We Need More Phil
Earlier this week, I laid out my reasons of why Lane Kiffin is a bad hire for the University of Tennessee football program. However, I never addressed the underlying issue of terminating the employment of Phil Fulmer to begin with. While I must admit riding the fence when the news first came out that this would be Coach Fulmer’s last season, as time passed, it became more and more evident this firing is a colossal mistake.
No doubt the Tennessee football program has fallen back to the pack of the SEC after it dominated the conference throughout the late 90s and early part of the 21st century, but at the same time, the conference as a whole has improved by leaps and bounds.
Vanderbilt and Kentucky are no longer complete slouches; Georgia is much improved from the Ray Goff years; Spurrier has gotten talent to South Carolina; and Florida has the most speed in the nation along with a great coach leading the way. The competition has become stiffer, but Tennessee still managed to make it to the conference championship game just 12 months ago and keep it very close against the eventual national champion LSU Tigers.
You are what your record says you are as the great Bill Parcells once quipped, and a 5-7 finish is unacceptable by Tennessee standards. However, let the man finish his season before you judge his work.
In my eyes, Tennessee beats Wyoming without the distraction of the firing. That makes the Vols bowl eligible and gives them the opportunity to finish with a winning record. Once again, 7-6 is unacceptable. However, coming from a coach who has never had the program in NCAA trouble, handled himself with professionalism and class, literally bleeds orange after his many years associated with the program, and is the winningest coach in the stacked conference, Fulmer deserves another shot.
Instead, Mike “Flavor of the Week” Hamilton feels the need to try and duplicate the instant success he found in Bruce Pearl. Much like the firing of former UT head baseball coach Rod Delmonico, Hamilton decided loyalty is not enough.
Representing the university with class and dignity is not enough. Maybe Lane Kiffin can divorce his hot wife (see below), find a hotter girlfriend, and rub it into the faces, along with his multimillion dollar home, of everyone in the Knoxville area. That is what Mike Hamilton seems to be after.
Once the luster of the “Pearl” wears off, and Lane Kiffin is accused of additional recruiting violations, Vol fans will pine for someone with character to come back and lead their teams back to respectability.
I was lucky enough to see, in person, someone with that character and respectability run through the “T” for the last time. I just wish there was a way we could all get a little more Phil.
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