Yesterday, Phil Fulmer became the third BCS conference coach to lose his job during the middle of this season. That leaves the hottest seat in the country the one directly below Tommy Tuberville's rear end. The question the Auburn trustees certainly must be asking themselves is this: are they going to be at a competitive disadvantage if they wait until the end of the year to fire Tuberville?
The answer is a resounding "yes".
Of course, it's not a guarantee that Coach Tuberville will find himself looking for work come December, but if he is, Auburn will find themselves more than a month behind in their coaching search, and with some heavy competition.
The College Football Songbook is a weekly feature in which we'll be making as much fun as humanly possible of the most embarrassing moments in college football. Through words, music, and related video we'll leave a lasting memory implanted on the brains of the vanquished that they are not soon to forget.say goodbye to Phil Fulmer
Farewell Phil. We laughed, we cried, we wrote a song to remember you by.
Tennessee Volunteer football has had a few very distinguishable faces over the years. Peyton Manning, Tee Martin (kidding) and Phil Fulmer. And, like all college programs, regardless of the talent level of a particular player, it is the coach that always remains in the spotlight and as the face of the program, long after certain athletes graduate.
But it appears, based on what ESPN is reporting, that Fulmer will no longer be the face of Tennessee, having agreed to step down as head coach of the Volunteers following a miserable 2008 showing.
An announcement is being planned for later Monday at Neyland Stadium. The Vols (3-6, 1-5 SEC) have lost four straight games and are in danger of suffering their second losing season in the last four years.
Fulmer, who's won 150 games at his alma mater and is the dean of SEC coaches, met with Tennessee officials Monday morning, and they reached a mutual agreement that it would be best for all parties if Fulmer was not back next season.
It's an unsurprising shock, really, because this rumor has been floating out there for some time, and the Vols aren't even popular in Knoxville this year (that's the unsurprising part). Well, that and the fact that FanHouse mentioned thisseveral times in recent weeks.
Prop Bets for the College Football Junkie is a weekly post that cares not for your silly point spreads. If you have the money and the gumption, we'll lay down a weekly gauntlet of propositions that'll take you from the penthouse to the outhouse faster than you can guess the number of times Lee Corso will say "not so fast my friend." As always, this is for entertainment purposes only.
$ With the celebration that you all know is coming in the Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Florida vs. Georgia game this weekend, we give you a multiple choice wager. Over/under on the following dances being performed:
-Funky Chickens +/-1. You know that's how Urban Rolls... -Solja Boys +/-20. -Worms +/-2. Come on, you know one or two guys that break this out at the worst possible moment. -Sprinklers +/-1, because some things just can't end soon enough.
$ Number of employed cart drivers if they leave their cart in the back of the end zone, +/-0. It seems like an easy bet, but I want to remind you that the house gets all pushes.
$ Phil Fulmer is most definitely on the hot seat, and heading to South Carolina this weekend to face off with his old pal Steve Spurrier. This is probably the first prop bet I've done that is most likely alive and kicking somewhere in Vegas. But we give you the straight up bet that Fulmer will be fired after this weekend.
Prop Bets for the College Football Junkie is a weekly post that cares not for your silly point spreads. If you have the money and the gumption, we'll lay down a weekly gauntlet of propositions that'll take you from the penthouse to the outhouse faster than you can guess the number of times Lee Corso will say "not so fast my friend." As always, this is for entertainment purposes only.
$ With the big news of the week being the firing of Tommy Bowden at Clemson, the crew at ESPN will be sure to debate the thought process at Clemson. Lou Holtz will most certainly defend Bowden and Mark May will defend the administration. So we give you a straight up bet that Holtz will forget the camera is still rolling again this week and have some less than flattering words for Clemson. What the heck, +/-5 on the number of times he says "damn."
$ Jim Harbaugh and Rick Neuheisel are both known for taking jabs at opposing teams and coaches in the week leading up to the game. As both have been quiet this week, we're sure they are saving everything for the post game handshake when Stanford plays at UCLA. The conversation will most certainly revolve around the post-game speech Neuheisel gave after the Tennessee game. Straight up, one of two thing will be said depending on the outcome of the game. Neuheisel-"Jim, I'd love to stand here and talk, but I've got a speech to give. Better luck next year, loser." Or, Harbaugh-"Doesn't look like anyone stuck around for your speech tonight. You guys got any games left on the schedule you think you can win?"
$ When Mississippi State travels to Tennessee, we'll be seeing the 103rd and 104th worst offenses in the country. So we'll put the over and under on the closeups of each team's offensive coordinator at +/-10. Because if someone is going to go, these guys are going to get the boot first.
Despite an inspired effort by the Tennessee defense, Fulmer and the Volunteers are now 2-4 after a 26-14 loss to Georgia. The culprit in this loss, like all the other losses is the Tennessee offense. Here's some stats to chew on, one yard rushing, 10 first downs, 209 total yards of offense, and not a Krispy Kreme in sight. This is also the third straight game that Tennessee has failed to gain more than 10 first downs. When you consider that Tennessee played Norther Illinois last week, that ain't good. Unfortunately for Fulmer and the Volunteers, David Cutcliff doesn't look to be getting fired anytime soon at Duke.
