Guess who Phil Fulmer’s favorite SEC head coach is?
Q: Do you have a coach in the SEC right now other than Butch Jones who you appreciate?
A: “I think Mark Richt has done a fabulous job at Georgia. He’s gotten some of the same grief that you get occasionally when you don’t always win the championship at a school that wants to win the championship. He’s done a fabulous job, and he’s done it the right way. I think a lot of him, and as far as favorite people, he would probably be the one.”
Think there’s a little “that’s how you’re supposed to treat a guy, UT” in that?
Get The Picture 
“Think there’s a little “that’s how you’re supposed to treat a guy, UT” in that?”
Basically, the UT board are a bunch of dumbasses. He’s not wrong about Richt (in my humble opinion), and UT are getting what they deserve…
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I for one have been very happy to see Tennessee reap what they sowed from firing Fulmer. Tennessee is a cautionary tale against letting the kook sector of your fan base take over.
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This. I have no problem with those who are dissatisfied with Richt’s perceived lack of recent success. However, I don’t want to have to go through a Debose, a Franchione, a Price, and a Shula on the off chance we’ll get a Saban. In addition, I honestly don’t think we’ve seen Richt’s ceiling yet.
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I will file this comment under my “How bout some common sense you goofball!” file. This is good wisdom to pass to wht Brandon called the “kook sector.”
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+1
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Neither do I. I’m one of those myself. The last 8 years have been characterized by sloppy football and underachievement (except for the latter part of 2007 & possibly 2012). It’s been a tough 8 years for Richt, and a very frustrating 8 years for many of us.
That said, even at the lowest point, I’ve never wanted Richt fired. The thing is, this is the same coach whose teams played solid, exciting, and most importantly, winning football his first 4 years. His teams were well-coached, disciplined on the field, ST’s were good if not outstanding, and they were generally solid and didn’t beat themselves. All marks of a top level team.
So what was so different about the first 5 years compared to the last 8? We know the good traits that characterized the first 5 years were somehow lost. Because poor discipline, sloppy play, erratic ST’s, replaced them and a cancerous culture and sense of entitlement developed.
Soon the record began to reflect it. Underachievement began to be the norm. The talent-level was similar to before, but our play on the field was subpar. We didn’t look the same, because we weren’t. We earned a reputation for soft football and beating ourselves (which we still carry today).
So what was the difference? Why the enormous, polarized contrast? There’s really only one major difference between the two periods – the defensive side of the ball.
If I’m right, that will turn out to be true. Richt made a number of mistakes during this period but his biggest mistake, IMO, was not being demanding enough .. of his players, and particularly his defensive staff. So, in that sense, it wasn’t all on the defense. It was his job to take care of the baby. I think the whole mess slipped up on him gradually, and I believe I understand how that could happen.
But because he is a good coach, and we had some talent, we often made things look a lot better than they really were. Ten-win seasons, decent (overall) winning %. A run here or there. But our reputation of always falling short, beating ourselves, never able to win the big one, etc., was (and is) well deserved.
Richt’s first 5 years are in the distant past, and have been mostly forgotten. However, if I’m right about the cause, and Pruitt’s impact (which would have been the same with ANY top level DC) is what I think it’s been, we’re going to see a new brand, and a new style of football on the field. And one that’s really fun to watch.
But not really new – just forgotten.
~~~
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He should’ve been fired. That program was lifeless. The problem was who they hired.
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They hired who was available and wanted the job. Just like Bama did for close to a decade. Hell, UT was turned down by Muschamp. Man, I bet he could have turned it around.
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Fulmer had won a NC and almost 80 percent of his games over a career which exceeded a dozen years. When you fire someone like that you send a firm message to all available coaching candidates that your program is run by moronic ingrates of the highest level. Not a lot of coaches are going to jump at that. You can get a Bozo like Kiffin or some young guy or journeyman with no where to go but up but that’s about it.
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Wish our politicians could learn that lesson…. ok Im sorry, this is a football blog but I couldn’t stop my fingers, they just kept typing… darn fingers !
