Actually, yes and no. Since nothing was done early, when it made since to make wholesale changes, common sense tells you to stick with what you have. Chavis is one of the best at developing talented line backers. As a defensive co-ordinator he is average to good. If I were in charge last year, I would have been determining who I could get at the end of the year and made moves accordingly. Mike Hamilton screwed the pooch and did nothing. Now we have mass desertion of coaches, some decent, some crappy, and having to take what is left in some cases to fill voids. I had very little respect for Douglas "Dickless" Dickey. However, I think I liked him much better than I do Mike "Let's not rock the football boat" Hamilton. Hamilton did get us Bruce Pearl. I have to admit that success. But he has shown that he will not mend a ailing football program.
I, for one, am happy that Chavis is sticking around. The Tennessee defense has traditionally been very good under Chavis. I think the lack of success in the last few seasons can be attributed to a lack of really good defensive tackles that he enjoyed during the UT defense's heyday. I am a little surprised, Tom, that you are OK with Chavis staying. I think it's ironic that when Tennessee's offense was so anemic during the 5-6 season that everyone was screaming for Randy Sanders's head but when the defense gives up 100 points to Bama and the Gators, it's all Phil Fulmer's fault and not Chavis's. I know there has been some open criticism of Chavis but nothing like there was of Randy Sanders who took the vast majority of the blame for the season to forget.
Aquila, read my post again. I was asked if I wanted him to stay. My answer was yes AND no. Yes because we have waited way too long to get anyone better and no because if I was in control last year, I would have found a replacement during the middle of the season while there were still options out there. We cannot afford to lose any more coaches because it is now too late to replace them. The good ones have already been taken. Now, do a little lurking behind the scenes and find a good one to bring in around the first quarter of the season next year. Make him a position coach and then promote him to DC at the end of the year. That's how you replace a liability with an asset.
I understand your post clearly. I just think it's strange that the majority of the blame has fallen on Fulmer instead of on the DC for the big losses to the rivals this past season that's all. I don't think I've ever really read your thoughts on Tennessee's hiring of Clawson as OC. Are you happy with that hire?
The jury is out on Clawson. I'll wait to see how our offense morphs over the next season. As far as the criticism of Fulmer goes, he is paid to do three things: 1) Insist on, and follow through with pressuring the students to excel in the classroom to improve graduation rates 2) Prove to be successful on the field… notice I did not say perfect, but success does include zero showings like we had against Florida and Bama. 3) Prove to be successful off the field… close to zero off field incidents. You are right that Fulmer is not the OC nor is he the DC. He is the point where “the buck stops here”. He is paid too much to allow underlings to place his job in jeopardy. If the OC and/or the DC are to blame, Fulmer should have recognized that and took steps to rectify the situation. The fact that nothing was done after both of those losses shows me that Fulmer is not only a “players’ coach” but he is also to close and buddy buddy with the coaches under him. Mike Hamilton should have also taken the initiative to confront Fulmer and insist that he make changes in his staff while there were quality people from which to pick. We as Tennessee fans will have to live with what we have for the 2008 season. Hopefully some of the new coaches can spark something that died in the Tennessee coaching staff about six or seven years ago.
Allow me to further explain myself. I agree with your points on Fulmer's responsibilities. I would argue that the #1 priority on a major college football HC's list is winning ballgames. If the #1 priority for major programs was graduating players then the NCAA wouldn't have to set down standards and grading systems to insure that the players did graduate. That's another story though.... My point about Chavis was that when Sanders was fired after the '05 season, the media and fans were clamoring for the move. This season when the defense was clearly the problem, the majority of the blame has fallen on Fulmer. That's my point and that's all. Maybe Fulmer is too buddy/buddy with Chavis. I do think Fulmer deserves criticism, don't get me wrong. All I'm saying is that there's a double standard here it seems. It was probably Fulmer's fault in '05 too. I just don't think the program is in as bad of shape as some would like to think. It's certainly not the heyday of the mid to late 90s but let's look at Tennessee's finishes over the last few seasons within the SEC East. '07-first '06-second '05-fourth '04-first '03-second '02-third In all reality that's not too bad for the toughest division in college football. Now, I know that doesn't take into account the fact Tennessee has not won an SEC title and has been sporadic, at best, in bowl games but that's certainly not rock bottom. In fact, if '05 was rock bottom then Tennessee has rebounded quite well and if the trend continues, an SEC championship should be coming up. I know they won't be the favorites certainly but it is reasonable to think they could win it with Florida coming to Knoxville. We'll just have to wait and see.
Aquila, I wish I still had your optimistic views... I really do... and this old pessimistic Vol will dance in the streets if his views are proven wrong in the next two years. Really, Aquila… I hope you are right and I am dead wrong. I have made picks before in our annual contest where if I won, I got the points and if I lost, Tennessee benefitted from that loss – like putting high points on a team ranked just ahead of Tennessee so that if they won, I got a lot of points. If they lost, Tennessee moved up in the rankings.