Fishing the Internet for "keepers" on Fulmer's legacy (updated 11/29)

  • By Jack Lail
  • Posted November 27, 2008 at 7:33 a.m. , updated November 29, 2008 at 11:06 a.m.
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UT Coach Phillip Fulmer

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess

UT Coach Phillip Fulmer

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The public farewell for Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer is this Saturday afternoon and night at Neyland Stadium and his remarkable long-running success at Tennessee is being remembered and measured across the Internet.

Forget about this season and the coaching change and who might be hired next for a moment to consider the legacy of a man who, as a player and later coach, spent over three and a half decades in the storied Tennessee football program.

I think you'll find some interesting "keepers" (as former News Sentinel sports editor Marvin West likes to say) below.

Send me an email if see any other pieces that need to on this list or if you're a blogger that we've missed. We'll add to this list over the next few days.

I have received several suggestions and really nice emails. Keep them coming.

Larry Parker of Knoxville writes:

"A few years ago I believe in 2001 my son; who was a promising athlete himself with a bright future ahead of him as a high school sophomore was diagnosed with Crohns disease and fighting for his life. We lived in Alabama at the time and coach Fulmer wrote him a letter of encouragement and hope. Included with a signed hat and photo. He is a class act, someone once said it’s not a matter of winning it’s how you win that counts “win with class”. And Phillip Fulmer has won with class. He will soon be missed very much. Thanks coach and God Bless."

Chuck Zirkle of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., writes:

"I have been so proud of what Coach Fulmer has accomplished at the University. Even in business, you can not always be on top. I guess those who make the decisions look at what have you've done for me this year. Most universities would love to have such a record that Phil has brought to UT. Third winnest percentage of active coaches behind Bobby Bowden and PaPa Joe at Penn State. That is nothing to sneeze at.

"I remember another time when Bill Battle was a victim of such pressures also. Moving vans coming to his home and other unprofessional behavior. I hope they did not do this to Phil and his family.

"I am really glad to have met Phil at the Touchdown Club a number of years ago in Charleston, SC and have had my picture with him. I will always cherish it as it is proudly displayed in my sports room. Phil is a class act and I wish that those who were responsible had one-tenth as much class. I know that in the short near future the University will realize how much he gave and how much he will be missed.

"Growing up ten miles from the university and attending there in the sixties, I am a very disappointed native of east Knoxville and the big orange country.

"The best of luck to Phil and his family!"

Ted Miracle in Charlotte, N.C., suggested the Charlotte Observer's Maurice Staley story linked below. Here's what he said:

"I am a lifelong Vol fan who grew up in Knoxville, graduated from UT, and has lived in Charlotte since 1993. I'm blessed to be able to support the VASF and have attended all home games this year except UAB."

"Some Vol fans may remember the name Maurice Staley. Maurice played at West Charlotte High and was the number one receiver recruit in the nation in 1993. He did not do well at UT and was put off the team because of marijuana after his sophomore year. There is a superb article about Maurice Staley in today's Charlotte Observer that I believe speaks volumes to the legacy of Coach Fulmer. I hope you read it and post a link to it so other Vol fans can read it. The Charlotte Observer's website is www.charlotteobserver.com. It is in the sports section, is titled He's Back from a Rocky Spot and was written by Langston Wertz."

"Coach Fulmer's legacy is not just about winning football games. It is about building the Tennessee family and reaching young men in positive ways. Coach Fulmer helped Maurice turn his life around by helping him get his education when Maurice made the decision to get off drugs in 2003. He went back to school and told Coach Fulmer about his decision. Coach Fulmer offered to pay to finish his education if Maurice paid the first year. Maurice got his college degree and is now living in Knoxville, He is married, has two children, works as a psychiatric counselor, is working towards a divinity degree, and is a youth pastor at a Knoxville-area Baptist church. Coach Fulmer did not have to help Maurice. I think most coaches would not reach out to a player who was a bust almost a decade earlier. The article says a lot about the kind of man to whom Tennessee is saying goodbye."

"I know I am in a minority, but I am a Tennessee fan who thinks forcing Coach Fulmer's resignation was an error. I believe he would have gotten things on track next year with the great recruiting class we used to have committed. I know winning is necessary, but I fear Tennessee will become like almost every other program in that most coaches are hired mercenaries who will be gone in a few years no matter what. If they do well, they move to the next opportunity. If they do not, they are fired. I hope I am wrong and the new coach (Lane Kiffin or whomever) returns the Vols to an elite status, stays for many years, and continues the Fulmer legacy of building young men and honoring the Tennessee football family that includes players, coaches, staff, community, university, and Vol fans everywhere."

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