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    Wellway


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    About Me: I am a 27 year old graduate of Middle Tennessee State University who absolutely loves sports. I am a diehard Tennessee Titans fan and root for the Tennessee Volunteers, Nashville Predators, Chicago Bulls, and Atlanta Braves.
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    About Me: I am a 27 year old graduate of Middle Tennessee State University who absolutely loves sports. I am a diehard Tennessee Titans fan and root for the Tennessee Volunteers, Nashville Predators, Chicago Bulls, and Atlanta Braves.

    Can Fulmer turn it around with a little help from an old friend?

    Monday, December 12, 2005, 11:22 PM EST [NCAA FB]

    Phillip Fulmer has won a lot of games in his fourteen years at the helm of The University of Tennessee's football program. He has won a national championship, two SEC titles, played in four SEC championship games, and coached two Heisman Trophy runner-ups. The guy even has a street named after him on campus. However, in the aftermath of a disasterous 5-6 season, where his team opened the season as the nation's third ranked team, there is a grumbling on Rocky Top not heard since the ouster of Tennessee folk hero Johnny Majors at the end of the 1992 season. There has seemed to be a lack of focus on team chemistry and way too many off-the-field problems that have conspired to lackluster production on the field. Fulmer, to his credit, has said the right things to get the Volunteer program back on track. But the proof, as the 107,000 thousand who frequent Neyland Stadium on Saturdays will remind you, is in the pudding. Things seem to be on the upswing in Knoxville now that David Cutcliffe is back in the fold as the offensive coordinator. He's the guy that coached Heath Shuler and Peyton Manning to Heisman Runner-Ups and first round draft picks and in one year coached Tee Martin into a national championship QB.  The Vols were unstable and inconsistent on offense in the last three years of Randy Sanders' tenure as offensive coordinator and Sanders stepped down after the South Carolina loss this year. Cutcliffe is bouncing back from his unfair ouster at Ole Miss and some heart surgery and seems eager to prove his worth again. His toughest job will be to rehabilitate QB Erik Ainge's psyche, which seemed to be all over the place in 2005. The kid has all the measurables you want in a great QB, but seemed to regress when pushed by Rick Clausen this year. Also on Cutcliffe's plate is to improve a talented, yet underachiveing corp of wideouts who ran bad routes and showed little effort at times last season. If Cutcliffe can pull these two things off and Fulmer adds a sense of urgency and discipline, Tennessee could easily be back in Atlanta battling for the SEC title next December. Tennessee is a year removed from a Top 3 recruiting class and the cupboard is not bare. With the right moves, Tennessee could be next season's Penn State. A national power who had a hiccup, but is back on top after some tweaking in the coaching staff.
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