Tuberville to Tennessee?

Speculation has already begun about who will replace Phillip Fulmer when (if) he’s fired at Tennessee. Could Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville be on the shortlist? At least one columnist thinks so…

Is it almost time for UT athletic director Mike Hamilton to tell Fulmer thanks for the 1998 national championship, and the three SEC title game appearances this decade, and the 75 percent winning percentage, but we’ve decided to move in another direction?… There is no joy in this. The Big Orange Nation will never, ever find a more loyal, faithful head football coach than Fulmer, who grew up in this state, played for the Vols and recently gave the school $1 million to be used for something other than athletics. And you’d like to believe Fulmer could save his job by a means other than luring David Cutcliffe back to K-town for a third tour of duty as offensive coordinator, because that security blanket has flown. While Fulmer stands 1-3 for just the second time in his illustrious 16-year career, Cutcliffe is a shocking 3-1 as the new head coach at Duke. On second thought, maybe Cutcliffe should come back as head coach and Fulmer should stick around as offensive line coach… Beyond that, the more Fulmer looks like a lame duck coach in the eyes of the general public, the less likely he is to land the type of recruits he needs to return to a BCS bowl for the first time since the 1999 season. So let the rumors begin, Fulmer being jettisoned in favor of everyone from Jon Gruden, to Cutcliffe, to, possibly, Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville, who could somewhat escape the giant shadow of Alabama coach Nick Saban, as well as stick it to Auburn booster Bobby Lowder, who once tried to fire him in favor of Bobby Petrino. – Chattanooga Times Free-Press

People have been calling for Phillip Fulmer’s head all season since the UCLA loss, and even before that point after a string of sub-par seasons. Maybe UT doesn’t need a new coach. It just needs its veteran coach to return to what was working for him in his glory days. Get a better QB, a better offensive line, get back to a scheme that works for his philosophy and go out and play the type of Tennessee football that made Tennessee what it was when Manning left. – Jackson Sun