South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was once a graduate assistant at Tennessee.
A former University of Tennessee graduate assistant is now the football head coach at South Carolina.
Shane Beamer has been hired to replace Will Muschamp as the Gamecocks head coach.
Beamer, who is the son of longtime Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, served as a graduate assistant at Tennessee under Phillip Fulmer between 2001-03.
“I have been blessed to be able to work for great coaches over my career,” Beamer said at his South Carolina introductory press conference. “I’ve learned so much from all of them.
“Phillip Fulmer hired me and gave me an opportunity to get into the SEC and the University of Tennessee.”
(AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Beamer began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech in 2000 before coming to Tennessee.
From UT, he went on to Mississippi State, where he worked for Sylvester Croom between 2004-06.
During his tenure with the Bulldogs, he coached cornerbacks, running backs and served as the recruiting coordinator.
He also served as an assistant at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier. In Columbia, Beamer coached safeties, outside linebackers and special teams.
Beamer also coached at Virginia Tech, Georgia and most recently, Oklahoma.
Any changes, along with the direction of the football department, will be evaluated as a whole from third-year Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer and others associated with the program in making sure they are deemed feasible in bettering UT in 2021.
Dec 7, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; University of Tennessee Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer (left) introduces Jeremy Pruitt (right) during his introduction ceremony as Tennessee’s next head football coach at the Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Calvin Mattheis/Knoxville News Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK
Rush Propst, Pruitt’s former boss at Hoover High School, joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” to discuss what could lie ahead for UT under a fourth year of the current regime.
“A lot of times we make changes based on, you just need to, because that is what people think you should do,” Propst said. “I don’t think Jeremy is that way a lot of times. I think he is pretty head strong when it comes to, I’m going to do it my way — he may not make a change period. I think he is the only one that can make that decision.
“He’s got to put a lot of thought to it, but outside looking in, being pundits and talking heads, it looks like with Mike Bobo, Will (Muschamp), Will Friend and Jeremy, they are all sort of got the same marriage type deal. They sort of know each other.”
An evaluation process for Pruitt would include what he would want to do personally and how drastic changes could be.
“First and foremost, you got to sit back and not pressure him and let him make the right call,” Propst said. “He may not make a change or he may make wholesale changes. I don’t know.
“I just know when you lost six in a row, after winning eight in a row, you have to reevaluate yourself, you have to reevaluate your staff, reevaluate what you are doing, is it strength and conditioning, are they getting the right nutrition, are they getting the proper rest, are they getting the proper work on the field. There is a fine line of a lot different things that a head coach has to evaluate. You have to self-evaluate yourself all the time.”
The entire show with Propst can be listened to here or below.
Fulmer discussed Jeremy Pruitt, whom he hired in Dec. 2017, and how the third-year Tennessee head coach compares to Johnny Majors through the first 30 games during their UT tenure.
“I had the experience of being part of coach Majors’ staff in the early 80s, and the programs are kind of in a similar place,” Fulmer said in comparing Majors and Pruitt. “It took Coach (Majors) into his fourth and fifth year to get things turned around, and, right now, everybody wished that it would happen quicker in the process.”
Dec 7, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; University of Tennessee Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer (left) introduces Jeremy Pruitt (right) during his introduction ceremony as Tennessee’s next head football coach at the Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Calvin Mattheis/Knoxville News Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK
Fulmer served as Majors’ offensive line coach from 1980-88.
Majors’ first season as head coach at Tennessee came in 1977, and through his first 30 games he was 14-15-1. Pruitt is currently 15-17 at Tennessee.
Following Fulmer’s analysis of Majors and Pruitt, Vols Wire discussed the matter on “The Tony Basilio Show” Thursday.
Phillip Fulmer details how he will evaluate Vols’ football from a big picture, realistically, not emotionally.
Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer appeared on the radio show “Vol Calls” Wednesday.
Fulmer provided his support for third-year Vols’ head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Fulmer hired Pruitt in Dec. 2017.
Pruitt is 15-17 during three seasons at Tennessee with one bowl victory.
Tennessee (2-5, 2-5 SEC) will play Florida, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt to conclude the 2020 regular season.
“The coaches right now are fully focused on the three games that we have left and with Florida coming into town,” Fulmer said on “Vol Calls.” “It’s always a tough game, but if we play really hard and take care of the ball better and get the ball back some, I think anything can happen.
“They’re a good, good football team, but as you said, as an athletic director I have the responsibility to lead the program and look it over and evaluate it and the progress that we’re making or not making. I have to really look at it from a big picture, and realistically, and not emotionally.”
Fulmer served as Johnny Majors’ offensive line coach from 1980-88. Majors’ first season as head coach at Tennessee came in 1977, and through his first 30 games he was 14-15-1.
“I had the experience of being part of Coach Majors’ staff in the early 80s, and the programs are kind of in a similar place,” Fulmer said in comparing Majors and Pruitt. “It took Coach (Majors) into his fourth and fifth year to get things turned around, and right now everybody wished that it would happen quicker in the process.”
Fulmer mentioned Tennessee is “a better football team than our record has shown.”
“Team plays hard and I think the Auburn game was a good example of that, but we’re not taking care of the ball and protecting it like we should, and we certainly haven’t gotten the takeaways that you would think a normal aggressive defense would get,” Fulmer said. “Giving great effort and taking care of the ball and getting the ball back are three of the things that you have to do to have a good team, and it’s not one particular group all the time. It’s just we’ve had a very inconsistent group and a lot of that is coming from youth.
“Coach Pruitt’s said it a bunch of times, we’ve offensively and defensively, just can’t have those catastrophic plays that we’ve had, that have cost us games.”
Story detailing Phillip Fulmer testing positive for COVID-19.
University of Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer has tested positive for COVID-19.
He announced his diagnosis in a social media post via Twitter Friday, one day after receiving the initial positive test.
“Yesterday, I learned that I had returned a positive test for COVID-19, and I immediately began following our isolation protocol. A second test confirmed the previous positive. I remain asymptomatic at this point, I am feeling fine and will continue to work remotely while adhering to CDC and local health department guidelines. I have not been deemed to be in close contact with any of our student-athletes or sport-specific staff members.” — Phillip Fulmer
He played for the Vols and was an assistant coach under Johnny Majors at UT.
Fulmer first became interim head coach in 1992 when Majors was sidelined with heart problems.
In 1998, he guided the Vols to a 13-0 record and the 1998 national championship with a win over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. Tennessee won the first BCS championship.
After becoming Tennessee’s Director of Athletics, Fulmer hired Jeremy Pruitt as the Vols’ head coach for football.
Tennessee and Phillip Fulmer recruited Brown to play linebacker. After Brown committed to the Vols, then-Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville recruited him for a chance in playing running back.
“Ronnie Brown had committed to Tennessee,” Tuberville said on the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days.” “They wanted him as a linebacker. We went and recruited him as a running back and got Ronnie and Carnell, so we were able to snag a couple away from Phillip, and made us a much better football team.”
Brown committed to Auburn and was part of the Tigers’ 2000 signing class. He redshirted during the 2000 season.
Williams followed suit in 2001 and was a tough task for Tuberville in flipping the Etowah High School (AL) running back away from Tennessee.
“It was a battle, no doubt about it,” Tuberville said of Williams’ recruitment. “We were his last visit the week before signing day. We were just trying to hold on to the visit, much less get him to sign.”
Williams was committed to Tennessee, but always kept Alabama and Auburn in his top three schools. The Crimson Tide had a head coaching change from Mike DuBose to Dennis Franchione following the 2000 season, narrowing Williams’ choice to Tennessee and Auburn at the end.
“They had just changed at Alabama, which helped both with me and Phillip,” Tuberville said. “Eddie Gran, our running backs coach, had been recruiting him. Eddie is a great recruiter, good coach, and built a good relationship with him. Unfortunately, before he comes to us, Carnell commits to Phillip Fulmer on his visit and called me and Eddie Gran, and said ‘I am not taking my visit, I am going to Tennessee’.
“We just begged him to come — finally I said ‘Carnell, at least let me come see you and visit with you’. He said ‘okay Coach, I’ll see you Monday afternoon, after school’. I took every coach with me — boys we are loading up. We flew up to where Carnell was at, and I took every coach. I actually took a picture of Bo Jackson and put Carnell’s face on Bo’s picture holding the Heisman Trophy. I think with all of the attention that we gave him and his Mom, that we earned that visit that weekend. They all came, and fortunately he flipped and came to our place.”
On Feb. 7, 2001, Williams signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Auburn and Tuberville.
Brown was the No. 2 pick in the 2005 NFL draft, while Williams went No. 5 overall. Brown rushed for 2,735 yards and 28 touchdowns. Williams totaled 3,831 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns during his career at Auburn.
How Kendal Briles could affect Jim Chaney, Vols’ coaching staff.
Kendal Briles has been a coach on the rise within college football during the last decade.
Briles is in his first season as Arkansas’ offensive coordinator. He has a one-year contract worth $1 million, as it will expire Feb. 28, 2021. First-year Razorbacks’ head coach Sam Pittman has the option, upon his recommendation, to retain Briles for the next two seasons.
FAYETTEVILLE, AR – NOVEMBER 7: Feleipe Franks #13 and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles of the Arkansas Razorbacks talk on the field before a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Razorback Stadium on November 7, 2020 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
November is a time within the sport and business of college football in which schools, coaches and agents begin to posture clients for potential jobs when the season ends.
If Briles has an opportunity to continue moving up the coaching ladder following the conclusion of the 2020 season, Pittman would seek to fill his void.
That void could be filled with Tennessee’s offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Chaney and Pittman coached alongside each other at Arkansas from 2013-14. The duo also coached together at Tennessee (2012) and Georgia (2016-18).
Pittman understands at a school like Arkansas, being creative and physical on offense is key in competing with top teams in the Southeastern Conference. Chaney has been able to scheme creatively at various stops, including Purdue where he served as co-offensive coordinator alongside Tim Lappano.
“At the end of the day, he knows you have to be physical. No matter what scheme you are playing, you better be physical, or you are not going to go where you need to go — and it all comes down to that. No matter what system it is, you have to be physical.”
If Chaney were to leave for another position such as Arkansas, he has one year remaining on his Tennessee contract worth $1.7 million. Below is his contract in terms of a buyout.
Tennessee will also be in position to potentially fill four other assistant coaching vacancies on Jeremy Pruitt’s staff following the 2020 season.
Phillip Fulmer releases statement on Tennessee-Texas A&M postponement.
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee (2-4, 2-4 SEC) was set to host Texas A&M (5-1, 5-1 SEC) Saturday at Neyland Stadium (3:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).
On Tuesday, the Southeastern Conference announced that the contest has been postponed due to a combination of positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Texas A&M football program, consistent with league COVID-19 management requirements.
“We appreciate Texas A&M’s communication this week,” Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer said. “Our football program continued with its traditional game-week preparation as we awaited a decision on the status of Saturday’s game. We received confirmation of the game’s postponement this afternoon, and we will share pertinent updates with ticket holders via email and social media as developments occur.”
The game will be tentatively rescheduled for Dec. 12.
