Today Phillip Fulmer announced that this will be his last year as the head football coach of the University of Tennessee. By the things he said in his press conference, he obviously didn't make this decision. This has been a very disappointing football season for UT and its fans, me included. I have been on and off the "fire Fulmer" bandwagon. However, over the last few weeks I had come off indefinitely. He has been with the program as a player, assistant, and head coach for almost 40 years. Fulmer has won 150 games as the head coach of the Vols and has an opportunity to win 3 or 4 more. If you breakdown the numbers, over the past six or seven years Tennessee has won about the same number of games and played for and/or won about the same number of SEC championships as Georgia and Alabama. Oh by the way, Alabama has had 3 head coaches in that same time frame.
Obviously, things have gone south over the past several years, and not just in wins and losses. The team is undisciplined and just doesn't appear to be well coached. However, over the 16+ seasons at Tennessee Fulmer has only had one losing season and they followed that one up with a 10-win season and an appearance in the SEC championship game in Atlanta. The Vols played for 5 SEC championships in those seasons as well as won the national championship in 1998.
Do I think Fulmer should have been fired? Maybe. My question is, who are they going to end up with as his replacement? Hopefully in 17 years we will be admiring the 150+ wins that he has as the head football coach of the University of Tennessee. I just wish the university would have given him the opportunity to get the program turned around, even if it meant cleaning house with the staff. They have given him the opportunity to stay with the university in a different role. However, he said in his press conference, and I can't say that I wouldn't feel the same way, at the end of the day "I'm a football coach."
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