All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football: 5 OC changes that worked out for Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images
Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images /

4. 2006: David Cutcliffe

This is another offensive coordinator hire that Tennessee football made and extended the coaching career of the head coach at the time. The last two times that the Vols had Top 25 finishes before Mike DeBord were the two years David Cutcliffe was on Rocky Top in the mid-2000s.

For context, this was a rehire. Cutliffe had been fired by the Ole Miss Rebels after 2004. He was set to join Charlie Weis in his first year with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 2005 only to leave due to a health issue, which resulted in him moving back to Knoxville and being on the open market for a year.

That year just happened to be the worst offensive season in decades for the Vols, as Erik Ainge and Rick Clausen kept alternating at quarterback, and neither got into a rhythm. They averaged only 326 yards and less than 19 points a game en route to their first losing season since 1988 at the time. The result was Randy Sanders being gone after seven years on the job.

Enter Cutcliffe, who was back as UT’s offensive coordinator for the first time since their 1998 national championship. Immediately, he reworked Ainge, and over the next two years he became arguably the nation’s most efficient passer. The Vols’ averages went up to 372.5 yards and 27.8 points per game in 2006 as they went 9-4..

Then, in 2007, they won the East and went 10-4 while averaging over 400 yards and 32.5 points a game. It was an incredible turnaround, and like DeBord, everything fell apart again once Cutcliffe left, as a bad hire in 2008 created an offense worse than the one in 2005, which got Fulmer fired.

Home/Vols Football