The Reaction...From All Sides

Yesterday when I found out that Tennessee Head Football Coach had agreed to step down at the end of the season, I didn't know what to think. At first, I was so fired up I didn't know what to do with myself. Then I got hit with the, "This guy is all I know of Tennessee Football" bit. Then I thought about Butch Davis and it didn't really matter.

Fulmer is a rare bread for sure. He's spent, for the most part, his entire collegiate and professional career in Knoxville, working his way up the ladder. In a football sense, he is the epitome of the American dream (that on election day, Barack Obama wants to take away from you) that if you work hard you will rise to the top. To the top he did rise, raising the Sears BCS Trophy after defeating my once beloved Florida State Seminoles in the first ever BCS Championship game.

I believe Coach Fulmer loves the University of Tennessee more than just about anyone. For that, it is without question that I, as well as you, should respect his hard word and time spent, all with success and a commitment to the program.

But I honestly believe that what he did yesterday, "stepping down at the end of the season" was what deep down he felt was the right thing for Tennessee. I mentioned Florida State a few moments ago, and the irony is amazing.

What do these teams have in common: Nebraska, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Tennessee, Florida State? Those are the teams listed in chronological order from 1994-1999 who won the national championship (Nebraska and Michigan tied in 1997). The above listed programs more or less dominated the 90's with the help of Miami in the first half of the decade. Of those teams, only Florida State's head coach will coach next year, and only Tom Osbourne went out on his own terms (outside of Steve Spurrier going to the NFL). Florida State and Tennessee have been put in the same category recently, needing to find what they had in the 90's to compete. Many believe that Bowden isn't far behind, and though Fulmer has a great resume, Bowden's is considerably more impressive, buying him a little more time.

What I'm getting at is that college football is just a different game. Coach Fulmer should be commended as he has been the most competitive for the longest period of time of the coaches of those teams above. But the game is different now. Players may love the fatherly approach that Fulmers and Bowdens and Carrs have, but that isn't equating into the wins that the fiery and energetic younger types are like Carroll, Meyer, Miles and Saban.

The game has simply changed. Not even Steve Spurrier can have success in the SEC building a program the same way he did with the Gators. Coach Fulmer in an interview earlier this year said something along the lines of, "We didn't just become bad coaches overnight." I don't think he and his staff did, but I think he and his staff didn't adjust and adapt to what the world is today in the SEC, and competitive college football in general. I'd say that Mack Brown is still a throw back guy, but he surrounds himself with the fiery young coaches to bring it all together. That's called adapting to your surroundings and continuing to build a program. Tennessee got in a rut, where they could be fairly competitive in their league, but keep in mind, Fulmer is O-fer against Urban Meyer, about even with Mark Richt, and let's just say Nick Saban was never too kind to him. Those are programs that are adapting, and now, Tennessee has the chance with a bunch of talent and the best defensive player in the SEC to come in an adapt. And the luxury that I think Tennessee has, more so than Alabama, is that the talent is here to run any offense besides the spread, and I don't see that coming.

Coach Fulmer will be remembered for being a great football coach, having a great career, and winning a National Championship. I hate it that he isn't leaving on "his own terms" but it's the right thing for the university and it's the right thing for the program. A guy who gives that much of his life to one institution should be beyond commended for his efforts. But we all need to learn a lesson from this, that we need to adapt to our surroundings...