Where has this Crompton been all year? If he'd shown up earlier Coach Phil might still have a job. But I guess we weren't playing Kentucky all year.

"Just soakin' in some of the special."

Fulmer goes out with class.

Last words on the field: "I'll always be a Vol."

Used to be, the claim was that football kept the voters and the lege anteing up for UT. But somewhere along the way, they learned they could beggar the university without hurting the sports. And they did.

Scholar athletes? Don't make me laugh. End all athletic scholarships. Open up Gibbs Hall. Let kids play games. Yeah, in ETenn, I'm a heretic.

But of course I still tune in and root for the Orange and White.

Liberty and justice for all.

My home

Dont remember Dickey being hired but sure remember him leaving.The Gator Bowl loss to Florida..then being hired by Florida that day or the next..Minnie Pearl's Fried Chicken & John Jay Hooker..it wasn't pretty.

Then we hired a very young Bill Battle.It went well for a while but then we thought the program was going south & Johnny came marching home.

Johnny didnt go easy & Fulmer was hired.

Now we got a new guy on the block & only time will tell if it's a brighter day or a long & winding road.

Like Bill Battle Coach Fulmer left with class.

I didn't hear anybody boo Fulmer at the game. Only cheers and a standing ovation.

It looks like the new coach is taking a page from Knox County

ESPN analyst Chris Mortenson said sources have told him Monte Kiffin has agreed to join his son Lane as the Vols defensive coordinator. The 68 year old Kiffin is a long-time, highly respected assistant coach in the NFL and is the current defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He would join the staff when Tampa's NFL season ends.

Volquest.com is reporting that Kiffin is also hiring his brother-in-law, David Reaves, from Steve Spurrier's staff at South Carolina. Reaves is the son of former Florida quarterback John Reaves and is currently the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for the Gamecocks.

(link...)

Why would they hire a losing coach to replace a winning coach? I think it has more to do with power.

Kiffin will be grateful for a job he's not qualified for and doesn't deserve. Grateful to Hamilton, that is. He will definitely have a yes man in Kiffin.

But if dad comes with Jr. everybody better get ready for a price increase because the old man makes about $2 million, and Chavis was paid about $350K. Since the Elder Kiffin is 68, maybe they'll make up the difference in a nice retirement package. The word is Hamilton is putting the deals together with jobs for the family members. Too bad the Sunshine law doesn't apply.

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "the UT family."

And David Reaves has this:

Clemson turns it around; South Carolina QB still a jumble
Associated Press
Sunday, November 30, 2008

"I'm tired of changing quarterbacks. You'd think we'd know who our best is," Spurrier said.

(link...)

I wonder how much this mess wil cost in the end?

I don't do much football. None if truth be known, but my family loves them some Vols. Somehow an uncle got his son and a cousin in the stadium and on the field Friday. Same uncle says that the Fulmer/Clemson deal is 99 percent done.

Along those same lines, another family members had some insight that Kiffin was in town earlier this week "to play golf." There may have been some Haslams involved in that round of golf.

For what that's worth.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

ESPN reports that the interim coach at Clemson is going to be offered the job there. FWIW I wouldn't be surprised to see CPF end up @ Notre Dame.

I'm curious where you came up with that description. UTAD annual operating revenues total about $88 million. Football is responsible for about $65 to $69 million of that. (The "window" is due to donations that are ostensibly tied to two sports, such as for basketball and football tickets.)

The UT football budget, however, is only about $24 million.

This is a decline of about $1 million from 5 years ago.

That's right; UT football expenses have declined - even after Fulmer's increased salary - while the rest of the UTAD budget has increased.

This will obviously not be the case after the new staff is hired. Lane Kiffin's daddy (the presumed new defensive coordinator) currently makes more at Tampa Bay than the combined UT assistant coaching staff!

These increases in football expenses, including the $1.5 million UTAD owes Fulmer in each of the next four years - will have to come from higher ticket costs and decreased budgets for non-revenue sports and Women's basketball.

Should have said "nearly $100 million athletic program." I read a figure of $94 million somewhere.