troxel3
02-07-2005, 08:19 AM
Has there been a better week in Tennessee football history?
OK, OK, we remember Tempe in January 1999.
But the fools that keep criticizing Phil Fulmer have to be swimming in their own bile this week. In one seven-day period ...
Fulmer signed a new contract that pays him $2.05 million per year.
Logan Young was convicted in the SEC's Trial of the Century.
Tennessee won another national championship.
It was only a recruiting title -- two services ranked the Vols' class No. 1 -- but signing day was the cap on a fairly good week. And Fulmer -- the nation's winningest active coach (.799) -- has shown he knows what to do with those recruits.
The school rewarded Fulmer on Tuesday with a one-year extension that runs through the 2011 season. Fulmer completed his eighth 10-win season after a 31-point victory over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
He rounded up a 27-man class that included at least four players that were rated the best at their position -- defensive end Raymond Henderson from Wisconsin, linebacker Andre Mathis from Pennsylvania, defensive back Adam Myers-White from Ohio and linebacker Rico McCoy from Washington D.C.
Tennessee (10-3 in 2004) will return in 2005 again in a position to challenge for the SEC title. It won the SEC East (again) last year before losing to Auburn in the league title game. Fulmer already has some of the country's best young talent, including quarterback Erik Ainge who will return from a shoulder injury.
The Young verdict -- guilty of racketeering in the Albert Means case -- hopefully ends one of the more bitter periods in SEC history. The sniping between Alabama and Tennessee had reached critical levels. Last year SEC commissioner Mike Slive pushed through a set of guidelines. The goal -- no school is on NCAA probation by later in the decade.
Fulmer, afraid of getting a subpoena in a suit against the NCAA by two former Alabama assistants, skipped the SEC media days. He was fined $10,000 by the conference.
The Tennessee critics were beginning to doubt Fulmer. No, he hasn't won an SEC title in six years. Yes, his program has lost four of its past six bowl games. But the state of Tennessee produces few blue-chip players. The program has had to recruit in surrounding states and across the country.
Former Georgia assistant Greg Adkins became recruiting coordinator almost two years ago. Since then he has landed Ainge, fellow quarterback Brent Schaeffer, as well as this week's No. 1 class.
OK, OK, we remember Tempe in January 1999.
But the fools that keep criticizing Phil Fulmer have to be swimming in their own bile this week. In one seven-day period ...
Fulmer signed a new contract that pays him $2.05 million per year.
Logan Young was convicted in the SEC's Trial of the Century.
Tennessee won another national championship.
It was only a recruiting title -- two services ranked the Vols' class No. 1 -- but signing day was the cap on a fairly good week. And Fulmer -- the nation's winningest active coach (.799) -- has shown he knows what to do with those recruits.
The school rewarded Fulmer on Tuesday with a one-year extension that runs through the 2011 season. Fulmer completed his eighth 10-win season after a 31-point victory over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
He rounded up a 27-man class that included at least four players that were rated the best at their position -- defensive end Raymond Henderson from Wisconsin, linebacker Andre Mathis from Pennsylvania, defensive back Adam Myers-White from Ohio and linebacker Rico McCoy from Washington D.C.
Tennessee (10-3 in 2004) will return in 2005 again in a position to challenge for the SEC title. It won the SEC East (again) last year before losing to Auburn in the league title game. Fulmer already has some of the country's best young talent, including quarterback Erik Ainge who will return from a shoulder injury.
The Young verdict -- guilty of racketeering in the Albert Means case -- hopefully ends one of the more bitter periods in SEC history. The sniping between Alabama and Tennessee had reached critical levels. Last year SEC commissioner Mike Slive pushed through a set of guidelines. The goal -- no school is on NCAA probation by later in the decade.
Fulmer, afraid of getting a subpoena in a suit against the NCAA by two former Alabama assistants, skipped the SEC media days. He was fined $10,000 by the conference.
The Tennessee critics were beginning to doubt Fulmer. No, he hasn't won an SEC title in six years. Yes, his program has lost four of its past six bowl games. But the state of Tennessee produces few blue-chip players. The program has had to recruit in surrounding states and across the country.
Former Georgia assistant Greg Adkins became recruiting coordinator almost two years ago. Since then he has landed Ainge, fellow quarterback Brent Schaeffer, as well as this week's No. 1 class.