Week 6 of the Roundtable finds us at Moondog Sports, who hosts some excellent questions this week. As always, you can check the reponses from the host blog above and each member of the 'table at the end of this post throughout the week, and your comments can be included in our weekly roundup.
Whilst enjoying Peyton Manning vs. Woody Widenhofer '97 on CBS College Sports during my lunch break, here are my reponses this week:
(Wait, let's go back for a moment and make a couple of observations about this Tennessee/Vandy game. First, it's a sad state when I can look at Vandy's uniforms from eleven years ago and think that all two million combinations they've run thru since aren't any better than the "classic" V logo with the show your gold (and black) pants. Second...how much fun is it to watch Al Wilson get up on Bill Duff's hip right before coming after the quarterback? Three more weeks, boys.)
Okay, now:
1. Let’s assume the worst for a moment and say the Vols finish the season 6-6. Does Fulmer survive? If not, whom do you believe would be the best person to fill the head coaching vacancy? Even if you believe Fulmer survives, feel free to offer your thoughts on the Vols next coach
6-6 on the heels of a new contract and a new offensive coordinator won't be enough to kill Fulmer. And just one season removed from the SEC Championship Game, I really believe that it would take something like 0-12 or an assassination to see a new head coach in Knoxville in 2009.
Mike Hamilton has cast his lot with Fulmer, and it'd take two consecutive bad years at this point to run him off. But it looks like Fulmer's going to coach as long as he wants to.
If things go well, then I think the next head coach at the University of Tennessee can be Dave Clawson, if Fulmer doesn't stick around forever. Or the Clawfense isn't so successful that Jimmy from Bull Durham doesn't pack up and go coach somewhere else in the near future.
This is always an interesting question, dealing with the next head coach...in part because Fulmer's still the winningest active coach with 10+ years experience, so everytime the naysayers get loud, I'm always curious exactly who we're going to get that's better.
That said, Moondog's Will Muschamp idea isn't bad. I'm uncomfortable with getting NFL guys, so names like Jason Garrett don't hold much weight here.
On a list of realistic names I'd think about, in no particular order: Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, UNC's Butch Davis, Texas assistant Major Applewhite (in a few more years), and Boise State's Chris Petersen.
Names that might be talked about but would make me uncomfortable: Mike Leach (gimmick), Norm Chow (didn't like him with the Titans), and anyone who suggests Maryville High School's George Quarles...not because he's not a good coach, but because I hate those guys. If Alcoa's Brandon Warren and Maryville's Aaron Douglas line up on the field together, they'd better throw to BW.
Wait, what was the question?
2. With the off-field troubles many college football programs have encountered over the past five years, including Tennessee, what actions would you take to prevent players from getting into undesirable situations?
You have to give some credit to whatever contract the players signed this year, as the Vols have been headline-free since Britton Colquitt got his suspension. Whether it's coincidental or the main reason, either way it's been nothing but good so far in keeping the Vols out of trouble.
In my experience in working with college kids (and being one myself just a few years ago) and from what I've seen in working with churches, personal accountability is the strongest tool when it comes to avoiding "undesirable situations".
Contracts can go so far, and perhaps guarantees in the scholarship paperwork about automatic suspensions after x number of offenses would also help. But moreso than fear of suspension or loss of playing time, or even fear of the wrath of this coach or that coach...I think personal accountability works best.
Find upperclassmen leaders on your team and put them with the young kids. Have accountability groups within the team. Make sure you've got people you can trust in the leadership roles, and then make them responsible in part for the behavior and growth of the other players you put under their wing. This may be in part exactly what the upperclassmen leaders have done with the contracts this year, and if so it's a good thing. But I think even more than having a position coach or member of the football staff office be the leader in this process, when you put the emphasis on the players themselves to be leaders and to take care of each other, it's more honest and effective in the long run, and it makes them better people as well as keeping them out of trouble and on the football field, which I feel is one of Fulmer's goals.
