

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Comments

Bleh

Aww, Smitty! We all knew it in our heads...why'd you have to go and put it in text?!

"1-6 (.142) vs. Top 10 teams at home 2000 - present"

This one just has me reeling...but probably not half as much as our total home record over the same time period. Not sure what it is, but I'd be willing to bet it's not much over 0.500.

by Aerobab on Jan 3, 2007 11:11 AM EST reply actions

doh

Ok, so I'm a bit of a doof: since 98, UT is 42-13 at home (0.764).

by Aerobab on Jan 3, 2007 11:25 AM EST up reply actions

remove 2004...

To be truly fair, 2004 should be removed from listings of "Years with 3 or more losses" and "years with loss w/in last two games of season."

The Vols won the Eastern Division, and as a reward, were given the opportunity to get beaten by a clearly superior Auburn team that finished 13-0. Making that SEC Champ. Game and losing to that Auburn team (for the second time in 2004) really shouldn't be used as evidence against Fulmer, which is its use here.

Yes, the numbers are still horrifying, but I want them to be as unskewed and fair as possible.

by spiritofthehill on Jan 3, 2007 12:41 PM EST reply actions

The missing piece to the puzzle

Everything went to pot after 1998, right? What changed after '98?

Here's a clue: look at Knoxville on a map. Then follow I-75 up to Lexington. You'll find your answer there, still coaching QBs but wearing a different color for the first time in his life.

Randy Sanders was death to this program. And now he's gone, and having Cutcliffe back has already helped (look at the difference in Ainge, the reported difference in practice tempo, the upswing in points, ect).

What we didn't know is that the road to recovery is going to be a long one. Even with the impact Cut has had, some players still don't seem to get it; for example Bret Smith not getting his classwork done and the overall lack of urgency in the bowl game. Even Cut's greatest reclamation project, Ainge-in-Orange, was making dumb comments about the PSU defense prior to the bowl.

Before Cut came back, this program was in worse shape than we realized. The healing process has begun, and this year's recruiting class is the next step. But it could take a while, so be prepared. If Fulmer was gone now, we'd be starting over with a complete unknown. At least now we have a formula in place that we know can be successful.

So no, Fulmer shouldn't retire; he should get to work right away.

by CornFromAJar on Jan 3, 2007 2:50 PM EST reply actions

The Future

Man, I do hope that you're right. My theory on Sanders is that he listened too much to fans saying that he was an awful play caller. I think he worked very hard on that and that he was actually pretty good at it. In doing so, though, he let discipline and a host of other things go unaddressed.

I'm generally optimistic, but today just doesn't feel very sunny. We're getting dominated by Meyer's Gators and Richt's Dawgs. Re-enter Steve Spurrier, and even with South Carolina's players, let's call that 50-50. Now, re-enter Saban, to our most or second-most hated rival and our only annual opponent from the SEC West.

We'll play Meyer, Richt, Spurrier, and Saban every single year. Next year, we get Arkansas and McFadden again. Auburn and Tuberville rotate on and off the schedule. So does LSU.

I do think that Fulmer, Chavis, and Cutcliffe is a winning combination. But man, it's going to be difficult.

Go Vols!

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jan 3, 2007 3:39 PM EST up reply actions

The Future

I like Fulmer, I think he is a good man, but I have been ready for him to go bye bye for a while. He is old school SEC conservative. He started burning clock against Fla in the 3rd QTR, Look at how Pete Carroll handeled Michigan, USC threw 2 TD's after the announcers started talking about eating the clock. Aggressiveness is what you need to deal with Meyer, Spurrier, Richt, & Saban.

Conservative is going to keep the game close to win it at the end, trouble is a fumble returned for a TD late is a throat cutter.

I am more than willing to give Fulmer more time, I dont want to disrupt where we are, but its not several years, its more like 1 possibly 2.

BTW I am new here, great site, Smitty nice post

Old & Dizzy

by Lunicidal VOL on Jan 4, 2007 12:58 PM EST reply actions

The Biggest Problem...

It's not sexy or cool to go to Tennessee anymore. With the other coaches in the league (Meyer, Spurrier, and now Saban) there is more media attention, hype, etc. surrounding these schools. Tennessee, and more specifically, Fulmer, must find a way to put swagger and pizzaz back into the program. There are four coaches in the SEC with an NC and 2 others (Richt and Tuberville) who have the potential. This confernce is loaded with coaches and recruiters right now and UT must find a way to seperate themselves from the rest and make it cool to be a Vol.

***Rockytop Tennessee***

by Volorado on Jan 9, 2007 2:02 PM EST reply actions

Disagree

I 100% disagree with Volorado on his idea that UT is lacking in the "sex appeal" department. If you recall, the onset of the "season of which we do not speak", we started the season with a #3 ranking, overloads of media attention, hype, swagger, and pizzaz...and look at what transpired. 2006 was supposed to be another "rebuilding year" with lessons learned from the abuses of excessive preseason media attention and we stayed on the down-low with zero expectations of success...and rocketed off to a 7-1 start. Tennessee has a penchant for embracing the role of the underdog--to the same capacity that UF exhibited against OSU last night--and often folds in the face of expectation (no examples necessary).

With the commitments of Ben Martin and Chris Donald (#22 and #37 overall) to the Vols, and previous recruiting classes, Phil is not hurting for top-notch talent. The idea that "it's not sexy or cool to go to Tennessee anymore" is absurd.

Granted, Coach Fulmer isn't as smug as Meyer, as cocky as Richt, as outspoken as Spurrier, or as greedy as Saban; but top players often don't want to play for such personalities. Media outlets focus on such characters because they create headlines. Phil prefers to stay out of the media by focusing the attention on the performance of his team, and not on his ego. I commend him for doing such.

Additionally, and by no means am I making excuses for our 9-4 record, injuries really hurt us this year. From the season ending injuries of Inky and Justin, to the bummed ankles of Ainge, Foster, Coker, Meacham, Swain, and the numerous others who play(ed) in pain and/or delayed surgeries over the course of the season, we got thin in filling the gaps. The upside is that some "youngins" got some quality playing time and did make the most of it.

Our losses this season were to quality teams (#1, #3, #15, and #24 teams in the final AP). While disappointed that we didn't go 14-0, I'm definately not crying and certainly not going to accuse the program of losing their mojo.

Wanna know the good thing about having UF win the championship? It'll be that much sweeter come Sept. 15 when we knock them off down in the Swamp!

My apologies on the rambling; Go Vols!

by Aerobab on Jan 9, 2007 3:28 PM EST reply actions

New Coach

It is time for Spurrier.

by Smitty @ Rocky Top Talk on Jan 10, 2007 9:52 AM EST reply actions

Wait

I just made myself ill rooting for the Gators to win the NC. Don't know if I can handle thinking about Spurrier in orange.

Maybe next week.

Go Vols!

by Joel Hollingsworth on Jan 10, 2007 9:57 AM EST up reply actions

Yuck

I'm with Joel on this one. While I'm not ill about wanting UF to win, I do feel quite dirty about it pulling for the Orange and Blue. You know, dirty, like the way you feel the morning after you, well...nevermind.

by Aerobab on Jan 10, 2007 2:33 PM EST up reply actions