Erik Ainge says goodbye, too.
After the Florida game Phil Fulmer looked as fired as a coach can be, but unlike Bill Callahan he managed to pull the Vols out of their tailspin and drive them into the SEC Championship Game. Job: secure. Coaching staff? Not so much. David Cutcliffe, renowned far and wide as an offensive architect par excellence, took the Duke job.
Okay, well there's still Trooper Taylor, Cutcliffe's right hand man at UT and reportedly a demon recruiter.
Except now there isn't:
Trooper Taylor told the News Sentinel on Wednesday he is leaving Tennessee to take a co-offensive coordinator position at Oklahoma State.This is displeasing to Rocky Top Talk, which put together an impressive case for the internal hire. Evidently UT has higher hopes for Cutcliffe's replacement.
What's the deal with "co-offensive coordinators"? That seems guaranteed to end in disaster, though admittely not as guaranteed as doing anything whatsoever at Baylor, another place he was considering the OC job at.
That would undoubtedly see him unemployed four years from now and trying to scrabble his way to a place at SMU or something. Kind of like Cutcliffe's probable future.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-21-2007 @ 8:28PM
I BLEED CRIMSON !!!! said...
HA HA HA TENNESSEE SUCKS !!!!!!!!
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12-21-2007 @ 9:36PM
Vol'nTear said...
Braintrust? R u kidding? The problem for 15 years has been the lack of an offensive braintrust! Check the history - how many wins were choked away because they got a lead and then ran 3 plays and punted time after time after time? Most of the time, the opening play is either a bomb or a wide receiver screen. Everybody knows that's coming. When Cutcliffe came back this year, John Chavous probably about puked. Cutcliffe is a good QB coach but never had the creativity to run an offense. Randy Sanders did a decent job but fell into the same rut of getting a lead and sitting on it requiring the defense to hold on. If they don't take advantage of the opportunity to get out and get someone with some creative DNA, then Fulmer needs to be the next to go.
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12-22-2007 @ 9:12AM
Stroh101 said...
Chavis has saved us. Cut kept us afloat. And Taylor was our future. 2008 will be educational. Good luck Trooper, we will miss you very much!
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12-25-2007 @ 9:05PM
aaorn W said...
Hey UT, try and get UConn's head coach.
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12-25-2007 @ 9:59PM
Jim said...
Conservative football for UT needs to come to a stop. In today's college football you can't sit on a lead. Points can be scored so very quickly and the lead is gone. Sitting on a lead also keeps the defense on the field for longer periods of time and they wear out. It is so simple....if you have possession of the ball....then TRY TO SCORE!!!!!
Defensively I wish UT could finally understand that you just can't bring down a powerful running back or receiver from the shoulder pads. Even if a running back or receiver is "finally" brought down from the shoulders, they will have spun and turned or in some cases even break the tackle. If you tackle below the waist you are surely to bring down the ball carrier. It is not rocket science. Just simple fundamental football.
Is it time for Phulmer to go? If he can't turn UT into a crush mouth, in your face, determined to score with each possession of the ball...then it is time to find a coach that will.
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