3. The Vols have rolled through UCLA, UAB, Florida, Auburn, Northern Illinois and Georgia. We’re No. 3 in the polls and up next is Alabama. With 3:16 left in the 4th quarter the Vols are down 20-17 and it’s 4th and one from our own 29-yard line. Do you kick the field goal or go for it?
I think you've gotta look at situations like this individually; there's no "always go for it" or "always play it safe." That said, in this particular situation, I'm going for it.
Maybe if we were five yards closer or if the ball was in the same spot and it was 4th and 4, I'd say kick it. I'd trust our defense and Daniel Lincoln when called on. But with one yard vs. a 46 yard field goal to tie...you go for it. As we say, if you can't get one yard, you don't deserve to win.
4. What impact, if any, do you believe Stan Drayton will have as the Vols prepare to play Florida?
Tough to guess with Drayton on the whole when we haven't seen the backs under his command in action and when he was handcuffed with the spread down in Gainesville. So in part it'll be easier to answer this question after UCLA when we see what percentage of carries Arian Foster is going to get in comparison to the backups.
However, I desperately hope Drayton knows the one thing that David Cutcliffe seemed to struggle with the most: to beat Florida, you have to control the running game.
Control the running game, control the clock, keep Tebow on the sidelines, and you can win.
Here's what I wrote on this blog the week before the Florida game last season:
As the offensive coordinator at Tennessee, David Cutcliffe is 1-6 against Florida. Now, why is that?
You may not remember this, and it's probably better if you don't, but the old philosophy for beating Florida was to outscore them. When you had Shuler and Manning, you tried to play to your supposed strengths, and so the Vols came out firing. And here's how that turned out under David Cutcliffe:
Cutcliffe Tennessee Offenses vs. Florida
1993: Florida 41 - Tennessee 34
1994: Florida 31 - Tennessee 0
1995: Florida 62 - Tennessee 37
1996: Florida 35 - Tennessee 29
1997: Florida 33 - Tennessee 20
1998: Tennessee 20 - Florida 17 (OT)
2006: Florida 21 - Tennessee 20
(EDIT: and of course, 2007: Florida 59 - Tennessee 20)
Let's throw 1994 out, when Todd Helton started at quarterback and the Gators were ranked #1. With some of the best offenses in school history, the Vols came out with their best punches and tried to knock Florida out. Problem was, Florida always took those punches, and then they hit back. Heath Shuler threw five touchdowns against Florida in 1993, and lost. The second-highest passing total in Tennessee history is 492 yards. Manning did that against Florida in 1996, and lost. In 96 and 97, Manning threw the ball 116 times, and lost twice.
The Vols won in 1998, in part, because they couldn't do the shootout option. Tee Martin couldn't run that offense yet, and so they had to control the ball and the clock. And they got a big play from Shawn Bryson, tough day at the office yards from Jamal Lewis, and kept Florida off the field as much as possible. If that team had tried to outscore Florida, we would've been murdered. And it ended up making all the difference. The problem this year is that the Vols feel like they can outscore Florida with Ainge and efficient receivers, and it's going to be tempting to try. But don't be fooled.
Now, you can look at the FireRonZook.com years, which we all enjoyed, and find some differences. But when Florida wielded a high-powered offense, as they did under Spurrier and as they (apparently) do this year, getting into a shootout hasn't worked. Ever. Didn't work at Cal too well either.
So, what's the solution here? Run. The. Football.
You've heard the stat about the team that runs the football wins this game, and it's one of the more true statistics I know of with Tennessee Football. As stated, Cutcliffe never tried to run or run-first, and the Vols basically handed Florida the rushing advantage 93-97. The only real time that a team in this series ran the ball better and lost was 2000, where an AJ Suggs Tennessee team that had absolutely no business playing with Florida came within moments of beating them, when Travis Henry ran for 175 and the Vols lost by Jabar Gaffney's fingertips 27-23.
