Fulmer in winter? When you report regularly on a team whose coach is "on the hot seat," and a pair of beleaguered coaches in similar spots have already been axed halfway through the season, you’re obligated to ask the question. But I bet even the Knoxville News-Sentinel’s Dave Hooker was surprised when Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said, yes, he might consider firing Phil Fulmer before the end of the year:

With Tennessee off to a 2-4 start and winless in three SEC games, athletic director Mike Hamilton refused to rule out a mid-season coaching change if UT’s football program doesn’t improve, but said he’d much prefer following his standard method of operations.

“Our traditional model at the University of Tennessee is that we evaluate these kinds of things on a year-end basis,” said Hamilton in an exclusive interview with the News Sentinel on Tuesday and his first public comments in weeks on the subject. "That doesn’t preclude you from doing something different."

Mid-season firings, as we’ve seen, are ugly, emergency actions, and this is only a story because Hamilton “refused to rule out” something no one really expects him to do anyway; usually, an A.D. would go ahead and rule out an early axe, even if he was planning to bring it down the next week – which could be the case, if you decide to read Hamilton as saying, “We’re cool for now, as long as he doesn’t get Croom’d this week.” We know how Vol fans feel about bringing Fulmer back, but if Fulmer can get out of the upcoming trifecta of Mississippi State, Alabama and South Carolina at 2-1, with a chance at seven wins down the stretch, he'll make it to December, at least.

Pirates don't need no stinkin' 'system.' Yar. Because every quarterback and half the receivers he's ever coached have shredded college record books, only to be ignored or quickly run out of the pros (Wes Welker notwithstanding), Mike Leach might be (and might like to be known as) the ultimate 'system' coach – except, wait, aren’t they all "system players"?

"But all of these people that aren't products of a system don't need to practice, they don't need to worry about that, they don't need to worry about watching film, and they don't need to worry about what their coaches say. Because if there's no system, if they're not doing things in a specified, choreographed way, then why do they need to aggravate themselves with all that? They just need to show up for games and go do it."

He’s right, of course, as only Mike Leach can be: in the most fundamental, literal, obvious terms possible. Thus pundits are skewered again by the haphazard tao of Leach, who’s off to rollerblade down the middle of the Interstate hooked to the back of Rylan Reed’s four-wheeler, if you're looking for him.

• What exactly are you insinuating? Don’t mess with Troy quarterbacks, unless you want to mess with the Trojans’ media department, which was forced to apologize for its not-so-subtle digs at Florida Atlantic defensive end Robert St. Clair after last Tuesday’s win over the Owls:

While nominating quarterback Jamie Hampton for player-of-the-week honors, the Troy media relations department wrote that St. Clair "dove in late on a QB keeper and delivered a bulls-eye to Hampton's knee, tearing the ACL and MCL and ending his season."

The same nomination added:

"Ironically, St. Clair took out Troy center Danny Franks two plays later on a similar dive into the pile."

Grammarians have demanded an apology for the improper use of 'ironic.' For what it’s worth, Troy players are still fumed about the hit, or, more precisely, about FAU’s reaction to the injury.

Quickly … Ohio State defensive end Lawrence Wilson is out for the season, yet another ACL victim. . . . The Big Ten better kick Michigan while it’s down, while there’s still a chance. . . . Joe Paterno is getting around with a cane and says his injury could be related to his hip, not his knee. . . . Two weeks after Mackenzi Adams was the toast of Nashville in the win over Auburn, Vanderbilt is swapping quarterbacks again. . . . Running back Delone Carter will be back in the lineup for Syracuse at South Florida, though Curtis Brinkley has put a stranglehold on that job. . . . Pete Carroll can relate to the problems at Washington State, in a roundabout way. Oh, the troubles in L.A.: the Trojans may be forced to sit Joe McKnight with a toe injury and are getting a little banged up at tight end. And Mark Sanchez thinks he played better in the loss to Oregon State than in the blowout win over Oregon. Geez, scoreboard, Mark. Who are you, Jeremiah Masoli?