It pisses me off Fulmer let Richt beat him 3 years in a row when he should have been dominating the East. Beat Zook two out of three, but lose to Richt all three. Dammit Phil
Solely by stat-to-stat comparison they (Fulmer & Richt) are almost identical. A similar discussion (diff coaches) was previously had in the F’ball thread. Fulmer was his best from ’93-’98. With both AL and GA down he had but one obstacle standing in his way --- Spurrier. ’98’s team like most natty runs needed a couple of fortunate breaks for instance, Syracuse PI call and Stoerner’s fumble come to mind. It can be argued that Tennessee had positioned (certainly the talent and expectation by fans and sport analysts was there) itself to not only defend its title but to remain near or at the top of college football for the forseeable future. Cut’s departure revealed how integral he was to Fulmer and Tennessee’s success. Fulmer’s slide began. He lost his edge. Some point to complacency and he was loyal to a fault, ultimately costing him his job. Fulmer could have achieved much more and like Richt, an argument can be / (over the yrs) has been made that he too underachieved.
Don’t forget ’02, Richt finished 13-1 if not for his loss to Zook he has a natty The ‘90’s was Fulmer vs OBC. Richt’s first four yrs it was pretty much he and Fulmer in the East with Richt going 4-1 (5-3 overall), the landscaped changed when Meyer joined and OBC returned to the East in ‘05.
Losing to an 8-5 Zook doesn’t help the Fulmer argument. Both he and Richt blew it vs. Zook. For that matter so did an undefeated ’03 LSU team and a once defeated '04 FSU squad
If Fulmer had swallowed his pride and turned the O over to some hot young off. coord., he might still be HC here.
Pretending that the '98 title was all about luck makes some of you fellows sound just like some bammers I know.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point. You said Fulmer gets credit because he was good when Florida was good. But he, just like everyone else in the SEC, was pretty much dominated by Florida. I don't really see why that adds to his legacy. As for Richt, Florida was indeed down for much of his best run. The West, however, was better. Bama was down in Fulmer's prime, but Auburn (UGA's annual rival) was pretty solid. I would say the West champions Richt had to face were better, too.
There was luck involved. Those two moments were the luckiest of the season. However, it's rare there isn't some luck. Also, on the Stoerner fumble, we absolutely blew up their OL on that play. It wasn't just a total goof. Stoerner was probably going to be sacked by his own OL falling backwards on him had he not tripped and fumbled.
The luck was made on the Stoerner play. That play is a good example of Neyland's maxims if there ever was one.
My point was simply that both UT and UGA play Florida every year and during the time period when Fulmer had his very best teams '93-'01, Florida was really really good. That makes it much more difficult to win the division, which is of course a prerequisite for winning the league. Richt did not have that problem, which made winning the division easier, which facilitates the possibility that his two SECC teams weren't as good as several of Fulmer's best teams. And there is additional evidence supporting such a conclusion: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=260020061 The SEC Champion doesn't lose to WVU in a bowl game. It just doesn't happen....unless they're coached by The Butt Cut.
This is where I am. UGA could get a lot better without him whether it's with the Smart hire or Smart's replacement.
