| Phillip Fulmer | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Football |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 1, 1950 |
| Place of birth | Winchester, Tennessee |
| Playing career | |
| 1968–1971 | Tennessee |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1972–1973 1974–1978 1979 1980–1988 1989–1992 1992–2008 |
Tennessee (student coach) Wichita State (OL/LB) Vanderbilt (assistant) Tennessee (OL) Tennessee (OC/OL) Tennessee |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 152–52 |
| Bowls | 8–7 |
| Statistics | |
| College Football Data Warehouse | |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 National Championship (1998) 2 SEC Championships (1997, 1998) 6 SEC Eastern Division Titles (1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007) |
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| Awards | |
| AFCA Coach of the Year (1998) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1998) George Munger Award (1998) Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (1998) Sporting News College Football COY (1998) SEC Coach of the Year (1998) |
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Phillip Fulmer (born September 1, 1950) is a TV college football analyst and the former head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, who compiled a 152–52 record from 1992–2008 as head coach, but was fired during a 5–7 season in 2008. He is best known for coaching the Volunteers in the first ever BCS National Championship Game in 1998, defeating Florida State University. Fulmer was the Volunteers' 20th head football coach.
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Fulmer was born in Winchester, Tennessee where he attended Franklin County High School. Fulmer enrolled at the University of Tennessee as a student in 1968. He promptly joined the football team as an offensive guard. While playing for the Volunteers, Fulmer garnered All-Southeastern Conference honors at offensive guard. Fulmer helped Tennessee to a 30–5 record from 1969–1971, where he played for coaches Doug Dickey (who returned to UT as athletic director and hired Fulmer as the Volunteers' coach) and Bill Battle. The Volunteers captured the SEC championship with a 9–2 record in 1969, went 11–1 and won the Sugar Bowl in 1970, and finished as Liberty Bowl champions with a 10–2 record in 1971 with great joy.
Fulmer served as linebacker coach and defensive coordinator for the Vols freshman team in 1973 before moving to Wichita State University the following season. He spent five years at Wichita State, where he coached the offensive line in 1974 and 1977–1978 and served as linebacker coach in 1975–1976. He followed those years with a one-season stint at Vanderbilt, serving as an aide to Commodores head coach George MacIntyre.
Fulmer served 13 years as a Vols assistant coach beginning in 1980 before becoming the 20th head football coach at Tennessee, after the decision to replace then-coach Johnny Majors.[1]
In Fulmer's early career Tennessee won two Southeastern Conference championships, in 1997 and 1998, and a national championship in 1998. The Vols made three other SEC Championship game appearances in 2001, 2004, and 2007 losing all three. Despite his decline over the last several years of his career, Fulmer's winning percentage was still among the top in the country for coaches who had over ten years' experience.
Fulmer helped return Tennessee to national prominence from 1993 to 1998, when he won the first ever BCS National Championship Game. The Vols appeared in three consecutive Bowl Alliance or BCS games from 1997 to 1999. They posted 10 or more wins from 1995 to 1998, with Peyton Manning at quarterback for from 1995 through 1997. The senior class of the 1998 team compiled a record of 45–5, losing only to Florida (three times), Nebraska and Memphis.
Fulmer had a reputation as an ace recruiter, leading many analysts to praise him as one of the game's top head coach recruiters.[2] Until 2008, Fulmer had only had one losing season at Tennessee: in 2005, Fulmer's pre-season third-ranked Volunteers went 5–6, losing to in-state SEC rival Vanderbilt for the first time in his 14-year tenure. The losing season also kept Tennessee out of a bowl game for the first time since 1988, a streak of 16 years which was the third-longest in the NCAA. Fulmer never lost to the University of Kentucky, winning 17 straight games.[3] After a slow start in 2008, Fulmer came under increased scrutiny from Tennessee fans,[4][5] leaving skepticism about how long he would remain Tennessee's head football coach despite having just received a contract extension after the 2007 season.[6][7] UT athletic director Mike Hamilton finally notified Fulmer of his dismissal on November 2, 2008. The next day, he agreed to step down as head coach following the season. That week the Vols suffered a loss at the hands of Wyoming, a 26 point underdog.[8] Fulmer completed his long tenure at the University of Tennessee with a 28-10 win over Kentucky on November 29, 2008.[9][10]
Lane Kiffin was hired by Mike Hamilton to succeed Fulmer as the head coach of the Tennessee Vols.
Fulmer can currently be found as a sports analyst on CBS's SEC Postgame Show, as well as various programming on the CBS College Sports Network. Fulmer also believes he will coach again in the future. He is looking to establish himself at a well-established school. "Somebody that's committed to winning championships and being the best that they can be, with a chance to compete in a conference that's nationally recognized. I'm not going to go walk into a door somewhere that you have no chance to be successful."[11] Fulmer was a strong candidate for the University of Louisville head coaching job. He stated in many interviews that he was interested in the job and also has had a phone interview with Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich. However the job was eventually offered to Charlie Strong. After UConn head coach Randy Edsall left for Maryland in January 2011, sources confirmed that Fulmer expressed interest in the coaching vacancy at Connecticut.[12] After Mike Hamilton stepped down as University of Tennessee athletic director, Fulmer has been frequently brought up by Tennessee fans as a potential replacement, but has said that he doesn't consider himself a likely candidate.[13]
Fulmer appeared as himself in the 2009 feature film The Blind Side.[14]
Fulmer and his wife Vicky have three daughters: Courtney, Brittany, and Allison. Son Phillip Jr. is from a previous marriage. Fulmer is also a new grandfather. Fulmers's first grandchild (from his second child Courtney and her husband, former Tennessee linebacker Robert Peace) made his first appearance at the "Vol Walk" at Neyland Stadium on September 13, 2008. Robert Peace is the son of Joe Raymond Peace of Ruston, Louisiana, a former football coach at Louisiana Tech University, and a nephew of football great Joe Ferguson, who played for the University of Arkansas and the Buffalo Bills.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee Volunteers (Southeastern Conference) (1992–2008) | |||||||||
| 1992 | Tennessee | 4–0* | 2–0* | 3rd (East)* | W Hall of Fame | 12 | 12 | ||
| 1993 | Tennessee | 10–2^ | 7–1^ | 2nd (East) | L Florida Citrus | 11 | 12 | ||
| 1994 | Tennessee | 8–4 | 5–3 | 2nd (East) | W Gator | 18 | 22 | ||
| 1995 | Tennessee | 11–1 | 7–1 | 2nd (East) | W Florida Citrus | 2 | 3 | ||
| 1996 | Tennessee | 10–2 | 7–1 | 2nd (East) | W Florida Citrus | 9 | 9 | ||
| 1997 | Tennessee | 11–2 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | L Orange | 8 | 7 | ||
| 1998 | Tennessee | 13–0 | 8–0 | 1st (East) | W Fiesta † | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1999 | Tennessee | 9–3 | 6–2 | 2nd (East) | L Fiesta † | 9 | 9 | ||
| 2000 | Tennessee | 8–4 | 5–3 | 2nd (East) | L Cotton | 25 | |||
| 2001 | Tennessee | 11–2 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | W Florida Citrus | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2002 | Tennessee | 8–5 | 5–3 | 3rd (East) | L Peach | ||||
| 2003 | Tennessee | 10–3 | 6–2 | T–1st (East) | L Peach | 16 | 15 | ||
| 2004 | Tennessee | 10–3 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | W Cotton | 15 | 13 | ||
| 2005 | Tennessee | 5–6 | 4–4 | 4th (East) | |||||
| 2006 | Tennessee | 9–4 | 5–3 | 2nd (East) | L Outback | 23 | 25 | ||
| 2007 | Tennessee | 10–4 | 6–2 | T–1st (East) | W Outback | 12 | 12 | ||
| 2008 | Tennessee | 5–7 | 3–5 | 5th (East) | |||||
| Tennessee: | 152–52 | 98–34 | |||||||
| Total: | 152–52 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. |
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*The first three games of the season and the 1993 Hall of Fame Bowl are credited to Fulmer.
The other eight games in between are credited to Johnny Majors.
^Fulmer's 1993 Tennessee team finished 9-2-1 (6-1-1) but the tie against Alabama was later credited as a win via forfeit.
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