TENNESSEE VOLS FOOTBALL: Fulmer's preparation met necessity

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As preparation met opportunity, Philip Fulmer carved a path to legendary coaching status.

Somewhere in the ether, Johnny Majors may still be fuming over the combination. 

Fresh off his senior year as co-captain of Tennessee’s football team, Fulmer began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1972, later serving as defensive coordinator of the Vols’ freshman squad. 

He spent five seasons on the Wichita State coaching staff and later worked as an assistant at Vanderbilt before returning to UT in 1980.

During his assistant tenure at Tennessee, Fulmer held offensive line coach, assistant head coach and offensive coordinator roles under Majors. A heart bypass surgery in 1992 sidelined Majors, drawing Fulmer to interim coach status. While Fulmer filled in, UT went 4-0, leading to his promotion to permanent head coach — a bitter pill Majors rejected for years. 

Others embraced Fulmer’s ascent. 

“Phillip Fulmer is the reason that I chose to come to Tennessee,” quarterback Peyton Manning said, “and it was one of the greatest decisions I ever made.”

Fulmer served at Vols head coach until 2008, compiling a career coaching record of 152-52 at UT. He led Tennessee to two SEC Championships, and his teams won or shared seven SEC East Division titles. 

In January 1999, Fulmer led UT to its first BCS National Championship title, defeating Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl and earning National Coach of the Year honors.

Fulmer reached 137 wins in his first 15 seasons, tying for the fourth-most wins in a 15-year span in college football history.

In 2000, he was designated Tennessean of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Fulmer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach (2012), later appointed UT athletics director (2017) and was named to the SEC Legends Class of 2018.

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