Tudor's Take: Fulmer's impact on the ACC

One way or another, maybe several others, the demise of Phillip Fulmer as Tennessee’s football coach likely will have an ACC link.

By the numbers, here are the possibilities:

1. Mike Leach, Texas Tech: The Volunteers will make a strong play for Leach, but so will Clemson and schools to be named later. This is where orange becomes long green. The bidding will reach $3.5 million per season over, say, six or seven seasons. Clemson has the money. Tennessee, when all is said and done, has more money. There’s almost no chance Leach will win the national championship, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s an offensive marvel. Right now, the Vols need offense more than corn needs rain.

2. Mack Brown, Texas: Mackie played at Florida State, then coached at Appalachian and North Carolina. “Tew-lane” — as Mack pronounces it — doesn’t really count. Deep down inside, he’s always been a son of Tennessee, though. Mack and wife Sally have a home near Boone, which is relatively close to Knoxville. Mack’s funeral plot will not be in Austin. Neither will Sally’s.

3. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina: As much as they’ll always hate each other, which is a lot, Steve Superior and Mack the Knife aren’t all that far apart where roots dig grab dirt. Deep down inside, Spurrier would rather be in Knoxville than Columbia. He’d love to be the man who corrected the “Fulmer mistake.”

4. David Cutcliffe, Duke: Ol’ folksy is only two wins away from becoming an ordained football genius, a la Spurrier. Cutcliffe’s link to Fulmer is his biggest problem. But going 6-6 at Duke, and getting a bowl bid, would erase a lot of Fulmer DNA. Plus, he’ll begin with Peyton Manning’s endorsement.

5. Butch Davis, UNC: He’ll always be in play for another job. That’s just the route Carolina picked, and that’s not to say the Heels have taken the wrong fork in the road. It’s just the way it is. And if Brown should happen to wind up at Tennessee, then the Heels may have sweat out Texas again. Either way, the Heels are probably going to have to ante up again, if Davis just wins eight games and stays around for a third lap.

6. Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans: The Titans have a ton of money. The Vols have two tons.

7. Bill Cowher, Raleigh Taxpayer: Cap’n Chin will get a call. He’ll always get a call, whether it’s from Tennessee or the Tennessee Titans or Temple or TCU or, heck, Texas. Pick a “T”, pick any letter. Try as much as has, Cowher is still about as comfortable in front of a TV camera as a preacher in a pick-up bar.

8. Johnny Majors: Johnny Touchdown is to UT what Danny Defense Ford is to Clemson.

9. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech: Wild guess here, but there’s still that western North Carolina connection. Plus, the ornery rascal can coach. He’s less likely to be hugged than a holly bush. Compared to Fulmer’s rah-rah approach, Johnson would be the coaching equivalent of a spinal tap. But in the SEC, no pain, no gain. The good thing about Johnson, though, is that his bark is worse than his bite. His Navy players would fight for him.

10. Jerry Moore, Appalachian State: He may be old. He may be slow afoot. He may talk like Jimmy Carter. But wow, can this man ever build a program. You take Tim Tebow and give me Armanti Edwards. Other things being close to equal, Edwards wins.