Sinking Ships

The HMS Hood was the pride of the British Fleet for close to forty years. Many considered her to be the finest and mightiest battleship to sail the seas. The British Navy, after-all, had been the greatest navy for the better part of two centuries. Even considering making changes to upgrade the majestic HMS Hood seemed foolish to British leaders.

While the Brits basked in the glory of their imagined naval supremacy, other nations were working hard to improve their fleets, making their battleships bigger, faster, and more lethal.

One day at the Battle of The Denmark Strait, the German super-battleship Bismarck engaged in battle with the supposedly invincible Hood. In less than ten minutes, the Bismarck blew the HMS Hood out of the water while sending more than 1,500 English sailors to a watery grave. In the blink of an eye, the British Navy discovered their naval capability was obsolete.

Worse, was the realization their arrogance might cost them their survival in World War II.

Fast-forward sixty years into the future. In a land across the "Big Pond" on a different battlefield of skills, the University of Tennessee football program shared a similar air of arrogant supremacy. The leaders of the program and its fans were living off of its national championship from a decade earlier. Meanwhile, other rival programs went out and hired the best coaches they could find while assembling staffs with the best assistant coaches in the business. All the while, the University of Tennessee football program sat still, doing little to improve itself. They believed one magical season gave them equity; that somehow they would be able to continue dominating other schools in its conference. The Volunteer braintrust continued telling fans the program was in great shape, and would continue to be that way, as long as head coach Phillip Fulmer was in charge.

There were many fans who foresaw the fall of the this once-mighty football program but were made out to be malcontents. Some went as far to call them the "legion of the miserable." How dare anyone question Phil Fulmer and the direction he charted for the University of Tennessee football program? Vols fans were told no other coach could love the University of Tennessee more than Phil Fulmer.

No one else could do job quite the way he could do it.

Now that thousands of University of Tennessee fans have seen the Volunteer ship take on water, they've come to the realization the football program is a sinking ship, sharing the same fate as the HMS Hood.

The sinking of the University of Tennessee football program did not have to happen. Unfortunately, it is happening because its leaders and boosters are too caught up in their stranglehold of power within the program. Arrogance and selfishness have ruled the day too many times for this ship to not sink.

It is now time to call for a change. Phillip Fulmer, please resign. Mike Hamilton, please offer Phillip Fulmer the opportunity to resign. And if he refuses, fire him.


Sending out an S.O.S.