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| Embracing the "panic hire" | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 9 2010, 11:48 AM (89 Views) | |
| humbletx | Nov 9 2010, 11:48 AM Post #1 |
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for all the Kiffin/Doolittle sycomphants; "Tennessee grad and author of Tulane's #1 recruiting website The Wave Report, how they dealt with the suck. Both programs have made some progress but neither is anywhere near the greatness they enjoyed for much of the 90s and 2000s. Scott and Brian were kind enough to share their experience, and the exercise appears to have been so cathartic for them that I had to split it up into two parts. Check back tomorrow for part II -- moving forward. After the jump, accepting your team sucks from Michigan and Tennessee fans. When did you realize Tennessee was BAD, unlike other rough patches? Scott (Tennessee): Sitting in the Rose Bowl in the 2008 season opener and watching a noticeably bad UCLA team (sound familiar) shut down Phil Fulmer's offense over and over again in the second half. The Bruins overcame a seven-point defecit and four interceptions. At that point, it was clear the issues didn't rest in a single player or position but a team which just no longer had a swagger to it. That 2008 team finished 5-7, lost to Wyoming at home, got Fulmer fired yet featured current NFLers Arian Foster, Eric Berry, Dan Williams, Jonathan Crompton and Robert Ayers. For the first time, that game drove the mesage home - to even the most ardent supporters - that just because the "Power T" was on the helmet, it didn't mean you were better than anybody. As a student I attended tight, gutwrenching wins over Alabama/South Carolina/Georgia/LSU/Florida etc.. and was in the Orange Bowl when the Miami Hurricanes' 39-game home winning streak was ended. I always felt like Tennessee would find a way to win close games, and for the better part of 15 years, it usually did. When things came crashing down early in 2008, on the not-so-distant heels of a losing season in 2005, it was obvious that just being Tennessee meant nothing anymore. Now, the 2008 season seems like glory days. The Vols are on their third coaching regime in three seasons, Tennessee is fighitng off years of recruiting kids who either: transferred, failed out of school, never got into school, robbed students at a gas station with a fake gun or beat up an off duty cop in front of a campus-adjacent bar. The talent is still there is spots, but the depth is completely barren. Fulmer started the slide by taking a few questionable characters, Lane Kiffin accelerated it by semingly taking them exclusively. Now Derek Dooley is trying to compete in the SEC with about 60 scholarship players, most of whom wouldn't have seen the field for at least two years under normal circumstances. In late September of 2008, when Tennessee lost 14-12 to Auburn and totaled 191 yards and nine first downs on offense, thanks to Jonathan Crompton completing a rousing 8-of-23 passes. The Volunteers spent nearly the entire fourth quarter with starting field position inside Auburn territory, trailing by two points. But they couldn't get the 10-20 yards needed to even set up for a field goal. Eventually Auburn got a first down, putting the horrific offensive display to bed and leaving the Vols 0-2 in the SEC for the first time in 10 years. As expected, both teams turned out to be terrible, and both schools fired its coach. But, as the trend goes, Tennessee was worse. A few weeks later, the Vols were 3-7 and no one was really surprised by it. Most people thought Lane Kiffin was turning the program around until his abrubt departure. He was working on a top-5 recruiting class, turned in a bowl season and had people fervently excited about the future. Then he suddenly left for USC, people burned his t-shirt in effigy and Derek Dooley became a panic hire when Will Muschamp and others wouldn't leave their gigs for Knoxville. Further attrition hit the roster and soon enough it was quite obvious that Tennessee wouldn't be considered the biggest game on anyone's schedule for a long time. Showing up in Baton Rouge this year and seeing LSU fans flat-out not care about seeing Tennessee on the schedule was a massive statement about where the program had fallen to. In 2000, LSU stormed the field when it beat 1-2 Tennessee. Ten years later, tickets were going for $5.00 |
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3:34 AM Jul 11