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i appreciate PF’s remarks. CMR is becoming (or is) the standard for running a classy and honest program. This is only fair and to be expected. Coach Richt walks the walk and people are beginnning to realize it. This can only lead to good things as far as publicity and recruiting for UGA. A parent concerned about his child’s character development will often consider steering their kid towards UGA. I think it’s already happened and is happening.
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I agree with every word of your post ug. Here is my question: How come Mark Richt gets no respect from the SEC office and the SEC refs in particular. His team gets at least one outrageous bad call per game (proved by replay) and sometimes that call loses the game for the Dawgs (remember 2013 Vanderbilt?). I know for a fact that Jere Morehead has complained personally to Mike Slime about is and was basically told to STFU.
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I hate to think it, but some of it is personal for the refs who do this stuff…they may help Vandy against Georgia, not to help Vandy but some other SEC East team that need a UGA loss..or they may just have a deep seeded dislike for Georgia because a bulldog chased them when they were a child. Honestly, I think they want to make examples out of players and coaches and throw flags for the “flavor of the day” new penalty or rule and they dare not do it against a firebrand like Muschamp or Saban, so they take their shot against UGA. In at least one case…(I won’t say which official I’m referring to but I’ll take wagers that you can figure it out) I believe it is personal and intentional. The SEC should be told that Georgia will not take the field if he is on it.
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Correctomundo ug. A call should be made to the SEC office basically saying what you just said above. But the SEC administrators and refs don’t fear CMR. They would never do to Bama or even FU what they do to Georgia with impunity every damn season. I’m beyond sick of it.
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You hit the nail on the head. Penn Wagers is an SOB that flagged Coach Richt for Unsportsmanlike Conduct for the first time in the coach’s career. I watched the replay of the LSU ARKY game this AM on SEC Network and saw Pertino scream in the face of Steve Shaw and keep yelling “Bullshit call” at the top of his voice and he got no flag. The SEC office and the Officials are total aholes. They know Mark will not call them out for their BS behavior to the media so it’s ok to piss on UGA. This is one reason I don’t pull for the SEC, I’m a Georgia fan not an SEC fan.
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This is exactly why Morehead and McGarity should go to the SEC office with all of the evidence, drop it on $live and $haw’s desk, and tell them if it isn’t fixed, they’ll take the Southeast biggest media market to a conference that will appreciate us and the value we bring to the SEC media package.
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Well it definitely wasn’t going to be Alabama’s coach regardless.
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I totally get how closely Fulmer identifies with Coach Richt. I mean, Phil was famous for his calm, faith based approach to coaching young men, wasn’t he? 😉
The resemblance is uncanny, if you ask Phil. It’s almost like looking into a mirror, except it’s one of those fun house mirrors that distorts everything so that his portly ass looks tanned, relatively sleek, and honest.
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Fulmer is all class. Just ask Johnny Majors.
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I think what happened to UT is karma about how UT treated Fulmer–it’s karma for what UT did to Majors.
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+1
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Ironic comments because I think it was his lack of discipline that led to his downturn in the latter years. Fulmer was probably over his head as a HC but he fit TN well and was smart enough to surround himself with talented coordinators while he mingled with the fans who loved and trusted him as one of their own. Chavis and Cutcliffe was his highlight film and his biggest mistake was not making the right decision on getting another OC when Cut went to Ole Miss. As an observer at this point he is well qualified to make a mature assessment of what goes on in the SEC, it is not surprising he sees CMR as the one to respect the most. He may even see what he should have done when the players started taking advantage of him being too much of a players’ coach.
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And to think that fan base ran Chavis off. Reminds me of the Eeyore Dawgs. I wonder if Fulmer and Donnan ever made up?
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what was there beef? I don’t remember.
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We were playing in Knoxvegas and uT took control early. Late in the 4th quarter Fulmer was still throwing down field. Donnan was irate about that. I don’t think they shook hands and Donnan was pointing at Fulmer from across the field.
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Also Donnan cursed Fulmer at mid-field in the post game handshake BS and PF had his fat little daughter with him so he took issue. That is no place for a daughter of any stature to be immediately after the heat of battle.
