Phillip Fulmer once sat atop Rocky Top as a lone sentinel, guarding the Orange Nation ... oh who are we kidding?

Fulmer, regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches to ever coach in the South, has been passed over time after time, after time, after time the past two seasons ... has the game left Phillip Fulmer behind?

Fulmer, owner of the second best winning record in UT football history (152-52 over all), was a good coach.  Somewhere along the way, Fulmer lost sight of what UT football was ... in a Freudian way, Fulmer had installed himself as UT football.

That might sound crazy to some, but if you go back and listen to the comments the man made the last four years he was the head coach at Tennessee, it will be obvious.

From 1992-1999, Tennessee had never had a better football coach.  The team was poised, it seemed to always be ready ... UT fans simply had 'that' feeling that gameday would take care of itself.  From 1999 until the end, many Vol fans did not share the same feeling.  Suddenly games that should have been 'gimmes' were nail biters.  Tennessee no longer owned the first day of draft day.  We were lucky to have someone drafted in several years.  Marquee players were no longer considering wearing the Power T.

It was bad, real bad.

Ultimately, what did Fulmer in was not his record following the BCS Title through the end of his tenure at Tennessee, but rather his record from 2005-2008: 18-14 in the SEC (29-21 over all).

Tennessee had fallen and it was not getting up.  A closer examination shows that when Fulmer had David Cutcliffe as his offensive coordinator, the team's record was better.  That is an indisputable fact.  While many Fulmer fans still exist, he is not coming back ... Fulmer's time in Knoxville is finished.

So ... since Fulmer is an elite coach, why is he still jobless?

While he has six million reasons as to be be gainfully unemployed, Fulmer wants to coach again.  He has stated that fact ... apparently, the elite programs are not listening.  As job after job has come and gone (Notre Dame, et al), the phone in the Fulmer residence either has been unlisted or no one is interested.  I for one am leaning towards the latter.

So far, not even Louisville or Kansas were interested in Fulmer ... for an 'elite' coach, that says everything that you need to know about his coaching future.  While I do not intend that to be a slap at either program, face it ... neither would survive in the SEC.

Believe it or not, there is still a small faction of 'fans' in Knoxville that would like nothing more than Lane Kiffin's failure.  Why?  For the quaalude induced thought that Fulmer would somehow magically be reinstated as UT's head football coach.

What Wal-Mart special paint thinner are these idiots sniffing?

The UT family has moved on, without Fulmer on the train.  For the 'fans' out there that want him back, do us all Orange Blooded Vol fans a favor ... join him at his home in Maryville, talk about the old times, have a cold Pabst, and turn in your season ticket vouchers next season.

Trust me, there are people waiting for you to leave your seats so that we can stand up without being told to sit down.

Even South Carolina fans think Fulmer would be a joke as an offensive line coach:
@gamecocksblog what makes me laugh is some fans think Fulmer is a possible candidate for the OL job...seriously?

Phillip Fulmer was ejected from his golden chair in Knoxville for good cause:  a failing grade.  If Fulmer is the elite coach that he says he is, why has no other program in the nation picked him up?  Is it the salary amount?  Or is it the fact that the man is not the coach some believe him, to be?

Comments (8)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment