The Early Years & College Football Playing Career
Born on September 1, 1950 in Winchester, Tennessee, Phillip Fulmer is a revered former college football player, coach, and athletic director.
He played football for his high school team, the Rebels, at Franklin County High School.
In 1968, Fulmer began his time at the University of Tennessee, and joined the Volunteers as an offensive guard. During his time, he played under famed coaches Bill Battle and Doug Dickey.
He performed strongly during his years at the University of Tennessee, and was part of the teams that won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship in 1969 and won the Sugar Bowl and Liberty Bowl in 1970 and 1971 respectively.
University of Tennessee Coaching Position & Timeline
After his time at the University of Tennessee, he stayed on and worked as a student coach for a year before taking a coaching position at Wichita State in 1974 as an offensive line coach and linebacker coach.
Having spent several years at Wichita State, he moved on to esteemed Vanderbilt in 1979, where he spent a year as the assistant coach to the Commodores.
It wasn’t long before he returned to his hometown and took the role of offensive lineman for eight years between 1980 and 1988. Now fully settled at Tennessee in a coaching position, he spent the next three years as the offensive coordinator for the Volunteers.
After spending 13 years in a coaching capacity at his alma mater, Fulmer was primed and ready to take on the role of Head Coach, which he began in 1992 and was one of the University of Tennessee’s longest serving head coaches, stepping down in 2008 after 17 years.
In 1998 Fulmer was awarded the National Coach of the Year, after his team won 137 games in his first 15 seasons as coach. This meant that he was tied for the fourth most wins in a 15 year period, in the history of college football.
Fulmer had an impeccable 152-52 record during his tenure as head coach, and was responsible for taking the Volunteers to their first Bowl Championship Series national title.
In addition to this, the Volunteers made it to five Southeastern Conference Championship games, winning it twice in 1997 and 1998. This is along with winning the SEC East titles five times in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007.
Between 1995 and 1998, the Volunteers were 45-5, which was the most wins over a four year period in the history of football at the University of Tennessee.
1998 was a particularly showcase year for Fulmer and the Volunteers, as they finished the season undefeated and won the National Championships.
He was inducted to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, as well as the Greater Knoxville Hall of Fame in 2008.
Beyond his strong winning record, nine of Fulmer’s teams cleared the 10-win mark and eighteen Volunteers were All-American under his leadership.
He also coached nineteen first round draft selections for the NFL.
Fulmer is also one of three coaches who had multiple players on their team who were in receipt of the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is awarded to the country’s top performing student athletes and academics.
The trophy is awarded by the National Football Foundation as well as the College Football Hall of Fame, with Michael Munoz and Peyton Manning being examples of those who were in receipt of this while being coached by Phillip Fulmer.
Unsurprisingly, he was a popular coach at the time he left the University of Tennessee, and many other teams were keen to hire him. However, by this time he had already made his mind up that his family was going to be the priority for him and he retired from coaching in 2008.
Life after the University of Tennessee
Fulmer kept himself involved in the sports industry, and also branched out into the business world, being one of the founders of PBV Capital Management, based out of Knoxville.
He was also part of the CBS College Sports Network programs, along with the Southeastern Conference Postgame Show, also hosted by CBS.
In 2012, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, as well as the National Football Foundation. He later took on the role of special assistant to Richard Sander at East Tennessee State University, who was the athletic director at the time.
2017 saw Fulmer return to the University of Tennessee as an interim director of athletics after John Currie was suspended. This turned into a long-term assignment with Fulmer staying on as athletic director for another four years before retiring in 2021.
Fulmer was known for his passion for mentoring helping his players both on the field and off of it too. Many well known players both in college football and the NFL realm had the privilege of being mentored by him. These include, Jason Witten, Eric Berry, and of course Peyton Manning.
What separated Fulmer from other coaches was his insistence that his players become well rounded individuals, and develop not just athletically but also spiritually, personally and academically.
His natural ability to spot talent and potential earned him a reputation as one of the best head coach recruiters in the country.
It’s this very individualistic style of mentoring that resulted in him being the second coach in history to be awarded the Eddie Robinson Coach of Distinction Trophy and the Presidency of the American Football Coaches Association.
With a keen interest and passion for the development of others, Fulmer and his wife have been involved in several philanthropic causes. Fulmer has been the national spokesperson for the Jason Foundation since 1998, is an honorary chair of the Knoxville Alzheimer’s Association Walk, and the annual Phillip Fulmer Golf Classic has raised in excess of $1 million for Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley since its inauguration in 2001.
Notable Awards
Regional Coach of the Year 1993
SEC Coach of the Year 1998
National Coach of the Year 1998
Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame 2001