dew1679666265

That's a heck of a rumor . . . :-)) From MrSEC.com - a very good website for those who are interested in the goings on around the SEC.

Nobody started this thread yet, so I figured I'd take the leap and do it. Here are the week 10 games in the NFL: Denver @ Cleveland, 8:15 p.m. Thurs New Orleans @ Atlanta, 1 p.m. Sun Tennessee @ Chicago, 1 p.m. Sun Jacksonville @ Detroit, 1 p.m. Sun Seattle @ Miami, 1 p.m. Sun Green Bay @ Minnesota, 1 p.m. Sun Buffalo @ New England, 1 p.m. Sun St. Louis @ NY Jets, 1 p.m. Sun Baltimore @ Houston, 1 p.m. Sun Carolina @ Oakland, 4:05 p.m. Sun Indianapolis @ Pittsburgh, 4:15 p.m. Sun Kansas City @ San Diego, 4:15 p.m. Sun NY Giants @ Philadelphia, 8:15 p.m. Sun San Francisco @ Arizona, 8:30 p.m. Mon Some definite good games this week, Titans/Bears, Packers/Vikings, Bills/Pats, Indy/Pittsburgh and Giants/Eagles are some of the highlights.

Michael Wilbon just made a comparison between Nebraska firing Frank Solich and Tennessee parting ways (firing) Fulmer. I don't completely agree that they're similar, but I agree with the concept (a coach fired for too high expectations).

If he's fired, I'd love to see Tuberville here. He's getting utterly screwed over at Auburn and is one of the most underrated coaches in the nation. Leavitt intrigues me, though I wonder what he'd do in a less rich recruiting state. Mullen and Bobo are interesting and guys I hadn't considered. The problem is, they're both from rivals and likely wouldn't be all that welcome here. I'm not the biggest Muschamp fan and there's a good chance Sarkisian will want a west coast job (similar to Belotti and Lane Kiffin).

And Tennessee has terrific facilities, the third largest stadium in the nation (currently being renovated as well) and one of the largest recruiting budgets in the nation. Right now, all Nebraska has on us is tradition - and we've got a decent tradition.

I think I would actually donate money to see Saben go to the Vols. As much as I hate Saban, it would be worth it to watch Bama fans go crazy (sorry Redflash :D ). That said, I think he still has another year or two before he tires of this job.

Bobby Johnson's a longshot at best to even be considered for the job - I doubt he'll actually get it. As for Cutcliffe, while he's a terrific coach, Tennessee fans were simply tired of Fulmer. They want change (I don't include myself in this) and, therefore, will not be happy with any member of the "Fulmer regime." Plus, I don't think Cut would take the job that was opened by the firing of his very close friend. And keep in mind, Tennessee can offer serious money to pull in a coach. Probably not the ridiculous 4-mil Bama gave Saban, but a pretty serious sum of cash - that and ego will play a large part in the thinking of an egotistical coach (which most of them are). I could see ruling out Butch Davis - I still see him as a longshot at best - but Leach would be crazy not to come here.

USC Texas Oklahoma Ohio St. Michigan Penn St. Florida St. Florida LSU Alabama You could make the argument that it's as good or better than the FSU and Penn State jobs. Alabama has more tradition, but I believe UT has better facilities, stadium and recruiting budget. It'd be close between those two. At absolute worst, it's top 15. It's a silly subjective argument, but I could argue them out of the top 15 with Notre Dame, Miami, Oklahoma St.(CASH), VA Tech, and Nebraska It is very subjective, but the fact remains Tennessee is in the conversation and is higher on the list than Texas Tech or North Carolina - thus, there's the possibility of interest from Davis or Leach.

USC Texas Oklahoma Ohio St. Michigan Penn St. Florida St. Florida LSU Alabama You could make the argument that it's as good or better than the FSU and Penn State jobs. Alabama has more tradition, but I believe UT has better facilities, stadium and recruiting budget. It'd be close between those two. At absolute worst, it's top 15.

