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Phillip Fulmer - Former Tennessee football coach

Phillip Fulmer - Former Tennessee football coach

Former Tennessee offensive lineman Phillip Fulmer rose through the ranks of the Tennessee coaching staff, making his biggest impact as an offensive line coach and then as offensive coordinator before serving as interim football coach at the start of the 1992 season while then-head coach Johnny Majors recovered from heart surgery.

Near the end of the 1992 season Johnny Majors announced his resignation, and Phillip Fulmer became full-time head coach for the Hall of Fame Bowl (now Outback Bowl) against Boston College in Tampa Bay, Fla., that January, a 38-23 win for the Vols.

Phillip Fulmer's first full season as head coach in 1993 saw the Vols go 9-2-1, although the Alabama game, a 17-17 tie, would later be forfeited to Tennessee. In fact, six of coach Phillip Fulmer's first seven teams won at least nine games, highlighted by the 1998 consensus national championship team that finished 13-0, as well as an 11-1 team in 1995 that finished second in the coaches poll. This run of Phillip Fulmer's tenure also featured such Vol luminaries as Peyton Manning, Heath Shuler, James "Little Man" Stewart, Peerless Price, Charlie Garner, Jay Graham, Leonard Little, Jamal Lewis, Deon Grant, Al Wilson and several others such as these who also were drafted in the first few rounds of the NFL Draft.

Phillip Fulmer led Tennessee to the 2001 SEC Championship Game following the Vols' first win in Gainesville in 30 years, but UT surrendered a second-half lead to LSU and with it a shot at another BCS title berth. Despite that, UT finished 2001 with a 45-17 demolishing of Michigan.

Tennessee and Phillip Fulmer would again have 10-win seasons in 2003 and 2004, when a 38-7 blowout of Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl led the Vols to a No. 3 preseason ranking in 2005. Though no one could have known it at the time, it would be the highest Tennessee would climb in at least six seasons and counting as of 2011, as the Vols slid to an unexpected 5-6 record after starting the year with national championship aspirations. Phillip Fulmer brought back former offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe and the Vols rebounded to go 9-4 and 10-4 while he was back in Knoxville.

Once David Cutcliffe left to take the head job at Duke before the 2008 season, Phillip Fulmer hired former Richmond head coach Dave Clawson to take the helm of the Tennessee offense. It would prove a fateful decision, as the Vols sank to a 5-7 season, their most losses since 1977. Worse still, UT scored 24 points in a season-opening loss to a woeful UCLA team, and only averaged nine points per game in the other six losses. Finally, the Monday following a 27-6 loss at South Carolina on Nov. 1, 2008, Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton fired Phillip Fulmer.

Phillip Fulmer's final record at Tennessee was 152-52-1, a .741 winning percentage. Phillip Fulmer's teams played in five SEC Championship Games in his 15 seasons as coach, as well as the 1998 National Championship.

Former Tennessee offensive lineman Phillip Fulmer rose through the ranks of the Tennessee coaching staff, making his biggest impact as an offensive line coach and then as offensive coordinator before serving as interim football coach at the start of the 1992 season while then-head coach Johnny Majors recovered from heart surgery.

Near the end of the 1992 season Johnny Majors announced his resignation, and Phillip Fulmer became full-time head coach for the Hall of Fame Bowl (now Outback Bowl) against Boston College in Tampa Bay, Fla., that January, a 38-23 win for the Vols.

Phillip Fulmer's first full season as head coach in 1993 saw the Vols go 9-2-1, although the Alabama game, a 17-17 tie, would later be forfeited to Tennessee. In fact, six of coach Phillip Fulmer's first seven teams won at least nine games, highlighted by the 1998 consensus national championship team that finished 13-0, as well as an 11-1 team in 1995 that finished second in the coaches poll. This run of Phillip Fulmer's tenure also featured such Vol luminaries as Peyton Manning, Heath Shuler, James "Little Man" Stewart, Peerless Price, Charlie Garner, Jay Graham, Leonard Little, Jamal Lewis, Deon Grant, Al Wilson and several others such as these who also were drafted in the first few rounds of the NFL Draft.

Phillip Fulmer led Tennessee to the 2001 SEC Championship Game following the Vols' first win in Gainesville in 30 years, but UT surrendered a second-half lead to LSU and with it a shot at another BCS title berth. Despite that, UT finished 2001 with a 45-17 demolishing of Michigan.

Tennessee and Phillip Fulmer would again have 10-win seasons in 2003 and 2004, when a 38-7 blowout of Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl led the Vols to a No. 3 preseason ranking in 2005. Though no one could have known it at the time, it would be the highest Tennessee would climb in at least six seasons and counting as of 2011, as the Vols slid to an unexpected 5-6 record after starting the year with national championship aspirations. Phillip Fulmer brought back former offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe and the Vols rebounded to go 9-4 and 10-4 while he was back in Knoxville.

Once David Cutcliffe left to take the head job at Duke before the 2008 season, Phillip Fulmer hired former Richmond head coach Dave Clawson to take the helm of the Tennessee offense. It would prove a fateful decision, as the Vols sank to a 5-7 season, their most losses since 1977. Worse still, UT scored 24 points in a season-opening loss to a woeful UCLA team, and only averaged nine points per game in the other six losses. Finally, the Monday following a 27-6 loss at South Carolina on Nov. 1, 2008, Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton fired Phillip Fulmer.

Phillip Fulmer's final record at Tennessee was 152-52-1, a .741 winning percentage. Phillip Fulmer's teams played in five SEC Championship Games in his 15 seasons as coach, as well as the 1998 National Championship.

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