Phillip Fulmer and Tennessee go hand in hand. Fulmer has been prowling the sidelines for the Volunteers for the past 17 years as the head coach. He has been at Tennessee for more than 35 years as a coach and a player. Rocky Top was home to Phillip Fulmer. Fulmer is one of the best and most respected coaches in college football. Just as everything was going great, things suddenly turned. In the preseason the Volunteers were ranked 18th nationally and were supposed to compete for an SEC East title amongst the likes of Georgia and Florida. After playing in the SEC title game last season, Tennessee returned eight starters on offense including their entire offensive line and both starting tailbacks. With the return of so many starters and the fact that Tennessee is a national power, the feeling around Knoxville was pretty good. Tennessee could potentially have a great season and everything would be back to normal in Tennessee. WRONG! Tennessee started the season with a loss to unranked UCLA, who was starting their third string quarterback. Everything started to spiral downhill from there.
Thus far the Volunteers are 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the SEC East. Somebody had to go. That somebody was Phillip Fulmer. On Monday Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton asked Fulmer to not return next season. Fulmer accepted the decision of the university and will not be back directing the Vols next season, though he will finish out this season. Fulmer had a career record of 150-51 in his 17 seasons as head coach, including a national title in 1998. Since the end of the 2001 season, Tennessee has lost 31 games. It may be fine for most schools, but not Tennessee. Tennessee has the resources and support to be great year in and year out. Simply put, Fulmer was not winning enough games. For all his great success, it looks like Fulmer will be remembered as the guy who led a national power to the edge of disaster.
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