What you saw in 1998 repeated itself last year. On the one, the Vols dominated the Gators, forced them into negative rushing yards, and it didn't matter about the rest, that was enough to win. That turned into a National Championship for Tennessee. In 2006, the Gators forced Tennessee to negative rushing yards, and it didn't matter about Meachem, Swain, Smith and the rest, that was enough to win, and it turned into a National Championship for Florida.
This is an interesting moment to be Arian Foster. Here's a kid with obvious talent, whose very best moments went largely unseen in the second half of the disastrous 2005 season, and whose worst moments led to Penn State winning the Outback Bowl. He's looked very good in the first two games. But Florida is where you get remembered. Your whole career can make you good, as it has been for many Vol running backs. But Florida can make you famous.
And we've been here before. In 2003 and 2004, Cedric Houston had strong starts, and looked really good coming into the Florida game. And in both cases, I thought he was getting ready to bust out. And in both cases, for different reasons, he didn't. So now here's Foster, with a wealth of talent behind him much like Houston, who is currently the first (if not the feature) back on an offense that desperately needs to shy away from the pass and focus on running the football right down Florida's throat. Foster can lead the way, if the offense will let him. (EDIT: Instead, Foster fumbled on the game's most crucial possession with the Vols down 28-20 with the ball in the third quarter)
There is absolutely no reason for Tennessee to lose the rushing battle in this game. Tennessee has at least three guys on their depth chart who would start for Florida at RB right now. And even if Florida goes for their yards via the spread option, if Arian Foster, Montario Hardesty, and LaMarcus Coker (plus Lennon Creer if he sees the field again) get outrushed by a bunch of wide receivers, a big white quarterback and a lot of trickery, there will be no excuses. The running battle is ours to win. (EDIT: Oops.)
Avoid the shootout at all costs - remember, even in 2001 when the final score was 34-32, the Vols weren't trying to get in a shootout. It's just that Florida couldn't tackle Travis Stephens, and instead of that offense being ball control like the first drive of the game, it turned into highlight reel...and it kept Rex Grossman's offense in the game until the very end. Randy Sanders has coached Florida better than David Cutcliffe has. That needs to change. The Vols have the horses to execute a ball control, keep-away, smashmouth gameplan. And the Vols also have a quarterback who'll make it mighty tempting to do otherwise. But I don't know how to make it any more obvious, or use any more stats that back it up - run. Run. Run the football, win the game.
I realize many of these decisions rest with Fulmer and Clawson and not Drayton. But I still firmly believe that beating Florida doesn't involve getting the ball to the playmakers, it involves owning the running game.
Beyond that, I just don't think there will be much tangible that Drayton helps us with against the Gators. Maybe some tendencies, maybe something really minor, but Urban Meyer is too smart for anything significant. But if Drayton can use anything for extra motivation...well, we'll take that too.
5. We’ve discussed the Vols offense and defense, but what about special teams? Give us your thoughts on Tennessee’s kicking game and special teams in general.
I had a lot of faith in Daniel Lincoln, felt he had the arrogance you needed from your kicker and he was backing it up. Then he went to the SEC Championship Game and lost that faith by missing two kicks, including one that should've been automatic. So he still can be good enough to be a real asset for the Vols, but that big-game consistency is going to need to be seen to be believed again.
I'm not worried about Chad Cunnigham unless he does something incredibly stupid. You think back to David Leaverton at UCLA or young Britton in Gainesville '05, and there's proof that you don't have to have just a lower punting average to really hurt the ballclub. That said, I think Chad will handle the pressure fine and won't kill us.
Special teams as a whole were a significant contributor to the 2005 debacle, and kick returns against the Vols have been more frequent in the last three years no doubt. So whether the solution is to put better players out there or for the coverage team to simply make the plays they're supposed to make...the Vols have room for improvement.
However, Dennis Rogan is the most exciting and dangerous return threat we've had since Terry Fair, and has plenty of time left to get into a class of his own by the time he's done. The Vols have a chance to make "putting the special in special teams" an exciting factor instead of a bad joke.
Check back here throughout the week for the responses from the other members of the roundtable:
- Moondog Sports (host this week)
- YMSWWC
- Gate 21
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