Names you will hear: Davis and Leach. Lane Kiffin Will Muschamp Tim Brewster Chris Petersen and, yes, Jon Gruden. (Gruden was a GA at Tennessee under Majors, and his wife is from nearby Sevierville. There is a rumor out there that Gruden was asked if he'd listen to Tennessee about the job, and that his reply was that he would listen. Didn't claim interest, just said that he'd listen.) Saban? Good chance he might leave Bama at this point. He's nearly hit his limit.

I've always liked Ferentz. He'd be an interesting candidate if his name came up and I wouldn't be opposed to him in any way. you can have brent venables for free Nah, wouldn't want to deprive OU of anything. we will throw in one unused josh jarboe Tempting, but I'll have to pass.

I've always liked Ferentz. He'd be an interesting candidate if his name came up and I wouldn't be opposed to him in any way. you can have brent venables for free Nah, wouldn't want to deprive OU of anything.

I've always liked Ferentz. He'd be an interesting candidate if his name came up and I wouldn't be opposed to him in any way.

I realize he's quite a longshot, but figured one guy that's highly unlikely on a list of 10 isn't too bad. :D

Going after some big fish there, eh? Taking a coach from Oregon money, UNC, and Texas Tech, who could win a NC this year is very ambitious. I know UT is a very strong program, but there's going to have to be a lot of money behind a hire like 1 of those 3 guys. I've heard talk that the Tennessee job is one of the top 10 jobs in the nation - and I don't disagree with it. One of, if not the, largest recruiting budgets in the nation, a history and tradition rich program in one of the strongest conferences in the nation with near state of the art facilities and the third largest stadium (and the fan support to go with it) in the nation. It'll be hard for a coach to pass that up. Keep in mind also that Fulmer is currently working on a top 5-10 recruiting class this year. That'd be some very nice talent to work with in the new coach's first year. Out of my top five, the only coach I doubt is very realistic is Belotti. Otherwise, I think Davis, Leach, Petersen and Schiano could all be had. They'd be really pricey, but they could be had.

Feel free to get Mike Leech out of the Big 12 :-). I'd love Leach. The only problem I have with him is the terrible defenses he's had at Tech. Not completely sure why they've been so bad (could be a mixture of a lot of things including offensive style, recruiting focus, etc), but I'm not 100% sure that bad a defense would work in the SEC. I would say its more on the recruiting side, though it could be on his assistant coaches too. Then again any kind of recruiting to the city of Lubbock can't be very easy. If he doesn't go to Tennessee he is in store for a big pay raise this year. There's been some interesting talk of late regarding bringing in Leach as the head coach and encouraging him to keep D coordinator John Chavis on staff. Doubt very highly Leach would go for that, but Chavis can build a defense.

For what it's worth, my top five coaching candidates (guys I'd like to see Mike Hamilton go after): 1. Butch Davis, UNC - one of the best recruiters out there and a great coach; definitely my favorite 2. Mike Belotti, Oregon - not sure how realistic he'd be, but he's had very good success in a state with a similar recruiting base to Tennessee (Oregon), plus the spread option would aid us in the years where our talent is a bit down 3. Mike Leach, Texas Tech - a little worried about the horrid defenses at Tx Tech, but he's a very good coach and has put together a winning program at Tech 4. Chris Petersen, Boise St. - a hotshot young coach who is often credited more than Dan Hawkins for Boise's success; he's a bit innovative, but I'd be worried about his ability to recruit at a major SEC program and whether he can live up to the hype (same fears about Will Muschamp) 5. Greg Schiano, Rutgers - a lot less talked about than many other currently hot candidates, but he's had a lot of success at Rutgers and is familiar with recruiting in relatively weak states The rest of the top 10 would include Skip Holtz (ECU), Gary Patterson (TCU), Brian Kelly (Cincy), Bobby Johnson (Vandy) and George O'Leary (UCF, bit of a longshot and I'm not sure I'd be that interested, but he's a very good coach). Of course, this means most of these guys won't be considered, but I figure it's worth a try.

