Former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer tells NCAA.com reporter Adam Caparell that "being bitter is like taking poison and expecting somebody else to die."
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 215
TheVolMan writes:
Good, let's see the major schools who want him.
TommyJack writes:
If he really wants a coaching job, I hope he gets it. In the meantime, he can oversee the production of the "Tickle Me Fulmo" dolls. Could be bigger than the Cabbage Patch phenomenon.
volnbig11land writes:
Thanks for all you did, but honestly I don't think your door is going to be beat down...
GoVol writes:
Fulmer - just please go away. Pack your office, your bags and your family and please simply leave! Good man, poor coach!
jdcvols#230433 writes:
It was a good article about Fulmer, however, he had control of his exit at UT. What makes him think he will ever have that again?
SilasDogooder writes:
TommyJack, I just about busted a gut when I read this. Bravo!
DancingOutlaw writes:
he's been out of a job for months. coach hiring season has come and gone. yet he sits at home. maybe he can get on as quarles' headset carrier?
UrbanStopCallingMe writes:
Just for the record, I'm open to any coaching positions that are available.
My resume:
I'm a Nice guy,
I Loves the University of Tennesseee
I can't beat Florida.
Thanks for the consideration, I could use 3 Mil a year.
gohawks1 writes:
Good luck Coach Fulmer. I wish you the very best, and thanks for all you did for the university. You are a class act.
Volchaz writes:
I'd like to comment on this article, but I'm going to have to watch the film first...
Ironcity writes:
Most of you guys are brutal. Leave it be. I hope he gets what he wants and is successful at it. He did bring an NC to UT during my lifetime and for that I will always be grateful.
Volunatic writes:
I think Phil WILL get a coaching job somewhere-- either a mid-major (non BCS conf) school or a beaten-down BCS school that could benefit from some good recruiting (like what the zooker got over in Champaign).
I wish Coach Fulmer luck in all of his future endeavors.
Volunatic writes:
GoVol-- just please go away. Pack your office (or cubicle, or employee locker next to the fry station), your bags, your family (I mean your goldfish) and please simply LEAVE! Good person, poor fan.
Fulmer doesn't deserve any of your vitriol.
redrod writes:
A fine coach that will be missed by allot of die hard UT Fans. A legacy of winning that I for one enjoyed.Coach Fulmer, good luck on your future endeavors.
law_vol writes:
Wow, what an irritating article. I thought I was going to read a one-on-one interview with Phil that showed some insight into how he feels about things after national signing day. Instead, I get a very loaded article that merely peppers in a few quotes and makes the whole thing a little disjointed.
Oh, and I'm a bit tired of the pity party about how his family suffered all these years with him working so hard. He didn't get drafted into a war, he voluntarily chose to work in what turned out to be a VERY lucrative job. I'm sure his family cried themselves to sleep every night on huge pillows of cash while the University refused to let him quit coaching to spend more time with them.
And, if you are going to point out winning the SEC East and the SECCG in 07 as proof that it was crazy to fire Phil, then at least point out that winning the SEC East that year was like being valadictorian of summer school, and they gave the eventual national champions a run for their money because they had a back-up qb and the best defensive lineman in the country (arguable in the last few years) was way less than 100% and ineffective.
Just sayin.
VAvolfanRON writes:
Thanks goodness there are a few mature posters on here. I wish nothing but the best for Fulmer. I was at UT in the early '80s, and I have to admit, that I personally never thought I would live to see a national championship. Fulmer gave that to me and I thank him.
I hope Kiffin will give us another.
DennisVols writes:
Coach Fulmer and staff had gone to auto-pilot at UT. He said he didn't see it coming. How could he have not seen it coming? The fan base was fractrured, the team showed no passion for winning, games against our top rivals had become an after thought to them because UT was no longer competitive. Weekly stories involving players had more to do with what they did off the field than on.
I liked coach Fulmer, was one of the last to say lets give him a chance, but the facts became more clear with each passing week. This team had no direction, no drive, no passion.
I don't know if Fulmer lost the desire or he let it get away from him and just could not get it back.
I hope the best for Fulmer and believe he could become a good or even great coach somewhere else.
If he didn't see this coming then it only proves my thought that they had gone to auto-pilot.
TommyJack writes:
Sounds about right.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Who is this "we" of whom you speak?
Volunatic writes:
No "pity party" here--I think it was the right time to have a coaching change, but now that the change has been made, I am annoyed by idiots still trashing Fulmer on these boards. He did a lot of good things for UT football. He wasn't able to sustain his previous level of success, and so worthless excuses for "fans" with no memory of pre-Fulmer UT football (and no "lives" IMO) hold that against him personally.
law_vol writes:
The negative comments to this article have nothing to do with building up Lane by trashing Phil. For most if not all of these fans, their feelings on Phil were a long time in the making.
