Loyalty Betrayed

Fulmer forced out after 17 years at Tennessee
by Max Renfro

On Monday, November 03, 2008, an era came to an end at the University of Tennessee, as the University unceremoniously relieved head football coach Phillip Fulmer of his duties effective at the end of the 2008 season. Coach Fulmer as a player, a graduate assistant, assistant coach and head coach has spent 35 years and 426 games associated with the University. Fulmer is number two in both, total wins and winning percentage among head coaches at the University of Tennessee, ranking only behind legendary Tennessee coach General Robert R Neyland. Fulmer ranks third nationally in winning percentage among active head coaches with at least 10 years of service.

The Downfall
Fulmer’s downfall has to do with his inability to get back to the top of the mountain after winning the first ever college football BCS Championship game in 1998 and posting a 13-0 record, something no other SEC BCS Champion has been able to accomplish. A near miss came in 2001 as Fulmer’s Vols, an 18-point underdog to the Florida Gators pulled an upset in the Swamp to thrust them into the #2 spot in the BCS standings and a possible match up with #1 ranked Miami Hurricanes in the Rose Bowl. The lone obstacle was in the SEC title game against LSU, whom the Vols had previously defeated during the regular season. But, it was not to be as Tennessee fumbled its way out of contention for a title shot.

Three more chances for an SEC title eluded Fulmer’s teams in ’03 when a three-way tie breaker rule was amended by the SEC commissioner late in the season and Georgia was selected as the East representative in the SEC title game, again in ’04 as Tennessee’s chances were nixed in a loss to an undefeated Auburn in the SEC title game as the Vols were down to their third string QB Rick Clausen after season ending injuries freshmen starters Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer. The final chance came last year when the Vols lost to eventual National Champion LSU in Atlanta title game after leading most of the game until and Erik Ainge TD interception gave the lead to the Tigers.

The Tenure
With the possibility that Coach Fulmer will end his 17 year head coaching career at UT with only one losing season or at the most two if they fail to win their final three games, has he been treated fairly by his Alma Mater? The fact that Phil has remained loyal for so many years doesn’t he deserve a little more loyalty for the school? With the surge of sports talk radio in every city, Al Gore’s invention of the internet, colleges have become less loyal to their coaches and seem to be bowing to the pressure of some of the more vocal fans, some of which never donate money and never attend games. It has become hard for the administration to withstand the pressure to keep up with rival schools and disgruntled fans. Some schools have over zealous boosters who throw their weight around in proportion to the amount of money they use to buy their way into the program. You only have to look back a few years ago at the Jet-Gate incident at Auburn or Logan Young’s affair at Alabama, to see that it has become a dangerous situation with big time booster involvement.

At Tennessee I don’t believe this was the case, at least on the surface, as the big money guys have remained hidden from public comments on Fulmer’s problems this year. It has mostly come from the fan base on the chat boards, talk radio callers and several sportswriters with there own agendas that actually have their loyalties to opposing schools.

Time for a Change?
Was it time for a change? That decision is never easy, and I am glad it was not mine to make. I believe football fans often grow tired of the same face and after a number of years and think the grass is greener with the next great flavor-of-the-month, up-and-coming coach.

A large number of Alabama fans thought so, as many wanted new blood after seven years of the Gene Stallings regime, even though he had brought them a National Championship and an SEC title. They felt his offense was too boring and had become stale. Stallings decided to step down and leave the moaning and groaning of the fans behind, although I don’t think he was truly ready to slip into retirement. This led to a coaching revolving door for the next 10 years for the Tide that saw them fall into football’s abyss.

Now the same has become true with Tennessee fan's opinions of Fulmer’s offense, as many feel the need to move to a more wide-open spread, although this years team’s production has given them a legitimate reason to complain. In the end Phillip Fulmer was confronted by A. D. Mike Hamilton that a change was needed in the University’s football program and being the loyal Vol that he is, Phil decided that to preserve the union of the Tennessee family. He would do what was best for his beloved University of Tennessee, even though he felt he could right the ship as he had done just one year ago.

In my opinion anything less than a near perfect season and an SEC title next year would have once more started the fans barking, so it is probably best that the Phillip Fulmer era has come to a close in 2008, the 10th anniversary of his greatest accomplishment at Tennessee, hoisting the Waterford Crystal in Tempe, Arizona which thankfully I was there to see it happen. I just hope the next head coach at the University is as loyal as Phil has been and isn’t just making a pit-stop as he seeks a bigger pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.