Coach Cut Gets Extension at Duke

kidbourbon — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:25:48 -0000

Coach Cut Gets Extension at Duke

Tennessee: Hasn't screwed up a hire once since the great depression

kidbourbon — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:55:14 -0000

Tennessee: Hasn't screwed up a hire once since the great depression

Near the end of the article

Eric Berry: Jim Thorpe Award finalist

kidbourbon — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:45:17 -0000

Eric Berry: Jim Thorpe Award finalist

ESPN has a pop-up that allows you to vote for Berry. I don't know if our votes are actually factored into the decision, but I voted anyway.

We Need Rick Pitino

kidbourbon — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:24:56 -0000

Bumped to the front. Another perspective on coach Fulmer from kidbourbon.

The football equivalent of Rick Pitino, of course. Allow me to explain.

The most similar situation that I can think of with regards to Fulmer right now is that of Denny Crum, former UofL basketball coach. Coach crum brought UL to national prominence in the late 70's and early to mid 80's. Then the program started to fall off. It fell off in a similar way that UT has fallen off: a slowly declining curve with an occassional upward spike (i.e. decent year). The fan base definitely became split on Crum into two different camps.

In camp A, you had the "Crum made this program what it is, and he can get it back to prominence" argument. Camp A would latch on to one of the upward spikes in support for the idea that Crum could still get it together.

In camp B, it was the "Crum may have made the program, but he is letting slip from prominence before our very eyes" argument. Camp B would dismiss the occassional upward spike year and would instead focus on the state of the program as a whole and where it was relative to where it had been a decade or so before.

Luckily for UofL fans, a perfect replacement came along: Pitino. Realizing that Pitino was the perfect guy for the job, and recognizing that Crum's best days were in his rearview, the UL AD nudged Crum out the door firmly but politely. He was given a front office position and a halftime ceremony in tribute to his career and what he had done for the program.

I think this is really very similar to what we have right now with Fulmer. Fulmer unquestionably brought this program to an elite level of prominence. Fulmer has also unquestionably allowed the program to slip back into mediocrity.

I am in camp B, which appears to be the majority. I respect Fulmer. I respect what he's done. But his best days are behind him. He's not bringing the program back to that elite level.

But here is the problem, and the point of this FanPost. We don't have our version of Rick Pitino (at least I don't think). If UL would have settled for a decent-but-not-great replacement for Crum, they might not have risen back to national prominence. They might have continued the mediocrity that Crum had established in his later years. What I'm saying is that we don't want a decent-but-not-great replacement. We need a football Pitino.

So, who is our Rick Pitino? Is there one right now? And if there isn't one, do we just ride Fulmer out until the perfect Pitino-esque candidate becomes available and interested? As much as I want Fulmer to be shown the door, I do think that we need to have a top notch coach in our pocket before we pull the trigger.

Thoughts?

P.S. -- This is my first FanPost, so forgive me if I messed up something from a technical point of view.

SB Nation User Blog: kidbourbon

Coach Cut Gets Extension at Duke