We all knew it was too good to last, but the David Cutcliffe era is, once again, over in Knoxville. The Tennessee Offensive Coordinator took the head coaching job at Duke over the weekend.
Personally, I was a little surprised he took the job. Duke is a wonderful school, but it is about as miserable a football college as there is in the BCS. In fact, I cannot imagine the Blue Devils competing for the Southern Conference championship with any consistency. Duke is a basketball school, a lacrosse school, a women's basketball school - not a football school. I know Cutcliffe wanted another shot at being a head coach, but I'm surprised this was the opportunity he seized.
Before looking ahead, the 2nd Cutcliffe Era in Knoxville deserves a quick retrospective. I have never felt stronger affection for an assistant coach than what I felt during the first quarter of the 2006 game against California. After years of watching the Randy Sanders learning experiment play out with mediocre results, the way Tennessee's offense purred that evening was exhilarating. The players looked sharp, the plays were run crisply and the results were yards and touchdowns.
Not everyone may love the Cutcliffe style of offense, but it is hard to argue with the results. The man knows how to exploit defensive weaknesses, he knows how to get the most out of talent (look at the job our receivers and offensive line did this year) and he knows how to put points on the board. He will never be a spread offense guy or a Fun & Gun guy, but he does keep the defense off the field and puts drives together.
From a personel standpoint, Cutcliffe is directly responsible for the dramatic improvements of people like Erik Ainge, Robert Meachum, Lucas Taylor, Austin Rogers and Chris Brown. The biggest complaint most Vols fans had with Randy Sanders was his inability to make players better while they were in Knoxville. With Cutcliffe, the improvement was obvious.
Finally, it is not out-of-line to say that Cutcliffe saved Phillip Fulmer's job. The vultures were swirling after the 2005 5-6 season that saw Sanders depart from Rocky Top. Another mediocre season and those vultures might have swallowed Fulmer as well. Cutcliffe brought new life into the program that is directly responsible for back-to-back successful seasons and Fulmer's job security.
Looking ahead, there are a few schools of thought on what should happen next. Trooper Taylor's name has been mentioned as a potential replacement. Nobody in Knoxville wants to lose Taylor's enthusiasm and recruiting ability, but he has never been a coordinator at any level. He is/has interviewed for the OC job at Baylor (his alma mater) and, frankly, that is probably a better fit than Knoxville. Fulmer tried the learning-on-the-job approach with Randy Sanders, and I doubt he will go that route again. In my mind, there is no chance Taylor remains on the Vols staff next year.
*As I type, Taylor has been offered the Baylor OC job. Kiss him goodbye...
The name swirling around among the Volunteer fanbase is Kippy Brown. In many ways, Brown sounds too good to be true. He is a former Volunteer assistant, a former NFL offensive coordinator and even did a year in the XFL as the Memphis head coach. He is a proven recruiter and knows how to elevate individual players to greatness. Brown is currently working with the Detroit Lions as their wide receivers coach.
The biggest question is: why would Brown take the Knoxville job? It seems to be a lateral move in many ways and might even be a backwards move if his ultimate goal is to be in professional football. He does seem to be aboard a sinking ship in Detroit that could get overhauled this off-season, so that plays in Tennessee's favor. He might also be intrigued by the $$$ UT can offer. Cutcliffe was supposed to make about $375,000 next season, so Brown's deal might approach half a million by the end of it. He might also notice that Fulmer is entering the twilight of his coaching career and think that he could be the heir to the Rocky Top throne.
Greg Adkins' name has been mentioned for the position as well. The current offensive line coach has never been a coordinator, but does lead the Volunteer recruiting efforts. There will be a collective groan if Adkins is picked, even though we don't have any idea what kind of offensive system he would implement. The groan would be frustration with the perceived 'same old, same old' mindset that fans have pegged on Fulmer over the last few years. We all know Fulmer is an old dog at this point and he seems uncomfortable learning new tricks. He is fiercely loyal to his players and assistants. Promoting Adkins to the post would seem to be an indication that the winning 8 games is good enough. It would not be a shocking move, but it would be an initially disappointing one.
What about outside of Knoxville? Fulmer is not likely to go down this route (old dog again), but there have been some names floated about. Tulsa's Gus Malzahn has been mentioned, but I hope Fulmer quickly scratches that name from consideration. You might remember Malzahn was part of the whole Mitch Mustain-Houston Nutt-Arkansas Razorback soap opera from two years ago. I cannot see Fulmer bringing that potential soap opera to Knoxville.
The other avenue I hope Fulmer avoids traveling is grabbing a coordinator to impress a particular recruit. Terrelle Pryor is the kid everyone wants and he publicly stated his disappointment that Cutcliffe would no longer be a Volunteer. There is surely an assistant out there who would entice Pryor, but that is a short-sighted solution to the problem. What if Pryor is not the real deal? What if another Malzahn/Mustain situation happens (after all, Malzahn was hired in part to whoo Mustain)? Fulmer is too smart to make this mistake.
What about Randy Sanders? The man has done wonders for Kentucky and Andre Woodson. He is a Fulmer guy, an SEC guy and kind of hot commodity all of the sudden. He also left Knoxville for a reason - he was not doing a very good job as coordinator. There is no way Sanders would be brought back into the fold. I don't think...
Looking from the outside, I'm pulling for Kippy Brown to be the new man running the offensive show. For everyone hoping Fulmer will become Urban Meyer overnight, expect to be disappointed. We are going to keep running the ball with pro-style quarterbacks who don't make big mistakes. That is who Phillip Fulmer has been, who he is and who he will always be. It has won him a bunch of games and a National Championship. Heck, it works for plenty of people involved in the BCS right now (Ohio State, LSU, USC, etc.) The best hope for all of Rocky Top is someone who can lure the best athletes to Knoxville and coach them up.
Or we can hope the Duke deal falls through somehow and Cutcliffe returns to Knoxville.
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