What Randy said.

Larry Van Guilder

It's a travesty the way this was done and it's shameful that business interests are driving it.

The players are really pissed that they didn't know first, and I don't blame them. They still have to play three more games and maybe a bowl game and this is a body blow.

Fulmer has done as much for UT and the community as anyone. He didn't deserve this after only two bad seasons.

I expected this to come at the end of the season.

That said, there are pros and cons to either doing it now or in a month. There's merit to the argument that this is the best way to unify a divided fan base. If you wait until the end of the season, the last two home games would probably have been pretty ugly with boos and empty seats. Now fans can come out and show their appreciation for the coach.

As far as tickets go, a vast majority of them are already sold already.

I hate to see this happen to Fulmer, but the program was dying.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

the program was dying.

Yep. One NCAA Championship and two (don't recall exactly) SEC titles over seventeen years is not necessarily a legacy for a football program of UT's alleged "stature." But I don't track such things so who knows?

Funny, though, how Tennessee is content with mediocrity in so many fields except football.

You also have to wonder how much of UT's game is controlled from the AD's office and the luxury skyboxes v. coaches on the field.

I'll stick this here too.

I don't think the excessive expenditures made by UT sports over the last few years are Fulmer's fault. Teams have bad seasons. It's a fact.

Financially speaking, UT sports shouldn't have expected the financial good times to go on forever, pouring more and more money into the department. I don't think the lack of conservative fiscal administration is Fulmer's fault. The fault is with the sports department's administration.

They're not worried about the coaching strategy for the future. They're worried about how they're going to justify all the expenditures. Look for a big name to replace Coach Fulmer, to grab the media attention back.

I have never been so disgusted by a fan base as I am with ours. The message boards crawl with those who would dance on Coach Fulmer's grave. And lest they be forgotten, out come the 'Bama fans, once again on top, forever pissed that Coach Fulmer called them on their B.S. and (egad!) led to a pretty serious probation.

Fulmer wins three quarters of his games, a national title (we only have two in over 100 years, you know), a couple of SEC championships, averages nearly 10 wins per season. But in the world where gratification is expected instantly, and consistently, Coach Fulmer apparently didn't provide enough of that.

Yeah, maybe changes were needed. But the way this was handled, and the chorus of hurrahs emanating from the corners of the "internets" is simply bothersome. One of these days, we'll be wishing we had a coach who did so much for this university, with such dignity and class, and who didn't resort to paying recruits to get them to come here to do it.

Sad, indeed.

YES! That should be the reaction of every last UT fan in the area. It's not been all that great and the convicts he has had on his team is the great shame. I say right on to him leaving, why wait until the end of the season? I mean, look at the Johnny Majors debacle.

I think this Sports Illustrated columnist provides a fair analysis of the situation.

www.herstonlaw.com

Make judgements about the job performance, but not about the person. Phil Fulmer is a good person who has made a powerful impact in the mental health community.

It is truly a shame that things have changed so much in college football. College football used to be about tradition and honor, not just about wins and losses. It used to be that a man who gave his all for his alma mater not only as a player but as a coach was appreciated and given the benefit of the doubt. But college football has just become a big business, and "what have you done for me lately?" is all that matters these days.

Whoever takes this job should definitely watch his back - this athletic department is obviously only concerned with wins and losses and dollar signs. Years of service to the coach's alma mater be damned.

(Note: I have been in a coma for 17 years. This is the first opportunity I have had to react to the athletic department's shameful handling of the firing of Coach Majors. This new-fangled internet thing is amazing, by the way.)