By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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As soon as Mike Hamilton stepped down, irony was quick to step up. Could a fixture fired by the outgoing athletic director soon become his heir-apparent?

From 1989 to 2004, you couldn’t discuss Tennessee football without talk of contention. In that 16-year span, playing in college football’s toughest conference mind you, the Volunteers won at least ten games nine times and never won less than eight games. For point of reference, rival Georgia won six games or less six times in that same window. Divisional foe Kentucky, in that frame, didn’t win a single bowl game.

Under Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee won or shared four SEC championships. Fulmer led the Volunteers to the 1998 national championship, the school’s first football title since 1951. After a 10-win season in 2007 and yet another appearance in the SEC Championship Game, the tone suddenly changed. A disappointing 5-7 season two years prior had startled some in Knoxville. That fall the program suffered its’ first losing season since 1988. Regardless of the overall body of work, an encore downward slide after spending the previous winter in Atlanta cost Fulmer his job.

It was a polarizing move in east Tennessee. Many fans supported the veteran coach and his acknowledged his hand in taking the program to the next level. Others viewed his approach outdated and felt a young, more dynamic leader would elevate the status quo. While fans may have been split over the decision of former UT Athletic Director Mike Hamilton to force Fulmer into stepping down, former players were not. Many were in attendance at his farewell press conference, a somber event that had, at least from the perspective on the program alumni in the audience, a bitter feel.

“Tennessee is a family, one, and we take care of each other,” explained then-senior offensive tackle Ramon Foster. “That right there wasn’t a very stand-up thing to do. I mean, you’re talking about a guy who’s worked his butt off from a student, to a GA, to an assistant coach, to a coordinator, to a head coach. This was not the way for him to go out. He should have been able to go out on his own terms, and that’s how the rest of my teammates feel about it.”

All-American safety Eric Berry was one of the players who showed great emotion.

“I feel like I just lost one of my ribs, my kidney or something,” he added. “I feel like I lost a family member. I mean, nobody has died, but that’s what it feels like right now.”

Former defensive end Will Overstreet had a more critical perspective.

“They lost a lot of ex-players today, a lot of players who played on that national championship team,” he offered. “A lot of the former players I talked to thought maybe this was his decision to step down now, but he was fired. He deserved a lot better than this. They did him wrong.”

From the predictable, colloquial Fulmer, Tennessee turned to Southern Cal offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. If the Volunteer brass wanted a change-in-direction, they got it with their new hire. Kiffin came in as the youngest coach in FBS football and, at times, acted like it. From incorrectly calling out Urban Meyer’s recruiting tactics to reportedly telling current Gamecock wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey he would “…end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all other players from the state who had gone to South Carolina…”, Kiffin was a 6’4” stack of controversial comments and media criticisms. In his first and only season in Knoxville, Kiffin managed six regular season wins. He compiled at least that many secondary NCAA violations that fall. The latter accomplishment may have a more lasting impact.

Kiffin recently appeared before the NCAA’s Infractions Committee, along with former ‘Vol basketball coach Bruce Pearl, to explain his indiscretions. Also on hand was former UT Athletic Director Mike Hamilton. As the administrator who oversaw the Kiffin and Pearl eras, he resigned last week with the rumor being a less severe punishment from the NCAA with him out from under the school’s umbrella. Kiffin spent more than four hours answers answering questions.

“It’s a very thorough process and I’m glad it’s over,” he stated. “It was a lot shorter than the last one I sat through, three days of USC’s, and I’m happy it’s over.”

From Kiffin to current head football coach Derek Dooley to Hamilton, Tennessee football has made the transition from making players on the field to making headlines off of it. A program known so long for consistency, instability, in recent years, has become the school’s new tradition. Dooley is working hard to get the Volunteers back on solid footing, but with such a chaotic tone around the athletic department and whispers of NCAA sanctions looming, each step has had to be slow and deliberate.

As soon as Hamilton stepped down from his position, irony was quick to step up. Could the fixture fired by the outgoing athletic director soon become his heir-apparent? Right, wrong or indifferent, Phillip Fulmer’s name has been the most discussed one in Knoxville in recent days. There was a time when it appeared nobody would spark the same amount of discussion Kiffin once did. This week, Fulmer has come close. The former UT player, assistant and head coach, fired after the 2008 season, may very well be the favorite to replace Hamilton atop the school’s athletic perch.

Looking forward, Tennessee must block out recent memory and go forth without angst over past mistakes. Their SEC schedule is tough enough, the Volunteers can’t fight Kiffin, Hamilton and the NCAA as well. In moving on from their blunders and starting a new era in athletics, Tennessee may turn to man some didn’t feel was able to coach, offer a belated mea culpa, then this time ask him to lead.