Not that Coach John Shulman ever sits down- which is a good thing, because if he did, he would burn his rear end. That's how hot his seat is.
This could easily be a recurring theme on this blog throughout the year, so I want to state my position from the beginning and where I am coming from.
I have liked Shulman from the beginning. I think he's a good man, who does a lot for the community and genuinely cares about the young men he is trying to raise up. I also believe that he has taken us to two NCAA Tournament appearances, something his two predecessors can not claim.
The grass is always greener, though. People always think finding a new coach is the answer to all the ills. Look at Bruce Pearl at UTK and how he has made a difference in their team. That's true. Pearl has turned it around- and he is also now working without a contract and hoping there are not any more barbecues that he hosted where he told people not to talk about it.
The similarities with UTK are striking. After all, Huesman has really gotten people excited about Mocs football, and people think the same thing could happen for the basketball program. So let's look at UTK. When Pearl entered, the Vols turned it around, and instantly people started hollering for Phil Fulmer's head roll as football coach, thinking a new coach could make a difference. Despite the fact that they went to the SEC Championship Game just the year before, and no team had been to more SEC Championship Games from the East since the "slump" began in 2001, Fulmer was let go. They hired the hot young coach- who left the program with some recruiting scandal, and off to date the hot blonde in southern California. Now, the Vols are suffering through one of their worst football seasons ever. That may not have worked out so well for the Vols.
And another program I have grown familar with is Kentucky, since I live in Lexington. They ran off (not fired, but ran off) a good man in Tubby Smith thinking they could do better, despite going to the Elite Eight many many times in his tenure. They hired (allegedly) a drunken buffoon who (again allegedly) enjoyed the company of co-eds. After missing the NCAA Tournament and losing to Gardner-Webb and VMI, the Wildcats had to fire him, which prompted him to go to a golf course at 3:00 AM. Now they have Calipari, who has done well, but has not taken them any further than Tubby was taking them, and gotten them in some potential trouble with the NCAA.
So things do not always work out for the better for teams that fire coaches. The grass is not always greener. It doesn't always make the most sense.
That being said, Shulman could definitely be in trouble in Chattanooga if this season is not at least mildly successful. The two losing seasons have not sat well with the fans. The football team has not drawn less than 10,000 to a home game this year. The basketball team draws that over three home games. Yes, football is more popular and has larger attendances generally, but for this proud program, that is not a good standard.
The feeling around Chattanooga is that he subs too frequently, plays too many players, and the team gets beaten in road games, and gets blown out by the best teams on the schedule.
For Shulman, it is advised that he not get blown out by Tennessee right off the bat. A nice 15 point loss would do the trick. Or a win. A blowout loss would really get the vultures swirling. Can the Mocs prevent that? Shulman better hope so.
He doesn't sit down much during the games, but his seat is hot. But it is nothing a couple of wins can't fix.
HEAT-O-METER (on a scale of 1-10): 7.5 It's more than warm, but it is not red hot. Have a great month and it goes down under 5. Have an awful 0-7 start in November, and it jumps to a 10. It's unclear how this all plays out yet. We'll start to find out this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment