No bowl game this year for Tennessee but finishing 5-7 and beating Vandy and Kentucky is enough for me. What a great way to end the year. I have been one of the guys asking for change at UT this year. I am excited about the hiring of a young new coach to lead the Vol nation. Coach Fulmer was once a young assistant coach with no head coaching experience on the college level and that tuned out great. It will be fun to see what Lane Kiffin will bring to UT and at least we will not be running the SPREAD, I may be the only person in America that is already tired of it.
I have been watching Coach Fulmer lead Tennessee since I was 15 years old. I was thrilled when he took the job from Johnny Majors and he did what he said he would do . Coach Fulmer took Tennessee to the next level. I just want to say thanks. I watched his last game and was once again blown away by the class act that is Phil Fulmer. Just a few things I took from watching Coach Fulmer lead UT…
- Spend your life doing something you would do for free because you believe in it that much. Coach invested his life in a University and football program he was a part of at every level. He loved his job.
- Relationships matter…Phil was a great recruiter and always invested his life in his players and coaches.
- Praise the TEAM when you win and take the heat when you loose! Coach Fulmer never played the blame game in a loss and never took all the credit in a win. it was about the team and the program.
- Empower leaders to LEAD. I loved that Coach Fulmer let his staff of coaches actually coach and make the big calls. Fulmer always had had a stable staff for that reason.
- Let your family be a part of your career! It was so cool to see Fulmer’s daughters with him on the sidelines over the years. Coach Fulmer’s family was a part of the University family.
Thanks Coach Fulmer! It has been a fun 17 years. Thanks for all you did for the University of Tennessee.