Phillip Fulmer has had his share of time to relive and review the 2005 Tennessee football season thousands of times in his head.

It never gets any prettier.

There's no way to gloss over the obvious.

You can try, but lipstick and blush on a sow doesn't make it look like Marilyn Monroe.

As Vols' players said all season, "It is what it is."

It was ugly.

Fulmer knows it. The gloom of a 5-6 finish hasn't worn off from a season thought to have so much promise.

In Fulmer's mind, it took a cataclysmic combination of bad luck, bad bounces, bad football and bad chemistry to send the Vols off course.

"It was kind of like the Perfect Storm," Fulmer said Thursday as he prepared for a brief Christmas break.

"Really, it took a lot of different variables to happen at kind of the same time. Whether it be schedule, whether it be injuries, or quarterbacks or inconsistencies of the receivers or offensive front, or penalties -- we just never ended up doing much."

Like the "Andrea Gail" stuck in the "Perfect Storm" of October 1991, the Vols' became a sinking ship.

Rest in peace 2005.

It was Fulmer's first losing season in 14 years as UT's head coach.

There was obvious frustration.

There also were consequences as offensive coordinator Randy Sanders resigned and two others, receivers coach Pat Washington and offensive line coach Jimmy Ray Stephens, were not retained.

For the first time in his career at the helm, Fulmer has had a December with no practices and no bowl game.

The following are some of his thoughts on how it got to that point, where the program stands right now, and where he sees the Vols' future.

What Went Wrong?

In August, carrying a No. 3 ranking nationally, everything was upbeat and Fulmer was uncharacteristically optimistic in his public statements.

Despite a brewing quarterback controversy involving sophomore Erik Ainge and senior Rick Clausen, Fulmer wasn't concerned.

"I was very optimistic," he said. "Did that breed overconfidence? Did that breed pressure?

"That's not typically been my style. I'm usually much more, 'Let's wait and see.' "

He wishes he had taken the same approach this season.

The Vols looked lackadaisical in beating UAB 17-10 in the opening game. It was more of the same two weeks late in a 16-7 loss at Florida on Sept. 17.

Then came a surprising 30-27 overtime victory at LSU, the Tigers' only loss of the regular season.

Fulmer wasn't fooled.

"Offensively, we left a lot of points on the board against UAB and Florida," he said. "We weren't just lighting it up with anything we were doing consistently.

"We never really got into our rhythm offensively."

Never.

Tennessee scored its fewest points (205) since the 1974 Vols finished with 204.

The final total-yardage figure of 3,589 was lower than any year since 1981. It was the first time since 1988 the Vols had fewer than 4,000 yards of total offense.

"The season wasn't fun for anybody around Tennessee football or anybody who cares about Tennessee football," Fulmer said. "It wasn't a fun year.

"We were 17 points from being 9-2. There's a lot of frustration that goes into that. Obviously, you're talented enough to compete, but you're not talented enough to win ballgames. That's concerning."

As bad as the offense was, it came down to 17 points.

Throw out a 27-14 loss to Georgia and a 41-21 loss to Notre Dame, and you get four losses by a total of 17 points to Florida, Alabama (6-3), South Carolina (16-15) and Vanderbilt (28-24).

It was after the Vanderbilt game Fulmer officially declared things had hit "rock bottom."

The ship had sunk.

"It starts with me and then our inconsistencies on offense were obviously the biggest culprit," Fulmer said. "There were some plays on defense we could have made, but we certainly played well enough to win on defense.

"Offensively, not scoring enough points to win the ballgames was the issue. That has to go back to our production at all the positions.

"There were a number of things that happened to us, whether it's inefficiencies or inconsistencies that hurt us."

Season-ending injuries to team leaders Jason Allen (hip) at cornerback and Gerald Riggs (ankle) at tailback didn't help.

Fumbles, dropped passes, key penalties and inconsistent production at quarterback all contributed to the frustration level.

"I look at what we expected to have at the quarterback position and that never really developed by either one of them," Fulmer said. "That may have been my responsibility for not establishing a chemistry there.

