gorocks99;541968 wrote:Fulmer had a great go of it at Tennessee, no doubt. The questions raised in my mind about him are:
1. Was his success a result of being at UT? Could he duplicate this success at another school? Having never been a head coach elsewhere, it's tough to say.
2. Is he too old, or has he lost the fire? Sixty isn't what it used to be, but he isn't a spring chicken anymore.
I think he'd be a "name" coach that would put butts in the seats, and I wouldn't be disappointed in the least if he's announced as the next HC. That said, I would still have those questions in my mind and it would take a couple of seasons for them to fade.
A lot of his success was built on getting the best talent when the SEC had some horrible coaches. With the possible exception of Spurrier to Meyer at Florida, every single school has a coach who is substantially better than what they had in the late 1990s.
gorocks99;542279 wrote:Some Alabama radio host is saying Fulmer is headed to the Gophers. Probably nothing, but interesting nonetheless.
http://twitter.com/GophersNow
Slimebaum is an idiot who loves to hide behind those "sources" that never pan out. I think he pulled the "sources say" card four or five times for each of the last Tennessee coaching searches, suggesting that a hire was imminent. That's hardly the only time he's done it either.
Speedofsand;542574 wrote:I think they will look for a younger guy, but Fulmer would be a strong choice. They have good new facilities, he could probably put a good staff together.
Here is a more recent quote.
IG: Are you still interested in returning to coaching someday?
PF: If I find the right kind of opportunity. I'm not out there putting my name in everything that comes up at all. That's what I did for 30 years, almost 35 years. If the right kind of situation comes up I'm definitely going to be interested in it, yes.
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/10/qa_with_former_tennessee_coach.html
Fulmer was known for having largely horrible coaching staffs, particularly post-2000. I'll put it to you this way. In 16 years as the head honcho at UT, he hired exactly THREE assistants who became head coaches elsewhere: Lovie Smith (two years at UT, secondary coach 1993 and 1994), Doug Marrone (one year at UT, tight ends coach, 2001), and Dave Clawson (one year at UT, offensive coordinator, 2008). Dan Brooks was probably his best overall hire from a positional standpoint, but the guy had freakin' Jimmy Ray Stephens and Greg Adkins running the offensive line since 2001, which goes a long way toward explaining the plummet in offensive effectiveness.
Fulmer took over for Johnny Majors in questionable fashion (although I'd argue that it's overblown); at the time, Fulmer was a hot head coaching candidate at several schools. Undoubtedly fueled by that, he never hired an assistant who could ever pose a real threat to him as the head man at any point down the line.