Everyone should be grateful for the run we had in the 90's and 2001. Dominating Michigan in the Capital One bowl was one of the most enjoyable games I've watched TN play (I liked the outcome of the NC game, but we didn't have as complete a game as we did in 2001).
However, Phil didn't set the bar/expectations high. That bar was already there, which is why Majors got fired for having the same win percentage is his last 4-5 years as Phil did in his last 4-5 years. TN fans, boosters, and athletic admin have been and never will be ok with slightly above par performance. Phil deserves a lot of credit, but he doesn't deserve to be credited with the Vols winning spirit. He just helped to maintain it.
smoky50 writes:
FOOLMER RESUME HEADING-I will "work like heck" during practice, look at the film, look at some more film, work like heck, and clap when we screw up.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Ditto to all!
RoyaltyVol#280778 writes:
I wish coach Fulmer the best, he is a class act!
DancingOutlaw writes:
i think fulmer's downfall was what he claimed to love best: recruiting. the NC team was a perfect storm of talent, not something consistently seen in knoxville. those types of players aren't perennial recruits, more like once a decade or two. yet he won a NC, and the fans assumed this was the start of a new trend. the afterglow from the NC carried recruiting for a couple seasons, but after sort of sputtering around and the difficulty surviving the SEC to even get to the NC recruits starting looking elsewhere. i think he started lowering his standards on attitude to get talent to try to keep up with fan's expectations. while on paper that might make sense, once those kids come to campus they're more likely to get into trouble, decide UT is the "look at me" show (and pout when it turns out not to be) and overall have a very limited return on their scholarship. we had a lot of pickups that were paper tigers and translated to zilch on the field. i think this was ultimately his undoing. you can blame it on some of the kids being busts (every class has them), but they becamme too common to simply be normal.
TommyJack writes:
Exactly. Does he have worms?
Ironcity writes:
I agree with everything you wrote. I would add that I was glad we made the change and was even more pleased we hired Kiffin. I believe teams in the SEC and their fans are worried about UT because of the passion that coach Kiffin brings to the job. If his skill matches his passion, their is no doubt that we will back on top soon.
The same fear I see in other teams fans I also see in some of our fans. Their seems to be a fear that Fulmer might go off and perform well. Their seems to be a fear that if he did well it might look like UT made the wrong decision.
There is no doubt that UT made the right decision to move on from Fulmer. It don't need to root against him to justify his firing. I hope he does great where ever he ends up, but I am convinced that we made the right decision and no matter what happens, I am comfortable with that.
posivol writes:
more like this,majors couldnt beat bama,fulmer couldnt beat florida and kiffin cant beat anybody.
law_vol writes:
True, True, lets at least wait and see.
Volunatic writes:
Kind of hard to win games in the offseason.
crappieking writes:
A class act for sure. Average coach that let the game pass him by. As far as feeling sorry for him and his family? Can't do it. $128,000/month for 4 years. WOW!!!!!!
posivol writes:
clemson would have done well to pull the trigger on that dual hire.big boy had a top 5 class coming in at u.t. but we settled w/ top 25 and a unproven new coach.
i dont expect this new mouthy young coach to make it here,the fans will turn on him in a heartbeat after a few serious beatdowns.
im sure he will leave the cupboard full w/ this recruiting staff he assembled but i dont believe for minute he can coach a lick.
remember this is the clown that sent his kicker out for a 73 yarder and stole 3 million from the raider organization.
looks like we will be spending in excess of 10 million to buy out his whole family in a couple of years.
only good thing to come out of it all,we will get to send that idiot hammy packing along with him.
allvol9 writes:
I wish Coach Fulmer only the best. He will always be a Tennessee Vol and it amazes me when people trash him. UT has moved on with a new coach and there is alot of excitment. Phil is a UT Vol forever....and I hope he gets a great coaching opportunity in the near future. And unless he is coaching against UT....I will pull for him to win wherever he is at. He has earned that.
NorthwestVol writes:
Good points all. If he does get another shot I hope he'll bring in a couple of hard case coordinators to ride herd on disipline. I'd like to see him succeed.
NorthwestVol writes:
So I assume that "Posi" in your name is a shot at satire?
asleep#212036 writes:
I wish Coach Fulmer well and he has shown amazing restraint under the pressure of the news media to comment on Lane Kiffin and his new staff. That is especially true considering the potential recruiting class he had lined up and the [self-induced] firestorm Coach Kiffin has already started in the conference with his comments about various coaches/universities. I think Phil is a pretty good coach - I just think he fell victim to what every long-term coach falls victim to eventually - complacency. Given a new challenge at a different school, he might just surprise some people. But at UT, it was just his time to go. Hopefully, both parties will prosper going forward and there will be no long-term bitterness. I do think Kiffin should reach out, at least symbolically, to Fulmer and start the healing process. Fulmer didn't do it with Majors and look where that has gotten us. Go Vols!!!