"That's not the entire focus of what went wrong, but that was part of it. If I had stayed with one, either one of them, things might have been different. You don't know. You just live and learn."

Trials And Tribulations

On EPSN this week, college football analyst Mark May said his "lump of coal" Christmas award would go to Fulmer and the Tennessee team for its subpar season.

Radio call-in shows have been inundated with talk involving Fulmer's future despite a career winning percentage of .776 (128-37) that is highest among active coaches.

Fulmer has heard the talk and his family has been with him step for step hearing the same things.

"As far as the personal part of it goes, it's always tough when you lose," he said. "My family has enjoyed a lot of great things by our successes, and when we've had some tough times it's tough on them. That's just part of life.

"They handled it well and everyone just circles in closer and tighter. They've been in it long enough to understand the ups and downs of this profession."

But there has never been a downer like the one experienced in 2005.

"Not like this," Fulmer said. "But everybody seems to understand it's a blip on the screen and we'll get our business back in good order and we'll win those close games."

Fulmer couldn't pinpoint the exact low-point of the season. It all became a blur in October and November.

"The whole second half of the season was tough," he said. "You can go through and find a play or two in every game that just knocked the breath out of you."

Through it all, Fulmer said his staff and players battled to find answers.

"I think the staff stuck together fine and the players did as well," he said. "It never got to anything like a point where it was an effort issue."

Where Does It Go?

Fulmer hired his old friend and former assistant David Cutcliffe as offensive coordinator in late November to help begin the reclamation project.

"David's a great friend and a great professional," Fulmer said of his offensive coordinator. "I've enjoyed having him back, sharing conversations about football, about recruiting, about people and everything."

Along with Cutcliffe came the hiring of Matt Luke as tight ends coach and Greg Adkins being switched to offensive line coach.

"Matt's a young enthusiastic guy who really works hard to please," Fulmer said. "He has great communication skills. I look forward to seeing him this offseason and seeing him on the field (for spring practice beginning in March)."

The Vols' coaches have been on the road recruiting most of this month, a definite change from years past when bowl preparations mingled with recruiting calls and quick out-of-town trips.

"It's been very different for us, not just for me, but for our whole staff," Fulmer said. "We've been on the road a little more than we normally would have been.

"Recruiting has gone well. I think everybody understands Tennessee is still Tennessee.

"The last time we went through this we won back-to-back SEC championships in 1989 and 1990."

But Fulmer has learned his lesson. He's not about to talk of SEC championship hopes.

"You won't hear me say anything like that," he said. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Work In Progress

Fulmer and Cutcliffe are in the process of looking for a receivers coach to replace Washington.

"We've all been on the road recruiting so there really hasn't been an opportunity since David was hired to have anybody in and do a quality interview," Fulmer said.

"We're looking at NFL and college people. You've got some contractual issues with people in the NFL and some people are playing in bowl games that we're looking at. We're just gathering information and seeing and talking to people as we go along."

They're also in wait-and-see mode regarding the future of three juniors, offensive tackle Arron Sears, defensive tackle Justin Harrell and offensive guard Rob Smith, all three considering a jump to the NFL.

"It's a process they have to go through," Fulmer said. "There are some of the grades back from the NFL committee that evaluates that and we've been in touch with them and the kids.

"Right now, I don't anticipate losing anybody, but you can't say that 100 percent. The process isn't over. I'll make a point, as I always do, to go and sit down with their families if they want me to. We'll do that close to the end of the year or right after the new year."

Biggest Lesson

In reflection, Fulmer has done some soul searching on the biggest lessons learned in 2005.

"You never assume anything," he said. "The mental toughness and physical toughness on either side of the ball is extremely important.

"Coming out of two-a-days, you would have expected us to be there. We all felt like we were. Chemistry is just really important, but everybody knows that."

As far as public opinion goes, Fulmer doesn't need a hammer to the head to realize 2005 fell far short of expectations.

"I'm one of the biggest critics," he said. "We need to play better. Period.

"I don't need somebody at the newspaper or on a radio show to tell me that. I'm sensitive to their concerns and I know what we need to do better."