Earlier this week, Auburn fired their offensive coordinator due to failure to perform. Obviously a move to save Tommy Tuberville's job. Considering that Tennessee fans are calling for Fulmer's firing, it might be the last hope Fulmer will have to save his job. Although there doesn't look to be much hope that even that would improve the sputtering Volunteer offense.
Georgia played well, controlling the clock for nearly 25 minutes longer than Tennessee. They won in every way possible, except in the turnover battle. Where, surprisingly, Tennessee had no turnovers. But when you can't move the ball, holding on to it might do more harm than good.
Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer declared his intention to lose the Fulmer Cup this year by making his entire team run at 6am this morning. After having one of the most famous trophy's in all of college football blogdom named after him for sever lack of institutional control, Fulmer is taking a new approach.
With three players being arrested in a two week span, Fulmer has instituted the code red approach to discipline.
After a Tennessee player was arrested for the second time in less than two weeks, Fulmer said he made the entire team run at 6 a.m. Tuesday to show he wasn't going to tolerate such behavior. He also said Vereen will have to do community service and participate in police ride-alongs as part of his violation of team rules.
So not only does Daryl Vereen have to do community service, rides with police, and that running at 6am thing. He also has to take into account that there's probably some guys on his team that were not happy with him at that 6am run. And probably won't be for a while. Ah, NCO justice is a cruel mistress. But a mistress that gets results as long as those in charge are willing to let the justice take its course.
Fulmer just got out of the doghouse with Tennessee fans after a six loss season in 2005 by following up with a top 25 finish in 2006 and a #12 ranking in 2007. The last thing he needs is to recreate the situation that got the cup named after him in the first place. This may or may not be a hot seat issue depending on how the rest of the off season plays out.
Hat tip to EDSBS for making our off season more enjoyable than it should be.
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.
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.
Want to know just how toasty the hot seat has gotten for Phillip Fulmer in Knoxville? Several former Tennessee lettermen came together to run an ad in Friday's edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. A full reproduction is available on the GoVolsXtra.com website, but the meat of the letter says:
We are proud that Coach Fulmer is the head football coach of our [sic] team.
We're glad that he leads and teaches the young men in our program. For some of us, those young men include our sons and other family members. He is what we want our children to be, and what we work to be more like every day of our lives.
The skills necessary to be successful aren't industry-specific. They include qualities like honesty, clarity of purpose, a daily commitment to improvement, discipline, attention to detail, focus, an incredible work ethic, the ability to work with others and a willingness to learn from adversity.
These skills do not become dated; time does not pass them by.
Coach Fulmer not only possesses these in abundance, he teaches them to young people. He represents the best of what a university can and should be. He prepares young men for life.
The letter is signed by 191 former Vols, ranging from players of the 1970s to this decade and including current NFL players like Peyton Manning, Jason Witten, and Gibril Wilson as well as old-school names like Bill Bates and Dale Jones. Of note is that few recent players' names were attached to the letter; Jonathan Wade ('06) and Jesse Mahelona ('05) were the lone representatives from the last couple of years. Also intriguing (and a little funny): Casey Clausen signed, but not Rick.
That's not to say that other players don't support Fulmer, just that their names weren't attached. There was no mention of who was asked to sign or how the letter was put together.
The College Football Songbook is a weekly feature in which we'll be making as much fun as humanly possible of the most embarrassing moments in college football Phil Fulmer. Through words, music, and related video we'll leave a lasting memory implanted on the brains of the vanquished that they are not soon to forget.
While I think the Rutgers upset of South Florida was probably a bigger upset than the Tennessee loss to Alabama, sometimes you have to break with tradition and pick on the fat guy. And that's exactly what we did this week. Phil Fulmer, thank you for being you!
Yesterday, Phil Fulmer became the third BCS conference coach to lose his job during the middle of this season. That leaves the hottest seat in the country the one directly below Tommy Tuberville's rear end. The question the Auburn trustees certainly must be asking themselves is this: are they going to be at a competitive disadvantage if they wait until the end of the year to fire Tuberville?
Tennessee Volunteer football has had a few very distinguishable faces over the years. 
Despite an inspired effort by the Tennessee defense, Fulmer and the Volunteers are now 2-4 after a 26-14 loss to Georgia. The culprit in this loss, like all the other losses is the Tennessee offense. Here's some stats to chew on, one yard rushing, 10 first downs, 209 total yards of offense, and not a Krispy Kreme in sight. This is also the third straight game that Tennessee has failed to gain more than 10 first downs. When you consider that Tennessee played Norther Illinois last week, that ain't good. Unfortunately for Fulmer and the Volunteers, David Cutcliff doesn't look to be getting fired anytime soon at Duke.
Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer declared his intention to lose the 
