The Fulmer Era Ends
Well my friends...unless you have been watching election coverage all day, Phillip Fulmer, head football coach at the University of Tennessee will step down at the end of this football season.
Legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson once described Phillip Fulmer as "Tennessee to the core."
In an era when football coaches are oftentimes looking for that next job, the only job for Fulmer was the one he's held for the past 17 years on Rocky Top.
The one at the university where he's spent more than 30 years of his life as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Fulmer took Tennessee to two SEC titles and the crown jewel, the 1998 National Championship.
Unfortunately, there had been no championships since then, and in this "What have you done for me lately" life that is college football, enough was enough and it was time for a change.
While I have always been a Fulmer supporter, I just think it was time. I believe Fulmer had dug himself into a hole that he could not dig himself out of.
Fulmer had always been such a masterful recruiter. The Vols were at their best when they were able to go into neighboring states and cherry-pick great players and then go everywhere from the West Coast, to Texas, to Florida and into the Midwest to fill in the gaps.
Look at the players on their 1998 national championship team:
Jamal Lewis, Cosey Coleman and Deon Grant were from Georgia. Shaun Ellis and Darwin Walker were from South Carolina. Tee Martin was from Alabama. Shawn Bryson was from North Carolina. Travis Henry was from Florida. Billy Ratliff was from Mississippi. Peerless Price was from Ohio. Dwayne Goodrich was from Illinois. Raynoch Thompson was from Louisiana, and David Leaverton was from Texas.
That all changed at the turn of the century. The head-coaching lineup strengthened in the SEC, it got harder and harder to go into some of those same states and pull out great players.
Mark Richt at Georgia, Nick Saban at LSU and now Alabama, Steve Spurrier at South Carolina and Urban Meyer at Florida. Those state had been shut off to all the top recruits. This was especially apparent on the lines. Fulmer was not able to get guys like Leonard Little, Albert Haynesworth, and John Henderson.
Meanwhile on the offensive line, Tennessee has had just two offensive linemen taken in the NFL draft since 2003, and one of those was in the seventh round. With the lack of a great line, the running game really suffered and they were not able to pound the rock like they did in the late nineties.
The result has been one of the worst seasons offensively for Tennessee in the past three decades. The Vols are ranked 114th nationally (out of 119 teams) in both scoring and total offense.
The loss that seemed to start the downward spiral for Fulmer was the 2001 SEC championship game setback to LSU. The Vols were favored and poised to play Miami in the Rose Bowl for their second national championship in four years, but were upset by the Tigers 31-20.
Since then Tennessee may have won the occasional SEC East Title, but could not get any further. What will help you keep your job if the record is not superb is if you beat your rival (the reason Tommy Bowden kept his job for so long was he was able to beat Florida State and South Carolina). Unfortunately, from 2000 to 2008, he's a combined 11-16 against the teams you need to beat at Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, and he was just 17-26 during that stretch against all nationally ranked teams.
While it may seem like Fulmer is the goat for all of the problems at Tennessee right now, it is not what Tennessee fans, myself included will remember him by.
I will remember Fulmer as the man who gave me so many great memories as a young fan and as a student at Tennessee. I will remember the great times from the 45-5 run from 1995 to 1998, including two SEC championships and a national championship in 1998. It is the kind of stretch that may never be equaled again in Tennessee football history. The coaches in the SEC came and went on Fulmer's watch, in large part because they couldn't beat Fulmer.
I will remember all of the great players that played under Fulmer's watch including one of the greatest players of all time, Peyton Manning.
Ten years from now and 20 years from now, fans will look back on his time at Tennessee and realize what a magical run it was. Fulmer will go down as the second greatest coach at Tennessee. Only General Robert Neyland was better. Not bad at all.
I will be in Knoxville for the homecoming game this weekend. I hope my fellow Volunteer fans will join me in thanking Fulmer for all the great things he has done, and made me proud to be from Tennessee.
Legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson once described Phillip Fulmer as "Tennessee to the core."
In an era when football coaches are oftentimes looking for that next job, the only job for Fulmer was the one he's held for the past 17 years on Rocky Top.
The one at the university where he's spent more than 30 years of his life as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Fulmer took Tennessee to two SEC titles and the crown jewel, the 1998 National Championship.
Unfortunately, there had been no championships since then, and in this "What have you done for me lately" life that is college football, enough was enough and it was time for a change.
While I have always been a Fulmer supporter, I just think it was time. I believe Fulmer had dug himself into a hole that he could not dig himself out of.
Fulmer had always been such a masterful recruiter. The Vols were at their best when they were able to go into neighboring states and cherry-pick great players and then go everywhere from the West Coast, to Texas, to Florida and into the Midwest to fill in the gaps.
Look at the players on their 1998 national championship team:
Jamal Lewis, Cosey Coleman and Deon Grant were from Georgia. Shaun Ellis and Darwin Walker were from South Carolina. Tee Martin was from Alabama. Shawn Bryson was from North Carolina. Travis Henry was from Florida. Billy Ratliff was from Mississippi. Peerless Price was from Ohio. Dwayne Goodrich was from Illinois. Raynoch Thompson was from Louisiana, and David Leaverton was from Texas.
That all changed at the turn of the century. The head-coaching lineup strengthened in the SEC, it got harder and harder to go into some of those same states and pull out great players.
Mark Richt at Georgia, Nick Saban at LSU and now Alabama, Steve Spurrier at South Carolina and Urban Meyer at Florida. Those state had been shut off to all the top recruits. This was especially apparent on the lines. Fulmer was not able to get guys like Leonard Little, Albert Haynesworth, and John Henderson.
Meanwhile on the offensive line, Tennessee has had just two offensive linemen taken in the NFL draft since 2003, and one of those was in the seventh round. With the lack of a great line, the running game really suffered and they were not able to pound the rock like they did in the late nineties.
The result has been one of the worst seasons offensively for Tennessee in the past three decades. The Vols are ranked 114th nationally (out of 119 teams) in both scoring and total offense.
The loss that seemed to start the downward spiral for Fulmer was the 2001 SEC championship game setback to LSU. The Vols were favored and poised to play Miami in the Rose Bowl for their second national championship in four years, but were upset by the Tigers 31-20.
Since then Tennessee may have won the occasional SEC East Title, but could not get any further. What will help you keep your job if the record is not superb is if you beat your rival (the reason Tommy Bowden kept his job for so long was he was able to beat Florida State and South Carolina). Unfortunately, from 2000 to 2008, he's a combined 11-16 against the teams you need to beat at Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, and he was just 17-26 during that stretch against all nationally ranked teams.
While it may seem like Fulmer is the goat for all of the problems at Tennessee right now, it is not what Tennessee fans, myself included will remember him by.
I will remember Fulmer as the man who gave me so many great memories as a young fan and as a student at Tennessee. I will remember the great times from the 45-5 run from 1995 to 1998, including two SEC championships and a national championship in 1998. It is the kind of stretch that may never be equaled again in Tennessee football history. The coaches in the SEC came and went on Fulmer's watch, in large part because they couldn't beat Fulmer.
I will remember all of the great players that played under Fulmer's watch including one of the greatest players of all time, Peyton Manning.
Ten years from now and 20 years from now, fans will look back on his time at Tennessee and realize what a magical run it was. Fulmer will go down as the second greatest coach at Tennessee. Only General Robert Neyland was better. Not bad at all.
I will be in Knoxville for the homecoming game this weekend. I hope my fellow Volunteer fans will join me in thanking Fulmer for all the great things he has done, and made me proud to be from Tennessee.