Tennessee Football: David Cutcliffe relives Tennessee’s glory days

David Cutcliffe relived his time at Tennessee in a recent interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel and his difficult decision to leave.

David Cutcliffe is one of the most beloved former Tennessee coaches still coaching today. In my opinion, he is my favorite. He did so much for the program and in my eyes is a VFL.

After the Vols won the SEC Championship over Mississippi State in 1998, Cutcliffe accepted the Ole Miss head coaching position. He said it wasn’t an easy decision and in a recent interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel, he detailed that decision.

"“I cried like a baby,” Cutcliffe told the Knoxville News Sentinel, “I couldn’t finish my words. It was really difficult for me. Tennessee football was not a job, it was a way of life.”"

Cutcliffe spent nearly 20 years at Tennessee, so seeing him go had to be difficult for everyone involved. He told the team before their National Championship game against Florida State which had to add to all the emotions already.

Coaches move around in college and professional sports pretty often nowadays so you would think coaches can move on pretty easily. One example I think of is Hue Jackson after being let go from the Browns he signed with the Bengals almost immediately after.

Although that wasn’t Jackson’s decision to leave the Browns, it is pretty surprising to see someone go to a division rival so easily and so soon.

Obviously Jackson’s situation and Cutcliffe’s situation are very different but it kind of shows how coaches have changed some over the past 20 years. You don’t see very many coaches or players stay with the same team for more than a decade much less a career.

Cutcliffe has now been with Duke for 11 years and has a record of 67-72 with the Blue Devils including three bowl wins in the last four seasons.

Unfortunately, it looks like he might not be coming back to coach at Tennessee, but it seems like he’s found his home at Duke. It’s hard to cheer for Duke in basketball, but when it comes to football and Coach Cutcliffe, I can’t cheer against him.

In his short time back in Knoxville, Cutcliffe also gave an endorsement to Tennessee AD Phillip Fulmer. Most Vol fans are sold on Fulmer as AD, but if you still have questions, Cutcliffe reassured you that Fulmer was a good choice for the job.

"“They better try to hang on to him as long as they can,” Cutcliffe said. “That would be my advice. Phillip is a doer. When he’s going to be in charge of Tennessee athletics, you’re going to see things move forward.”"

That’s all we want is to move the football program forward, and many including Cutcliffe believe Fulmer will get that done.

I like what I have seen out of Fulmer so far in his short tenure as Athletic Director, and I think he will be able to lead Jeremy Pruitt down the right path to lead Tennessee back to the top.

It’s nice to have Cutcliffe back in town even if it is for a night or two. One of the few beloved former Tennessee coaches left, and he gave us an inside into what it was like to move on from Tennessee before the National Championship game in 1998.