NCAA Football, Tennessee Volunteers Football NEWS
Wolverines, Vols & War Eagles Feeling The Pain
Published by MoonDog on November 19, 2008
Three of college football’s proudest programs – Michigan, Tennessee and Auburn – have had terrible seasons in 2008. For Michigan and Tennessee, 2008 has become the year for setting all-time records, the type of records every college football program would rather not achieve.
The Vols and Wolverines are among the winningest programs in college football history, with Michigan having won more games than any team in its 129-year history. Tennessee is No. 9 on the all-time list, winning 774 games in its 107-year history.
Bill Clinton feels the Vols, Wolverines and Tigers pain
But this year the Vols (3-7) and Wolverines (3-8) have each lost more games in a single season since the school’s began playing football. While Auburn isn’t in quite the same situation, the Tigers are going to lose at least six games for the time since 1999.
If Auburn loses to Alabama on November 29, it will mark the first time Auburn has lost seven games in a season since 1998, the year they finished 3-8.
On the surface you could chalk up a bad season to any number of factors. The 85-scholarship limit has created parity that continues to increase with each passing season. The level of talent among the BCS conference school’s and those of the non-BCS programs isn’t as great as it was even 20 years ago.
Perhaps a bad season can be attributed to the ever-changing tides of fortune, because every so often, every team suffers through a forgettable season.
This year all three programs shared commonalities, most notably ineffectual coaching. Talent can make the most average coach look like a genius, and generally Tennessee, Michigan and Auburn aren’t lacking quality players on the roster.
Michigan has had its worst season ever under Rich Rodriguez
But this year’s versions of the Vols, Wolverines and Tigers weren’t nearly as talented as they’ve been in year’s past. Add to that poor coaching performances by the Vols’ Phil Fulmer, Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez and Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville and you get lousy seasons.
In defense of Rodriguez, I’m not a proponent of his termination that many among the Michigan faithful are calling for. Firing Rodriguez won’t solve the Wolverines problems, but I do believe he brought a lot of the miseries on himself.
Rodriguez is an accomplished coach that’s proven he knows how to win. He’s done it with teams that run the spread option offense, an attack that’s quickly becoming the offense of choice in college football.
When Rodriguez took over this season he implemented the spread option, an offense that wasn’t suited to his talent. For decades Michigan’s roster was populated with offensive players that were best suited to run the “I” formation.
Every week the Wolverines would line up and run the ball down your throat. They’d mix in a few play action passes, a screen here and there and the occasional deep ball to keep you honest. That was Michigan football.
After Lloyd Carr resigned after last season, the remaining players on the roster and those he’d recruited to join this year’s team were primarily the type of players that were better suited to run what had become the traditional Michigan offense.
Granted, the spread option has been used with great success at many programs, including West Virginia where Rodriguez had utilized it for seven years. But trying to run an offense that clearly didn’t have the type of players needed to run it effectively is entirely Rodriguez’ fault.
The guy has been around long enough to know he didn’t have the type players he needed to run his offense to its optimum, so why try to use it?
The key to any offense is the quarterback, but in the spread option the signal caller must be adept at running and passing. While I’m not taking any swipes against the Wolverines quarterbacks, none of them are qualified to run the spread option.
Auburn Head Coach Tommy Tuberville brought his team's problems upon himself
I have never understood why a coach thinks that forcing a particular system on his team is going to generate positive results. In Rodriguez’ case, he should have modified his philosophy and adjusted the offense to utilize the skills sets of the players he had available.
Tuberville’s situation at Auburn is identical to Michigan’s. Last year prior to the Chik-Fil-A Bowl, Tuberville fired offensive coordinator Al Borges and replaced him with Tony Franklin.
Franklin had employed the spread option with success at Troy University where he developed an offense that produced an average of 453 yards per game in 2007.
After Auburn defeated Clemson in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl, everyone was excited about the spread option offense and its potential. But on October 8 this year, Tuberville abruptly fired Franklin after Auburn had struggled offensively through its first six games.
Just as Rodriguez had tried to do at Michigan, Tuberville attempted to employ an offense that wasn’t suited to the type of players he had. As a result, through 11 games this season, Auburn is ranked No. 99 out of 120 FBS teams in total offense, averaging 327.5 yards per game.
It’s another clear example of a coach that tried to force a system on his players that didn’t match the available skills. Just as Michigan had been built on a power running game and strong defense, so were the Tigers.
Tennessee has lost more games this year than any other in its 107-year history
Auburn may very well have lost this many games this season regardless of the offense they ran, but had they stuck with their traditional offense, I’d be willing to bet the Tigers would be no worse than 7-4 right now.
In Fulmer’s case, what can be said that hasn’t already been written? His performance at Tennessee this year was easily his worst, but the Vols’ decent has been a growing problem over the past eight seasons.
After long-time offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe accepted the head coaching job at Duke, Fulmer hired Division 1-AA coach Dave Clawson to replace him. Clawson had employed the West Coast offense at Richmond University with success, but he and Fulmer were soon to discover Richmond isn’t the SEC.
The once-proud Volunteer offense has been reduced to a heap, a huge pile of goo that has sunk to an all-time low. Tennessee currently ranks No. 116 in total offense, averaging only 285.4 yards per game.
Some supporting Clawson suggest his hands were tied and Fulmer never allowed him to fully implement the offense he wanted to run. If that’s true, then why did Fulmer bother hiring Clawson in the first place?
Clawson or Fulmer or whoever is in charge of the Vols’ offense made play-calling as predictable and unimaginative as any team in Tennessee history.
Coupled with this year’s poor showing and the growing unrest among the fan base, Fulmer resigned effective at the end of the season. For Tennessee fans, his departure can’t happen fast enough.
Based on these coaching performances this season, its not unreasonable to suggest the Vols, Wolverines and Tigers got what they deserved.
Actually, each team deserved better, a better job of coaching.
Considering how long each of these coaches have been in the game and the amount of money each are paid, you’d think the least they could do is recognize what offense is best suited to the skills of their players.
Similar Posts:
- Tuberville A Master At “Coach Speak”
- Changing QB’s Doesn’t Help Vols Offense
- Clawson + Crompton = Clueless
- Volunteers Offense Struggles Again In Loss To Georgia
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NESW Sports Headlines 11/19/2008 | NESW Sports, Sports Videos on Wed, 19th Nov 2008 14:56
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