Go4Two writes:
Average...He is without question the 2nd best coach in UT history If not the best taking nothing away from the General but today's schedule is must tougher.
posivol writes:
and dont forget majors best years was w/ fulmer as his o.c. and recruiting hotshot.
ill give fulmer props for taking us to the next level,it was the right decision at the time.
i dont agree w/ the new direcdtion,i think its a shot in the dark.
maybe if we had hired monte as the hc w/ lane as the oc and hc in waiting.
other than that i think we just rolled the dice and are hoping for the best.a little patience would have netted us john gruden,a proven championship caliber head coach.
next year on the sidelines when you see lane throwing hissy fits,just imagine what could have been :-(
TD_4_UT writes:
It's very apparent when you look at the record, Fulmer could'nt win without Cutcliff. Kinda makes you wonder who the coach really was?
Volunatic writes:
Oh, I thought it was an abbreviated form of "poseur Vol".
law_vol writes:
... and then your King was shown the door for having the same winning percentage as the past two coaches in their waning years, and for believing that winning SEC championships and and NC a decade ago was more important than the current state of affairs.
Sure, Majors mouth and attitude played a part, but the you missed the point I was making. It was only when Majors failed to meet the University's winning expectations did the University decide putting up with him wasn't worth it. AGAIN PHIL DIDN'T CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE OF WINNING EXPECTATIONS, HE WAS BROUGHT IN TO MAINTAIN IT.
posivol writes:
bout like saying majors didnt win without fulmer as the oc.but wait he did win a nc at pittsburgh just couldnt bring it to ut.
posivol writes:
im positive our new coach is not ready to lead...hows that!
mrsvol writes:
Fulmer's top five class was ranked very early; around the time of his firing it was around 13 (maybe even a little worse) much because of the terrible offense and season the Vols were enduring, and many of the uncommitted recruits were starting to look elsewhere as UT wasn't too appealing at the time. Phil was a great coach and I respect and I'm greatful for all he did while at UT but his time is done and I wish him well as all vol fans should. Now is a new time, frankly an exciting time for the University of Tennessee and fans. There is an excitement and passion growing right now that has been absent for quite some time. Much of it has to do with hope. We hope that CLK can bring back competiveness, accountability, passion, and in time, even a National Championship. Let us not forget last year's recruiting class...I think we did very well this year, and I am extremely excited to see what our vols can do in the fall. Best wishes to Coach Fulmer and let's go Coach Kiffin and Vols!
TD_4_UT writes:
As for Fulmer coaching somewhere else, I'll have to see it to believe it. UT's decline over the years was not only witnessed by UT's fans, but nation wide.
GerryOP writes:
Fulmer was a nice guy, not a very good coach, and sorry that he is so resentful about his departure.
TNPilgrim writes:
I've never seen any organization go to such lengths to kiss the butt of somebody they just fired; Fulmer has no business with an office in Stokely or anywhere else near the Athletic Dept. He'll cause nothing but disruption and distraction for the new coach and staff during the critical time when the players need to be concentrating on acceptance of Kiffen's new system. Seems like no matter what the situation, UT just doesn't have a clue when it comes to dealing with human relations. The best thing for all concerned would be for Fulmer to get another coaching job, hopefully at a good school in another conference - someplace like Louisville might be a good fit. At any rate, Phil needs to take his $6 Million and move on.
TD_4_UT writes:
Majors did'nt inherit the team that Fulmer did. He built the program that Fulmer got.
vol1994 writes:
If UT goes 4-8 (12 games next year, not 11), 5-7, 6-6, or 7-5 I do not blame Kiffin. Can we believe that we are even talking about losing more than 3 games in a season?
Fulmer did a lot for our program but is the cause of its downfall. Look at our o and d lines. We have zero depth because he didn't recruit them and couldn't close.
He needs to be AWAY FROM THE PROGRAM, period, and can come back at some capacity 5 years or so from now when we get things in the right direction.
BigVolinCarolina writes:
I'm sincerely asking this (not sarcastically): Why does Coach Fulmer continue to believe he "deserved a chance to fix it"?
How can he honestly say that? He had plenty of opportunities to fix the program. Look at our record from 1993-2001, and then compare it to 2002-2008. Our program had been in a downward spriral since 2002. We averaged over 4 losses per year since 2000.
With all due respect, Coach Fulmer had plenty of chances to right the ship. I truly hate that it didn't work out, but he has no one to blame but himself--regardless of what happens with Lane Kiffin.
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