Even though Tennessee’s coaching search is over, the Vols remain in the national spotlight because of how that search went.
This time, it’s not just a national writer calling out UT’s lengthy search for a football coach; it’s a Power Five athletic director.
Arizona State AD Ray Anderson has taken heat from many national analysts for hiring Herm Edwards as the Sun Devils’ head coach. But CBS writer Dennis Dodd says that Anderson’s unorthodox choice doesn’t compare to UT’s decision to hire Phil Fulmer.
And Anderson agreed.
“The athletic department there is perceived as a cluster,” Anderson said in Dodd’s story. “Their athletic director, now Phil Fulmer, in the athletic director’s world is a pariah. It is not a good situation.”
Dodd’s article showcases college football’s “silly season.” And the Vols are the main topic of discussion.
“You think Arizona State is wacky? Check out Tennessee,” Dodd writes.
But he doesn’t stop there.
“As Anderson suggested, Tennessee attempted self-immolation, doing everything possible to burn its program to the ground. Over a 24-day stretch, the reputation of a fine man (Greg Schiano) was dragged through the mud. Fulmer pulled a successful palace coup, replacing AD John Currie. Eventually, Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt — perhaps the seventh candidate interviewed — was hired,” Dodd said.
So Herm Edwards to ASU is nuts? So are Oregon, FSU, Ark hiring coaches with a combined .425 winning pct. The silly season wrap. https://t.co/0oFgL5OpW0
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) December 14, 2017
Fulmer will be judged as an AD on his hire of Jeremy Pruitt. And if the former Alabama defensive coordinator succeeds in Knoxville, critics like Dodd and Anderson will have some crow to eat in the coming years.
But until a Pruitt-coached team takes the field, Tennessee remains the subject of discussion across the country. And in most cases, they’re the subject of scrutiny rather than praise.
4 Responses
Why does Arizona St have an athletic director?
Talk about attempting to redirect negative attention on the part of a stooge of an athletic director at Az State! And talk about professional malpractice on the part of Dodd.
So let me get this palace coup stuff straight — first, Fulmer convinced Currie to go get Schiano, then led the social media campaign that created the massive negative uproar among Vol fans who have seen businessman Athletic Directors decimate not only the football program but several others and we not about to passively trust and approve another marginal hire, then Fulmer convinced Currie to run away from that hire and embark on an embarrassing hat-in-hand series of rejections due to his demonstrated incompetence and radioactivity in his job. If so, Fulmer should be lauded as the foremost political operative of his age.
Really!!! Am I supposed to care what anyone in the country thinks of how the UT coaches search went??? John Currie is responsible for the “dumpster fire” that was created and Coach/AD Fulmer, thank God, put it out. The only thing that matters is Wins and Loses. We will see.
Zoi Slack
Who is Ray Anderson and what gives him the right to make comments about UT? I hope that there is communication internally between the two Universities about Mr. Anderson minding his own business.