Peyton Manning
Quick Bio: You don’t need an introduction for Peyton Manning. Every Vol fan knows who he is and what he means to Tennessee.
Pros: Manning is arguably the most famous football player to ever don the orange and white. He’s invested in the Vols now that he’s retired from the NFL, and he’s yet to make a big move to a new job since he retired after the 2015 season.
Cons/Questions: Though a fan favorite, Manning has no coaching experience whatsoever. You can argue he was his own offensive coordinator in the NFL, but he has no actual collegiate or professional coaching experience. Tabbing Manning to be a head coach now seems premature. Quarterbacks coach, though? We’ll see.
Phillip Fulmer
Quick Bio: Once again, you don’t need an introduction for this man. Fulmer bleeds orange and means as much if not more to the university than Manning.
Pros: Fulmer led the Vols to a national title, and Tennessee hasn’t been the same since he was fired in 2008. Hiring him back would win over a large portion of Vol fans, and it would give Fulmer a chance to go out in a much better way than he did almost a decade ago.
Cons/Questions: Fulmer already works for UT, and he doesn’t appear to have a desire to get back into coaching. This is likely just a fantasy in every way imaginable.
3 Responses
My opinion is: Be careful who you wish for, you might get them! We all know Jon Gruden knows a lot about football but how much does he know about being a College Football Coach? We need a person who is a dynamic coach that will take these recruits to the next level. We already have the talent in place, we just need to have a coach that knows how to develop them. So, Mr. Currie, please be careful and choose the right coach this time! I love Tennessee Vols football and just want it back to the glory days. Go Big Orange!
I don’t get the reluctance to welcome Jon Gruden back to The Hill. Any leader making anything much more complicated than meat loaf has to delegate much of what gets done to assistants. Does Jon Gruden know how to win football games? I think he does. Will elite players flock to K-town to play for him? I think they will. Can Coach Gruden attract good assistants? He must have to win a Super Bowl.
He is the guy if the university will finally show it cares about winning.
Bobby Petrine, T. Martin, new ideas, more disciplined better connected to the players. Able to instill Tennessee volunteers traditional into the game .and bring us back where we belong. I think recruting will still be good with either one of these as coaches?