Phillip Fulmer: A Man for Too Many Seasons
By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com
It’s deer hunting season here in Minnesota. The first shot was fired sometime around dawn on Saturday, November 8. More than 500,000 hunters go after deer annually throughout the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Similarly, the first shots already have been fired in the annual college football coach hunting season.
The major heads on the mantle so far are Tommy Bowden (Clemson), Ron Prince (Kansas State), Ty Willingham (Washington) and Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee).
Curiously, the phrase often mentioned in the same sentence with Fulmer’s name from various print and broadcast media members around the nation is “forced out.” In and of itself, it’s a harmless phrase. But juxtaposed with the departure of a coach, the implications are diverse.
Minneapolis Star Tribune writer Kent Youngblood recently weighed in on this season’s coaching carousel firing up. “College football coaches are finding that schools have little time for losing seasons or unmet expectations.” By and large, that’s quite true. Ty Willingham has been a complete bust. Tommy Bowden has yet to remind anyone of his more successful father at Florida State. And Ron Prince has had less impact than a stiff breeze on a Kansas plain.
Turning his attention to Knoxville, the story is more complex than the brief picture Youngblood paints.
“In Tennessee Phillip Fulmer was forced out this week after the Volunteers stumbled to 3-6. But the firing came only months after Tennessee had given Fulmer a contract extension on the heels of a 10-4 season and a No. 12 final ranking in 2007.”
He seems to suggest Tennessee has no use for a coach who has one bad season. In truth, the state of affairs in Knoxville is much more than just one bad season.
If you follow the Tennessee Volunteers, you’re well aware of both the highs and lows of the Fulmer era. Unfortunately, many on the national scene look no further than the obvious when discussing the departure of any head coach. And in Fulmer’s case, looking at this year’s awful season on the heels of a trip to the SEC championship game, it’s only too easy to draw the conclusion his bosses are acting rashly.
The hard truth in Knoxville is that Phillip Fulmer, a decent man who has spent more than half of his life at his alma mater, likely needed to be removed from his post earlier than now. Perhaps much earlier.
Yes, he led the Vols to an SEC east division championship last season and nearly won the SEC championship game in Atlanta before a late interception secured LSU’s win. And yes, the Vols defeated a good Wisconsin team in the Outback Bowl.
But at the University of Tennessee, 10-4 records and second tier bowls don’t quite cut it. Especially when your primary coaching rivals, Nick Saban at Alabama, Urban Meyer at Florida and Mark Richt at Georgia, have appeared to pass you by. Alabama is currently ranked #1 in the BCS standings and will play Florida, winners of the 2006 national championship, in this year’s SEC championship game. Georgia (as well as the Tide and Gators) has been assembling vastly superior recruiting classes to those of the Vols. Throw in current national champion LSU and coach Les Miles and it makes you wonder why Fulmer isn’t endorsing Tums.
Consider the following numbers for the Vols:
- Their last national championship: 1998
- Their last SEC championship: 1998
- Their last BCS bowl win: 1998
- Their last BCS bowl appearance: 1998
- 1-9 vs. top ten teams in Neyland Stadium since 2000
The list of numbers goes on and on but the point is singular: The demise of a once-proud, elite-level football program has been a work in progress for quite some time. Contrary to what some suggest, what’s befallen Tennessee this year has not been The Perfect Storm. Rather, it’s the confluence of great coaches (some would argue superior to Fulmer) with better talent simply putting their footprint on Tennessee. And then rubbing their heels in just for good measure.
Sometimes coaches are indeed forced out well before they’ve had a chance to make their mark. Or, they’re “encouraged” to leave because solid won-loss records didn’t make up for an inability to beat their primary rival(s).
In the case of Phillip Fulmer, he made his mark in the 1990’s with two SEC championships and a national championship. And during that time, he won regularly against Alabama and Georgia. Although he came up short more often than not against Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators, the deep-pocket donors, as well as the vast majority of the fan base, were satisfied because the hated Crimson Tide were no longer a thorn in Tennessee’s side.
All of that has changed in a big way.
The Vols are now viewed as either a middle-of-the-pack SEC team – translation meaning they’re no better than perennially average Kentucky - or a laughingstock. A little bit of both is where the truth resides.
There are millions of reasons not to pity Phillip Fulmer. Six million of them, to be exact. He and his family are financially set for the rest of their lives thanks in part to a $6 million dollar buyout clause in his contract. Where his professional future goes from here is anybody’s guess.
Tennessee’s immediate future in football isn’t quite as secure as the Fulmer family. History suggests UT’s chances for a hiring miss are slightly greater than scoring big on their first try out of the box. Before USC found Pete Carroll, the Trojans went through four coaches before journeying back to their customary elite level. At Oklahoma, they ran through three before landing Bob Stoops.
But whatever happens, Fulmer being forced out wasn’t a rash decision and it wasn’t remotely unfair. It was the right thing to do for a program quietly heading in the wrong direction for more years than anyone will ever acknowledge.
phillip fulmer photo, courtesy wade payne associated press
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