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Ah me, the Great Punkin as philosopher.
I guess, as the poster boy for offending the Kharmic Bitches…see Majors, Johnny…the Punkin probably has some real wisdom to share…especially on what not to do…his best comment in years was immediately after his head rolled in Knoxville…”We really screwed that up.” he is quoted as saying.
While I appreciate his comments on Mark Richt, I hope nobody here had to hear that from Phil to know it is true.
One thing is for dead cert…I don’t think Aaron Hernandez would have done well in Mark Richt’s football program.
And, as I am officially teetering on the brink of senility, that may be at least as important as winning the championship Phil seems to think we want.
When all is said and done, it is about more than winning a championship, much more.
And I will take the compliment with good grace, even from a whiny, back-stabbing SOB like Phil Fulmer. 🙂
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Met and talked to Majors in a restaurant after the early 80s Sun Bowl game with Arizona (where we won the game because the best field goal kicker in the nation that year missed from what was easy territory for him). My 3 children and I were headed for Canyon De Cobre (“Grand Canyon of Mexico”) after and he so generously joined us and relieved me of a female who had glommed onto us. Nice guy, Johnny. I think he was there in case UGA lost.
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I hate it when a female gloms on to me. It gets awkward when I tell them I am married and they tear up. 😉
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Not a Fulmer fan at all, but there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes with Majors, and had been for quite a while. I don’t blame UT at all for going with Fulmer or for Fulmer vying for the job as interim coach.
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” but there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes with Majors,”
It is my understanding that the major problem with Johnny was that he had pissed off two or three big contributors whom he could ill afford to piss off.
While I have heard stories, I have never seen any real proof that Majors had some ah…issues with adult beverages.
While the Vol fans loved UT’s national championship, Peyton and all that there was a core group of alumni who were very disappointed in the way Majors’ exit from Knoxville was handled (He was told he was out of a job while in the hospital) and this same group resented Fulmer’s methods in getting the job…not his capability to do the job…threatening alumni…soto voce… he would leave if they did not get rid of Majors.
I suspect Jim Donnan would be glad to tell you that pissing on the feet of big donors is not the way to long tenure at the SEC level, since this, not Jasper Sanks’ fumble and subsequent loss to Tech, cost Donnan his job at Georgia. Big donors made Michael Adams all giggly and subservient.
At any rate, UT teased the Kharmic Bitches…bad news for the Vols.
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He must not have learned his lesson cause he pissed on a lot of folks after he left.
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Majors, in general, wasn’t exactly known as a good guy. On top of his well known drinking problem, he treated all TPTB at UT and even fans like crap, and basically was a daily PR nightmare. His assistants and players generally hated him too, particularly given he was essentially a figurehead in which the staff did all of the work. This helps explain Fulmer’s success in his absence followed by three straight losses upon his far too soon return (which was quite a hurried one for obvious, self-serving reasons). It also helps explain Majors’ disastrous record upon returning to Pitt in ’93.
Fulmer and staff were gone at years end unless a change was made, and TPTB no question made the right choice in canning Majors. In the midst of everything else, Majors very publicly complained about his contract and wanted a substantial raise. This included screaming/cussing in public to various higher ups, who at that point had enough of his b.s. Besides, Majors’ record at UT was very mediocre anyway by then, and I believe he was 1-13 vs. UGA, Bama and UF during his latter years.
Again I’m no Fulmer apologist, but IMO he really didn’t do anything wrong in vying for the job. Almost any other coach worth his salt would have done the same, particularly given Majors’ state of mind (both mentally and physically) by then. To act as if he was some uber successful, Will Rogers type persona who was innocently back stabbed after suffering a heart attack is ignorant at best.
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“To act as if he was some uber successful, Will Rogers type persona who was innocently back stabbed after suffering a heart attack is ignorant at best.”
Not sure who you are classifying as ignorant. If it is me you point at, then I suspect you may not know what ignorant means.
On the other hand if you are accusing the Tennessee fans who thought Majors was treated badly of being ignorant, and that Fulmer did Majors dirty it seems to me they are entitled to their opinions, and to feel they way they do.