Names you will hear: Davis and Leach. Lane Kiffin Will Muschamp Tim Brewster Chris Petersen and, yes, Jon Gruden. (Gruden was a GA at Tennessee under Majors, and his wife is from nearby Sevierville. There is a rumor out there that Gruden was asked if he'd listen to Tennessee about the job, and that his reply was that he would listen. Didn't claim interest, just said that he'd listen.) Mostly all names I've heard. Hadn't heard Brewster's name in connection with UT, but otherwise no surprises there. As for the names, I'm extremely interested in Davis and Leach. Lane Kiffin, I think, wants to go to the west coast. Not a big fan of Brewster or Muschamp. And I really like Petersen - if he can recruit to a major SEC school. As for Gruden, I just don't buy it. He's not in trouble in Tampa and currently gets paid more for doing less (don't have to recruit in the pros). Even though he may have UT ties isn't enough to make me buy that he'll drop an NFL gig for us. Davis seems pretty happy at NC, and they seem to be making an investment into the program as well. I wonder if he would leave that for Ten. That's a legit question, but the Tennessee job has more prestige and tradition than the UNC job and UT has a much higher recruiting budget than the Tarheels. I'm not sure he'd be interested, but it's not too far-fetched.

Feel free to get Mike Leech out of the Big 12 :-). I'd love Leach. The only problem I have with him is the terrible defenses he's had at Tech. Not completely sure why they've been so bad (could be a mixture of a lot of things including offensive style, recruiting focus, etc), but I'm not 100% sure that bad a defense would work in the SEC.

No need to be mean to dew. I cannot express how livid I would be if we fired Fulmer in favor of Ty Willingham. I don't despise him like many of the ND fans on the board do, but he'd be a hands-down downgrade from Fulmer.

Names you will hear: Davis and Leach. Lane Kiffin Will Muschamp Tim Brewster Chris Petersen and, yes, Jon Gruden. (Gruden was a GA at Tennessee under Majors, and his wife is from nearby Sevierville. There is a rumor out there that Gruden was asked if he'd listen to Tennessee about the job, and that his reply was that he would listen. Didn't claim interest, just said that he'd listen.) Mostly all names I've heard. Hadn't heard Brewster's name in connection with UT, but otherwise no surprises there. As for the names, I'm extremely interested in Davis and Leach. Lane Kiffin, I think, wants to go to the west coast. Not a big fan of Brewster or Muschamp. And I really like Petersen - if he can recruit to a major SEC school. As for Gruden, I just don't buy it. He's not in trouble in Tampa and currently gets paid more for doing less (don't have to recruit in the pros). Even though he may have UT ties isn't enough to make me buy that he'll drop an NFL gig for us.

There's talk on the radio around here that Mike Leach is supposedly interested in the Tennessee job and that a call will be placed to gauge the interest of Butch Davis soon. Hot stove heating up already here and I'm liking the names I'm hearing (if there's any truth to any of them at all).

Fulmer is gone after this year, thought you would like this. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3679810 Not completely, but it doesn't surprise me. I've been up in the air on Fulmer for a few weeks now. With potentially two out of four seasons under .500 (with a chance to go 6-6 this year), it's tough to say he should stay. But, as we're seeing this year, he's a great recruiter - potential top 5 class this year - and Tennessee is a tough school to recruit to. It's still a bit of a shock to see him go, even though it was expected. He's the only head coach I've ever known at the University of Tennessee (I was alive in the Johnny Majors years, but was a little kid and didn't pay that much attention). It's going to be very strange to see a new coach on the sidelines next year. Whoever Tennessee brings in has to be a great recruiter, this state pretty much sucks in producing D1 collegiate athletes.

I know I said I'd stay away and I plan to, but this is truly the best way to attack the Titan defense. If the line can block long enough, the Titans are very susceptible to the deep ball (hence why the Colts worry me so much when we play them) because of the tight man coverage they play. In that regard, if Grossman can keep from turning the ball over, he might be a better option than Orton because of his great ability to throw the ball deep. Now I'll go away. :D

:ninja: Just checking in. I promise to stay away.