KNOXVILLE — Tennessee football is rich in tradition and Vols Wire will explore the program by examining each head coach’s tenure.
This installment will recap Phillip Fulmer’s time as head coach in Big Orange Country.
Fulmer was head coach at Tennessee from 1992-2008. He is one of the top coaches in the great history of UT’s program.
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. The former Vol coached UT in the first three games that year, going 3-0 and posting wins over Southwestern Louisiana, Georgia and Florida.
Majors returned and finished the season, going 6-3 with consecutive losses to Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina, after beating LSU in his first game back on the sideline. The losses to the Crimson Tide and Razorbacks came in the friendly confines of Neyland Stadium.
The Vols rebounded to beat Memphis State, Kentucky and Vanderbilt before Majors was forced out.
Fulmer was named head coach on Nov. 29, 1992, and guided UT to a victory over Boston College in the Hall of Fame Bowl.
Tennessee enjoyed some of its best years under Fulmer, who went 152-52 in his career. He won five Southeastern Conference Eastern Division championships (1997, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007). He also nabbed a pair of consecutive conference titles in 1997 and 1998.
In 1998, he guided the Vols to a perfect 13-0 record and the 1998 national championship with a win over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. Tennessee won the first BCS championship.
He had two losing seasons on Rocky Top, going 5-6 in 2005 and 5-7 in 2008.
The College Football Hall of Famer was fired in 2008 and told during homecoming week he would not return as coach.
His tenure ended with back-to-back wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
His departure, much like Majors’ was bitter, but he is now the school’s athletics director.