He's been getting some support from a minority of Vol fans on their forums and in their blogs. He's 55, was born and raised in Tennessee, played football for the Vols (WR), coached 11 years in the NCAA (7 of them at Tennessee) and coached in the NFL for 17 years (including as Jimmy Johnson's OC) Here's an interview he gave regarding the UT head coach job: "Well, I was told I am (a candidate)," Brown said. "I think that I'm a legitimate candidate for the job, I do. And the reason I say that is I'm very confident in my ability to coach, to recruit, I've proven that when I was here before. I've coached at Tennessee on SEC championship teams, I've gone into out-of-state areas and brought back All-American recruits. I've been there and done that, and I feel confident in my ability to get it done. Yes, I think I'm a legitimate candidate." Coach search at full speed GoVolsXtra Kippy Brown as Assistant Head Coach/Passing Game Coordinator for the Detroit Lions
It won't be the first coup Fullmer pulls at Tennessee. He got his job by "Sucker Punching" Johnny Majors while he was recuperating from a heart attack in the mid 80's This really is Tennessee's big chance to show some class and dignity...I doubt they can pull it off, personally. Too bad.
In reality, he's the only current head coach who can take the job without getting tarred and feathered like Kiffin. Tennessee found out very quickly yesterday that none of their A list "head coaches" would even consider it because of timing. Kiffin left Tennessee in as bad a pinch as one could. I personally think they should wait until after NSD and try again or let Kippy Brown become a permanent Interim and carry on with the current coaches. They would have a much better chance with a big time coach after NSD. Their current recruiting class is probably shot anyway.
It comes down to that now. What happened with Kiffin gave the Fulmer gang all they needed. They can say "I told you so" and none of the anti-Fulmer group can really argue. Here is a name that hasnt been mentioned but Im told is VERY involved. Peyton Manning. He has been burning up the phone lines in the Athletic Department and supposedly with two big boosters/ex-trustee's. He is a Fulmer/Cutcliffe supporter and has made it known he would like to return and coach at Tennessee in the future. He is putting pressure on to hire Cutcliffe.
I also seem to recall Peyton and Fulmer have homes next to or near each other in Townsend, TN by the Smoky Mountain National Park; and Payton talking about living there when he leaves the NFL. Maybe Cut keeps seat warm until Peyton is ready.
Wow. That is juicy. I always hoped Peyton would choose to be a NCAA coach after his playing days are over instead of taking a job as a sportscaster or an NFL coach. Here's a video of one of Tennessee's football facilities that was built in 1989 at a cost of $11 million (they have built other expensive facilities and add-ons since then within the stadium and elsewhere on the campus). The strength and conditioning coach giving the tour spends a few moments praising the wax statue they have of Peyton Manning in the foyer. Being that the place was built in 1989, Peyton Manning mostly likely used the same place to train (he was at Tenn from 1994 to 1997). University of Tennessee Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex STACK TV
Sure, if Tenn wants a coach from an A-list program like Mack Brown or Bob Stoops, yeah... that's going to be tough because of the heat they would take for leaving their program right now (for example, look what happened when USC just hired Lane Kiffin away from an A-list program like Tenn). And yeah, if Tenn wants to hire a coach away from an A-list program, then they should wait until after NSD. But part of the reason Kiffin got so much heat was because this was his first year as coach and he is already leaving. Carroll just left USC, do you see him getting "tarred and feathered" for taking a better job? Yeah, a lot of USC fans feel that he sold them out, but as for the rest of the country? Like Carroll said: "there would never be a 'right time' to leave." But if Tenn wants to hire a coach from a B-list or lower program like the guys I listed above (Terry Bowden, Gary Patterson, Butch Davis, Jim Harbaugh, Kyle Whittingham, Bronco Mendenhall, Bret Bielema, etc)... do you think it would be that big of a deal if Tenn hired them right now? I doubt it. Do you see any big news of a "tarring and feathering" of Skip Holtz because he just left ECU for a better job in a better conference? As for the timing: it is interesting to note that Tenn just missed out on Charlie Strong (who just went to Louisville) and Tuberville (who just went to TT).
