Fulmer Agrees To Step Down

I Agree Johnny Chavis would be a great pickup but the thing that's blocking it is Loyal Les and his feelings toward the current co DCs.

 

His buyout was 6 million and missed what espn said his staff was.

 

Here's a question for Red if he knows or can obtain the answer.

Does Les' contract give him unilateral hiring/firing authority of his assistants?

 

What I have heard is Tennessee negotiated a buyout to be paid over 6 years and they would like to keep some of Fullmer's assistants.

 

They are already getting scared at TCU.:geaux:

 

I would bet money that Les has the authority to hire and fire his assistants at will.

 

Re Foolmer, This is what I heard. He was prepared to fight for his job and it would have been ugly. However, after the Bama game he lost the support of one or more powerful board members and had nothing to fight with. There was approx 25-30K Bama fans in Neyland Stadium with loads of empty seats in the tenn sections. Many of the tenn faithful started leaving late in the 3rd quarter and half way through the 4th quarter the tenn seats were pretty much empty. Add to that the overall poor attendance at other games this year and the fan base was speaking volumes. It couldnt be ignored no matter how much Foolmer wanted to come back.

I heard this decision was made a couple weeks ago but they wanted to wait until the end of the year to announce. However, with dwindling attendance and poor road support (Tenn numbers at South Carolina where LOW) the admin had to make a move. They are losing boat loads of money and look to have no bowl this year. I am also hearing they are wanting to fast track a hire and have him there ASAP. They dont want to go the Neb route with Pelini but they may not have a choice depending on the candidate they target.

I think Phatimus leaving the SEC is good for the conference. It's probably not true but Foolmer comes off as a stooge rat fink with little morals or integrity. I look for Tenn to hit a downward spiral over the next few years. They were lucky last year to make the SEC title game but Florida and Georgia are moving WAY ahead while South Carolina, Vandy and Kentucky have improved.

 

Thanks Red. The Board of Supervisors was the one exception I could think of that might have veto power.