As are you.
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I mean to threaten to take the whole staff to Wyoming unless he was promised a job while Majors was in the hospital and to expose a personal issue (drinking) to the press. I think that Johnny deserves to be bitter. He rebuilt UT, if people forgot. The Sugar Bowl year/win v Miami was a miracle season and the launching pad to everything that Phil has to work with at UT.
PITT was 3-7 the season before Majors arrived. That and the the 3-7 a couple of seasons prior partly explains the “disastrous” record. And yes you may not be a Pumpkin King apologist but you aren’t impartial at all with all that “everybody hates him” meme.
just sayin’
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Makes sense to me Homey…and then the Bitches took umbrage with Phil, after all he had done for the Vowels…. I actually feel sorry for the more serious UT fans I know here…from Peyton and a national championship to rock fucking bottom in a decade…ouch.
FWIW John Majors and The Punkin are still not exactly friends but they no longer have to check their pistolas at the door if they happen to be in the same room. Much like a certain Georgia boy and his athletic director.
Both SOD and Butchie have made an effort to get both of them back in the fold, so to speak.
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Not only is UT reaping what they have sown but so is Fulmer, after his impersonation of “Brutus” on Coach Majors…
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If you made the reference to Brutus on most sports blogs, people would assume you’re referring to the guy that fought Popeye.
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Here’s one for our resident lawdawg Bluto.
Why is it in some Popeye flicks he is called Brutus and others Bluto?
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Yes, aubarn fans wouldn’t understand
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Or that personification of all things gloriously tOhio in the shape of that puffy walking tree-nut from tOSu.
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or the giant nut mascot at TOSU
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I appreciate and agree with Coach Fulmer’s comment. But I bet Johnny Majors would also have a thing or two to say about appreciation of a coach–especially one who, while your boss, is recovering from heart surgery and is summarily dismissed mid-season while a couple years removed from an 11-1 season and several SEC championships. What goes around comes around, and I agree completely with Brandon that UT fans and administration have been reaping what they have sown. I lived in TN during the Majors-Fulmer drama, and heard virtually zero fan support or even sympathy for Majors, just as there was virtually none for Fulmer in 2008. While doing things differently at Georgia may mean tolerating a Ray Goff for 2-3 years longer than we should have, I’ll still take that over a knee jerk “throw the bum out” mentality.
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Do just a few minutes of research on Majors, and you will certainly do a 180. Majors was a total disaster by then and the UT brass made the right choice. And it was an easy one at that.
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I did … mehe. You certainly have an axe to grind with him. That was over 20 years ago. Curious. What’s your opinion of Donnan?
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Damn, I really thought Fulmer’s favorite coach in the SEC would be Kiffin ,what am I missing here?
Along with the previous posts,I always tell the fringe(i.e. the fire Richt crowd)that Fulmer is available
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Disney Dawg!
😉
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Laugh at Kiffin, but he is undefeated against Richt.
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Yes, but I will still laugh at him. What’s your point?
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You have to realize he has a strange way of evaluating success. Anyone not laughing at Junior doesn’t get CFB. Plus, I don’t recall CMR or Junior suiting up that day.
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Wasn’t Richt the only SEC coach that Kiffin beat?
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Tennessee plays 8 SEC conference games.So you think uT went 7-1 in the SEC? Given their out of conference schedule how many wins would they have? So you honestly ask that question? Gosh, Senator! Isn’t there a filter for this nonsense? Now we have trolls,children and an azzhat cherry posting here as a football fan. Damn.
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JC, my kids love your work on Dora.
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He’s undefeated against Spurrier too … but you’re here to troll. Goodness I am excited for Bluto’s blogging success but it sure draws the rif raf.
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As the seasons go by the Vol alums will appreciate Phil Fulmer more. He left a coaching legacy at UT. He had some very good assistants. Those guys generally do not go on board unless there is a very good coach in place.
Vols should have stayed with him during a rough patch.
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He threw Chavis to the wolves. And his offensive production was ? without Cutcliffe.
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Plus whenever Phil was around, you would always run out of doughnuts
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