Over the last decade, some of the most solidified names in college football have had experienced rocky seasons. Michigan, Notre Dame, and Alabama have drawn significant attention among this group with regularly changing head coaches, and disappointing seasons. Michigan has just gone through a coaching change upon Lloyd Carr's retirement with the hiring of former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. Notre Dame's Charlie Weis may be on the hot seat in South Bend after just three seasons while possessing a record similar to that of his predecessor, Tyrone Willingham. Alabama's controversial head coach Nick Saban will begin his second year after the firing of Mike Shula. Notre Dame has even had a total of four coaches in eleven years (George O'Leary was fired before coaching the Irish due to lying on his resume).
However, one of the most subtle teams elgible for this conversation in this article may be Tennessee. The Volunteers have been to only one BCS game (2000 Fiesta) since playing in and winning its inaugural title game after the 1998 season. The coach that led the Volunteers to that championship, Phillip Fulmer, is still at the Tennessee helm. A combination of players leaving early for the NFL draft, such as promising receiver Robert Meachem, athletes being suspended or kicked off of the team, like the multi-talented James Banks in 2004, and botching games late in the fourth quarter have some reasons for the recent turmoil in Knoxville.
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Despite the past few subpar seasons, Fulmer and the university agreed to a contract extending through 2014. Tennessee will pay him $2.5 million next season, and his salary will inch up to almost $3 million each year after that. Bowl bonuses, which are estimated to be as high as $150,000, are not included in the net amount. Many are wondering why Tennessee is practically rewarding their head coach for the past few mediocre years. There is obviously a belief that the Volunteers are rebuilding among its athletic administration and that Fulmer can still lead the Volunteers back to the BCS, but Tennessee also has a great amount of leeway in terms of its finances. Why? The answer can be summed up in three representative letters, and one word: SEC Football.
If one were to ask where the hearth of football is, the correct answer would be Ohio. However, if the question concerened a collective location for the strongest passion for the game, the answer would have to be in the south, and particularly in the southeast. There is no question that the Southeastern Conference has been the strongest conference in recent years. Three out of the last five national champions have come from the SEC, and one could argue that it could be four due to Auburn going undefeated in 2004 and not getting a shot or share at the Sears Trophy (Auburn procedded to dismantle Virginia Tech in the 2004 Sugar Bowl, and was still not granted a share of the title by the Associated Press, contradictory of their decision relating to USC the previous year).
The SEC draws some of the highest ratings year in and year out not only because of their television contract with CBS and their trademark inter-conference games, but also because of other schools' desire to play and beat them. With the BCS and its "every weeks is do or die" system, schools need a mixture of a high strength of schedule combined with wins. That is why teams like Virginia Tech play LSU, Miami plays Tennessee, and Hawaii plays Florida.
All of what I have referred to above brings in an extreme amount of money for the SEC. Attendances down in the south are higher than any other conference. A normal game night in the SEC means 100,000 show up for the game at Neyland Stadium, the Swamp, or Tiger Stadium.
In essence, the contract that Fulmer was given at Tennessee is not as extreme as it seems, or as drastic as it would be at a place like Pittsburgh or Michigan State. It's a heap of money, but it's also the SEC. They have the ability to do it, and desire to do it, even if it may be for a program who has underachieved as much as Tennessee has over this last half-decade.
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about 1 month ago
What's interesting to note is that even with this new contract, Fulmer is just the 7th highest paid coach in the SEC.
about 1 month ago
Tennessee went to the 2000 Fiesta Bowl so yes they have been to a BCS game since the national title
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