
PHIL FULMER
Age:
58
School:
University of Tennessee
Alma Mater:
Tennessee, 1971
Conference:
SEC
Salary:
$2,400,000
Official Bio:
UTSports.com
Years Coaching: 16
Career Record:
147 - 45 .766
Years at School:
16
Record at Tennessee:
147 - 45 .766
2007 Record: 10 - 4
.714
2007 Cost per Win:
$205,000
Attorney/Agent: Unknown
Contract:
December 2008 Buyout:
$3,250,000
COACHING
RECORD -
WINNING
- LOSING
RECORDS
Year |
School |
Record |
Bowl |
1992 |
Tennessee |
4-0 |
Hall of Fame |
1993 |
Tennessee |
10-2 |
Citrus |
1994 |
Tennessee |
8-4 |
Gator |
1995 |
Tennessee |
11-1 |
Citrus |
1996 |
Tennessee |
10-2 |
Citrus |
1997 |
Tennessee |
11-2 |
Orange |
1998 |
Tennessee |
13-0 |
Fiesta |
1999 |
Tennessee |
9-3 |
Fiesta |
2000 |
Tennessee |
8-4 |
Cotton |
2001 |
Tennessee |
11-2 |
Citrus |
2002 |
Tennessee |
8-5 |
Peach |
2003 |
Tennessee |
10-3 |
Peach |
2004 |
Tennessee |
10-3 |
Cotton |
2005 |
Tennessee |
5-6 |
|
2006 |
Tennessee |
9-4 |
Outback |
2007 |
Tennessee |
10-4 |
Outback |
Career |
|
147-45 |
.766 |
|
Tennessee |
147-45 |
.766 |
2008
SCHEDULE
Date |
Opponent |
Location |
2008 CHS Prediction |
Result |
8/30/08 |
UAB |
Knoxville, TN |
W |
|
9/06/08 |
at UCLA |
Pasadena, CA |
W |
|
9/20/08 |
Florida |
Knoxville, TN |
L |
|
9/27/08 |
at Auburn |
Auburn, AL |
L |
|
10/04/08 |
N. Illinois |
Knoxville, TN |
W |
|
10/11/08 |
at Georgia |
Athens, GA |
L |
|
10/18/08 |
Mississippi State |
Knoxville, TN |
W |
|
10/25/08 |
Alabama |
Knoxville, TN |
W |
|
11/01/08 |
at South Carolina |
Columbia, SC |
L |
|
11/08/08 |
Wyoming |
Knoxville, TN |
W |
|
11/22/08 |
at Vanderbilt |
Nashville, TN |
W |
|
11/29/08 |
Kentucky |
Knoxville, TN |
W |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coaches Hot
Seat Prediction |
|
8-4 |
|
Coaches Hot Seat Analysis
On the face of it, with a career
record of 147-45 (.766) record at Tennessee, it doesn't
make a whole lot of sense that Phil Fulmer is on the
Hot Seat. Reality
and perception are two different things though and
without a doubt Phil Fulmer enters the 2008 season with
his job on the line. Fulmer underestimates the
amount of frustration among Tennessee fans at his own
peril, and 2008 be a pivotal year for Fulmer to prove
that he can get Tennessee back to the top of the SEC.
A cold crisp day dawns in
Nashville, Tennessee on November 22, 2008 and Phil
Fulmer is coaching for his job against the Vanderbilt
Commodores. That is what we foresee for Fulmer and
Tennessee in '08, with one of the toughest schedules in
the country facing the Vols. If as we predict,
Tennessee arrives in Nashville to play Vanderbilt with a
5-5 record, Phil Fulmer will know that a loss to either
Vandy in Nashville or against Kentucky in the final game
at home will end his coaching career. If the Vols
are 5-5 on November 21, the Tennessee fans will be
screaming from the rafters and the pressure to remove
Fulmer from the head coaching job will be immense.
That decision will not be in AD Mike Hamilton's hands,
but rather it will be made by the people that pay the
bills at Tennessee, the fans. With road games at
UCLA, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, and Vandy, there
is very little margin of error for Fulmer in a very
tough home slate of games that includes: Florida,
Mississippi State, Alabama, and Kentucky. If
Fulmer loses more than one of those home games, and we
are predicting that the Gators will beat Tennessee in
Knoxville, it is going to be next to impossible to put
up a winning record at UT in 2008. One key
record to keep in mind is that
Fulmer is 14-12
in his last 26 SEC games. That kind of
record against SEC foes is just not going to get it done
at Tennessee.
Coaches Hot Seat
Bottom Line
We are
predicting a 8-4 record for Fulmer and Tennessee in
2008. Last season Fulmer was one lost
fumble against South Carolina to losing his job, and in
2008 we see the pressure building for a change at
Tennessee as Fulmer and the Vols struggle to get to even
a .500 record. Can a coach possibly win 76% of the
games and lose his job? Yes he can, and Phil
Fulmer knows that can happen, because he has been at
Tennessee in some capacity for over 40 years and he
knows what the Tennessee fans expect out of their
football program. Fulmer has two big things
working against him, with the first being the
perception, rather the reality from our view, that his
football program is out of control. Fulmer's
second problem is how long he has been at Tennessee,
where he is now heading into his 17th season as a head
coach, which is about 7 years past the 10 year limit
that the Raiders' Al Davis said is the amount of time a
head football coach should stay at once place. We
get a lot of e-mail from fans here at
Coaches Hot Seat,
but in the past year only one coach, Houston Nutt at
Arkansas, garnered more e-mail to be sent to us about
the status of their head coach. The coach behind
Nutt that generated the most e-mail was Phil Fulmer, and
99% of it was against him and calling for a change in
the head coach at Tennessee. From where we sit, if
Phil Fulmer does indeed end the 2008 season with a 6-6
record, he will be fired.
Change to
prediction - August 13, 2008 - We have
changed our prediction on the 2008 season for Phil
Fulmer and Tennessee to an 8-4 regular season record.
UCLA's difficulties at the QB position, and the progress
being made with Tennessee's new offense and offensive
coordinator are both positives things for the Vols in
2008.
2008
Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:
8-4
Will Fulmer be back for the 2009
season?
YES
|