Phillip Fulmer

College coach infobox
Name = Phillip Fulmer


Caption =
ImageWidth = 250px
DateOfBirth = birth date and age|mf=yes|1950|9|1
Birthplace = Winchester, Tennessee
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Football
College = Tennessee
Title = Head Coach
CurrentRecord = 148–48
OverallRecord = 148–48
Awards = 1998 Eddie Robinson Award
1998 The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award
Championships = 1997-98 Southeastern Conference
1998 National Championship
CFbDWID = 824
Player = Y
Years = 1968-71
Team = Tennessee
Position = Offensive Guard
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1992-Present
1989-1991
1980-1988
1979
1974-1978
CoachTeams = University of Tennessee
- Head Coach
University of Tennessee
- Offensive Coordinator
University of Tennessee
- Assistant Coach
Vanderbilt University
- Assistant Coach
Wichita State University
- Offensive Line Coach
- Linebackers Coach
FootballHOF =

Phillip Fulmer (born September 1, 1950 in Winchester, Tennessee), is the head football coach at the University of Tennessee, where he has been since 1992. Fulmer is the 20th head football coach in the history of the school.

Before coaching

Fulmer grew up in Winchester, Tennessee where he attended Franklin County High School. Fulmer enrolled at the University of Tennessee as a student in 1968. He promptly joined the football team as an offensive guard. Fulmer helped Tennessee to a 30-5 record from 1969-71, where he played for coaches Doug Dickey (who returned to UT as athletic director and hired Fulmer as the Volunteers' coach) and Bill Battle. The Volunteers captured the SEC championship with a 9-2 record in 1969, went 11-1 and won the Sugar Bowl in 1970, and finished as Liberty Bowl champions with a 10-2 record in 1971.

Early coaching career

Fulmer served as linebacker coach and defensive coordinator for the Vols freshman team in 1973 before moving to Wichita State University the following season. He spent five years at Wichita State, where he coached the offensive line in 1974 and 1977-78 and served as linebacker coach in 1975-76. He followed those years with a one-season stint at Vanderbilt, serving as an aide to Commodores head coach George MacIntyre.

University of Tennessee

Fulmer served 13 years as a Vols assistant coach beginning in 1980 before becoming the 20th head football coach at Tennessee, after a controversial decision to replace then-coach Johnny Majors, who had been ill. [Marvin West, Tales of Tennessee Vols: Volunteer Legends, Landmarks, Laughs and Lies, 2002, pp. 88-92.]

In Fulmer's early career Tennessee won two Southeastern Conference championships, in 1997 and 1998, and a national championship in 1998. The Vols made three other SEC Championship game appearances in 2001, 2004, and 2007 losing all three. Despite the decline over the past several years, Fulmer's winning percentage is still among the top in the country for coaches who have over ten years' experience.

Fulmer helped return Tennessee to national prominence from 1993 to 1998, when he won the first ever BCS National Championship Game. The Vols appeared in three consecutive Bowl Alliance or BCS games from 1997 to 1999, and posted 10 or more wins from 1995 to 1998. The senior class of the 1998 team compiled a record of 45-5, losing only to Florida (3 times), Nebraska and Memphis.

Fulmer has a reputation as an ace recruiter, leading many analysts to praise him as one of the game's top head coach recruiters. [ [http://www.tshf.net/honorees/fulmer.html Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame ] ] . Fulmer has only had one losing season at Tennessee: in 2005, Fulmer's pre-season third-ranked Volunteers went 5-6, losing to in-state SEC rival Vanderbilt for the first time in his 14-year tenure. The losing season also kept Tennessee out of a bowl game for the first time since 1988, a streak of 16 years which was the third-longest in the NCAA.

After a slow start in 2008, Fulmer has come under increased scrutiny from Tennessee fans, leaving skepticism about how long he will remain Tennessee's head football coach. [http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10987581] There have been numerous rumors that he will be asked to retire or resign if Tennessee loses the season ending Kentucky game and if he refuses he may be fired.

Family

Fulmer and his wife Vicky have three daughters: Courtney, Brittany, and Allison. Son Phillip Jr. is from a previous relationship. Fulmer is also a new grandfather. Phillip, Courtney's first child, made his first appearance at the "Vol Walk" and Neyland Stadium on September 13, 2008.

Head coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Tennessee Volunteers
startyear = 1992
conf = SEC
endyear = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1992
name = Tennessee
overall = 4–0*
conference = 2-0
confstanding =
bowlname = Hall of Fame
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 12
ranking2 = 12CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1993
name = Tennessee
overall = 10–2
conference = 7-1
confstanding = T-1st (East) $
bowlname = Florida Citrus
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 11
ranking2 = 12CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1994
name = Tennessee
overall = 8–4
conference = 5-3
confstanding = 2nd (East)
bowlname = Gator
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 18
ranking2 = 22CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1995
name = Tennessee
overall = 11–1
conference = 7-1
confstanding = 2nd (East)
bowlname = Florida Citrus
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 2
ranking2 = 3CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1996
name = Tennessee
overall = 10–2
conference = 7-1
confstanding = 2nd (East)
bowlname = Florida Citrus
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 9
ranking2 = 9CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1997
name = Tennessee
overall = 11–2
conference = 7-1
confstanding = 1st (East)
bowlname = Orange
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 8
ranking2 = 7CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = national
year = 1998
name = Tennessee
overall = 13–0
conference = 8-0
confstanding = 1st (East)
bowlname = Fiesta
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 1
ranking2 = 1CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1999
name = Tennessee
overall = 9–3
conference = 6-2
confstanding = 2nd (East)
bowlname = Fiesta
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 9
ranking2 = 9CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2000
name = Tennessee
overall = 8–4
conference = 5-3
confstanding = T-2nd (East)
bowlname = Cotton
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 25
ranking2 = —CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = division
year = 2001
name = Tennessee
overall = 11–2
conference = 7-1
confstanding = 1st (East)
bowlname = Florida Citrus
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 4
ranking2 = 4CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2002
name = Tennessee
overall = 8–5
conference = 5–3
confstanding = 3rd
bowlname = Peach
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = —
ranking2 = —CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2003
name = Tennessee
overall = 10–3
conference = 6–2
confstanding = T-1st (East) $
bowlname = Peach
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 16
ranking2 = 15CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = division
year = 2004
name = Tennessee
overall = 10–3
conference = 7–1
confstanding = 1st
bowlname = Cotton
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 15
ranking2 = 13CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2005
name = Tennessee
overall = 5–6
conference = 3–5
confstanding = T-4th (East)
bowlname = No Bowl Appearance
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = —
ranking2 = —CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2006
name = Tennessee
overall = 9–4
conference = 5–3
confstanding = 2nd (East)
bowlname = Outback
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 23
ranking2 = 25CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = division
year = 2007
name = Tennessee
overall = 10–4
conference = 6–2
confstanding = T-1st (East)
bowlname = Outback
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 12
ranking2 = 12CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2008
name = Tennessee
overall = 2–3
conference = 0–2
confstanding = 6th (East)
bowlname = TBD
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = —
ranking2 = —CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name=Tennessee
overall=148–48
confrecord=87-29*-other half of the season was coached by Johnny Majors.$-Finished tied for first in East Division, but missed spot in SEC championship game due to tiebreaker.CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 148–48
bcs = no
poll = two
polltype =

ee also

*List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association

References

External links

* [http://www.phillipfulmer.com PhillipFulmer.com] Phillip Fulmer's homepage for University of Tennessee football
* [http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/tenn/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/05fbguide-records UT Sports Coaching Records]