Is Mid-Year Coaching Change at UT Pending?

Hello Tennessee Volunteer and SEC football fans.

It is pretty clear that my prediction of a UT upset of Georgia was more wishful thinking than anything else. Also it is pretty clear that Georgia is much better than Tennessee. The Vols did not give this one away, they we were just whipped.

During this 26 to 14 whipping, which was much worse than the score, the Tennessee defense could not stop the Georgia run, and only Georgia could stop Georgia's passing (with interceptions in the Red Zone). On the other hand, Georgia outcoached UT, being able to stop the run, often keeping an extra defensive back in the box, and daring the young QB Nick Stephens to pass to win, even after Stephens connected on a well thrown 60 yarder.

So, at 2-4, and 0-3 in the SEC, where does this leave the Tennessee football program and Phil Fulmer's future with the Vols?

Athletic Director Mike Hamilton has reportedly stated that he would not rule out a coaching change at mid-season, even though the Tennessee model is to evaluate all coaches at the end of the season. He stated there is a contingency fund with enough money to handle the buy outs for the coaches. Mr. Hamilton ruled out an intervention from the AD level of an "Auburn Style" replacement of the Offensive Coordinator. Auburn's move was rumored have been made in mid-season, at least in part because of a riff between offensive coordinator Tony Franklin and other Auburn coaches. Hamilton said one of the few reasons he might intervene would be dissension on the team, but did not mention any dissension. He went on to say that he was aware of some apathy among the fan base, and that apathy can kill a program. When asked about a possible 6-6 record, he said that obviously the goal at Tennessee is not a 500 season. Perhaps more revealing than anything else he said, was that some boosters have come to him (but not too many), with the talk of replacing Fulmer before donations from large boosters are affected. The UT football program provides 80% of the UT Athletic Department funding.

What is obvious to most fans who follow UT is that the football program has been slipping since the Peyton Manning years, ever so close to the middle of the pack in the SEC. Manning's influence on recruiting cannot be underestimated. As John Pennington, who writes for the Knoxville New-Sentinel points out, the class of 2002 made their official visits to UT during Manning's last year. Since that time, the Vols have had two 3 loss seasons, Two 4 loss seasons, one 5 loss season, and who knows how many games they will loose this year.

Phillip Fulmer is a fighter. He will not give up, and reportedly the moral on the team is still good. In his defense, to loose a good offensive coordinator like David Cutcliffe, and a pro-caliber QB like Eric Ainge, install a new offense with a new coordinator and young QB, have a recruiting class that was below UT standards because of turnover among the coaches when Cutlciffe left, is enough to cause any coach problems. It hardly seems fair to fire a coach who has done so well over the years under these circumstances. But who said the big business of college football had to be fair?

During this week's Phillip Fulmer show and review of the Georgia game on television, Coach Fulmer looked very tired and sad, as one might expect. Florida Coach Evan Myer during his television show the week Florida lost to Mississippi, seemed unable to manage even a small smile. The impact of a single loss, much less a potential loosing season is devastating to the coaches at these high profile football schools.

Coach Phillip Fulmer's future at UT will be determined by how well he can motivate this team and correct the demonstrated deficiencies as the season progresses. A loss to Mississippi State on Saturday might well be enough for AD Hamilton to intervene. After all, a few years back losses to Sylvester Croom and MSU were the final straws for Ron Zook at Florida and Mike Shula at Alabama, and recently contributed to Ole Miss bringing in Houston Nutt to right the wayward Rebel ship.

I'm rooting for Fulmer. Go Vols.