Bag of Mail

Phil Fulmer Era Officially Over



Here's my write-up that just went up on Deadspin.

Couple of things to add here:

1. If this doesn't make you sad you aren't a Vol fan. You can agree or disagree about whether this needed to happen, but even still, I'm sad. Since 1992--when I was only 13-- to this fall now that I'm grown and have a child of my own, Fulmer has been on the sidelines for my team. What's more, I'm 29 and this will be the first coaching search for UT football that I've ever been alive for. That's special. You only have to look down to Alabama to see how special that is. I hope that whoever we hire is here for 10 years or more. Did you realize that there have only been 20 head coaches in UT football history?

2. I never would have believed that the story for my book was going to end up taking this turn. Never. I was convinced that we would contend for an SEC Title. Even after the Florida loss I still felt this was possible. Now there's a chance that we'll lose more games than any UT team ever has. Unbelievable.

3. As a fan, this season has been brutal. And I've seen an awful lot of talk about this team quitting. They haven't quit. Trust me. If you'd been in the locker room before the South Carolina game, you'd have seen Ellix Wilson give the most astounding player speech I've ever witnessed. The team has never been more fired up all season. Things just haven't worked out. In fact, they've fallen apart. But the guys haven't stopped playing as hard as they can.

4. Love him or not, Fulmer is a good guy. A good guy in a sea of bad ones. I hope that whoever we bring in next understands why Tennessee football is a unique and special place.

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Posted by Clay Travis at 12:09 PM

1 Comments:

Blogger cazador18 said...

Even though this decision was all but a certainty after Saturday, I still feel like I was just punched in the stomach. What's UT football look like without Phil stalking the sideline? Sad day, for sure.

November 3, 2008 1:03 PM  

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