Players feeling effects after Fulmer ouster

Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers woke up each of the last two days hoping that head coach Phillip Fulmer's dismissal was just a dream.

Same goes for defensive end Wes Brown.

But after two days on the practice field spent preparing for Saturday's 1 p.m. homecoming game against Wyoming - and as Tennessee's search for Fulmer's replacement begins in earnest - players are still struggling to come to grips with the events set in motion by Monday's announcement.

"I still can't believe what just happened," said Ayers, who was voted one of UT's six captains by teammates. "I wake up in the morning like, 'Am I going to wake up from a dream?' It's not easy to get over."

Shortly after UT defeated Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, it's been one tough break after another, said sophomore receiver Gerald Jones.

"This whole year feels like a nightmare to me," Jones said. "Starting February when a lot of players were getting in trouble, including myself, then the offense not executing up to its potential, with me personally getting hurt, not being able to do what I do, I got Coach Fulmer to worry about.

"It's been a nightmare for me. I don't know what to do. Just get on my knees and pray about it."

For some, practice has been a safe-haven.

Quarterback Nick Stephens called UT's two workouts "refuge."

"It's just a couple hours a day to go out there and play football and not think about anything else," he said. "I think it's a way for the coaches to get away a little bit from what's going on and for us."

For Jones, though, the routine of workouts, practices and meetings provide little shelter.

"I wish you could get away from it," said Jones, a native of Oklahoma City, Okla. "It was a very weird Tuesday at practice. Everybody was like, 'It's not going to be like this next year.' It was tough. It's been very depressing, especially for me. I'm 12 hours from home, and I came to this school because I felt like (Fulmer) was going to be here through all my years. Now he's not here. I don't know whether to break down. ... I don't know what to do."

In the two days since Monday's announcement, players have found time for introspection. Some players, including Brown, feel responsiblity for UT's 3-6 record that ultimately led to Fulmer's ouster.

"In a way, we feel responsible for this, too," Brown said Wednesday, the first time players have spoken publicly since Ramon Foster and Eric Berry took questions at Monday's press conference. "If we'd have done this or that ... we take a burden on our shoulders. We feel bad. It's just a bad situation. We want to send coach Fulmer out a winner, and that's our main priority right now."

Tailback Arian Foster had the following response when asked if the players felt any responsibility for what happened to Fulmer:

"I don't think that's fair to put it on the players or the coaches because we're a collective team. But obviously you do see the effects. . . . They like to call us amateur athletes, but when you see things that stink like this, not just the job of coach Fulmer but everybody around's job is in jeopardy. That amateur athletic status kind of dwindles."

As Tennessee's coaching search heats up in the coming week, the Vols are hoping to win their three remaining games to earn a possible bowl berth.

But with the coaching search ongoing, the idea of having a new coach this time next year isn't easy.

"I don't think it's set in, what it's going to be like," Stephens said. "We have three games left, and coach Fulmer is still here. I guess it hasn't hit some of us yet. We know it's reality, and it will be very weird when he's not here any more."