Phillip Fulmer's commitment to excellence in the Tennessee football program returned the Vols to the thick of the Southeastern Conference championship picture in 2006.
And following another outstanding recruiting campaign, Fulmer believes Tennessee can maintain its status atop the nation's most competitive conference.
Fulmer finished 9-4 overall last season against opponents that sported a combined record of 89-61 (.593). The Vols were 5-3 in league play, good enough for second place in the Eastern Division. Wins over top-10 foes California and Georgia nearly offset narrow setbacks to BCS bowl teams Florida and LSU.
In fact, three of Tennessee's four losses came to teams ranked among the top 15 nationally at season's end.
One alteration from a challenging 2005 campaign was the hiring of David Cutcliffe as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. The former Mississippi head coach returned to the UT position he held from 1993-98 and was reunited with Fulmer and defensive coordinator wizard John Chavis.
The trio has a combined 72 years of coaching in the SEC and Tennessee's record when coaching together - Fulmer as head coach, Chavis as defensive coordinator and Cutcliffe as offensive coordinator - is an amazing 53-9 (.855).
The dean of Southeastern Conference coaches, Fulmer has claimed a national championship, two conference titles and six divisional crowns while winning better than three-quarters of his games. He also retains his rank atop the winning percentage list for coaches with at least 10 years experience in Division I-A.
Eight Phillip Fulmer-coached teams have eclipsed the 10-win mark and two others just missed with nine victories. The highlight came in 1998 when Tennessee capped a perfect 13-0 season with a Fiesta Bowl victory over Florida State.
The Volunteers under their native son have 137 triumphs against only 41 defeats for a winning percentage of .770. No active coach with at least a decade in Division I-A has such a lofty victory rate. And speaking of the last 10 years, Tennessee under Fulmer is 94-32 over that span.
There is nothing to suggest Fulmer is in any danger of letting up. He is averaging nearly 91/2 wins a season for the last decade, with five SEC Eastern Division titles during that span and two overall league crowns.
The Winchester native joined former Nebraska legend Tom Osborne as the only coaches to lead a team to a bowl game in their first 13 years of coaching.
An accepted measure of a program's success, Tennessee's position in the national polls also has been a testimonial to Fulmer's sure hand at the helm. Under Fulmer, the Vols had a streak of 54 consecutive weeks ranked in the top 10.
UT has been in the national polls at game time for 157 of Fulmer's 177 games as head coach.
Notching two straight SEC titles in 1997 and 1998 carried special meaning for Fulmer, who played in the offensive line for the Vols and then came back as an assistant coach before being promoted to head coach in 1992.
The former Vol offensive lineman served 13 years as a Vols assistant beginning in 1980 before becoming the 20th head football coach at Tennessee. The decision to elevate Fulmer occurred five seasons after he was appointed assistant head coach and three seasons after he became offensive coordinator.
During Fulmer's years as offensive coordinator, the Vols consistently broke team total offense records and were ranked one or two in the SEC. Records have fallen with even greater frequency since he became head coach.
Year after year with Fulmer as head coach, Tennessee continues to stand in the top ranks of college football for graduating players who go on to careers in the professional game. Since 1996, Tennessee ranks first in the SEC and third nationally with 69 total players drafted, and the Vols have had 13 NFL first-round selections since 1993.
Fulmer is the national spokesperson for the Jason Foundation Inc., and considers such experiences essential to the education process of UT football players. He recently was named the first recipient of the "Grant Teaff Breaking the Silence Award," presented jointly by the AFCA and the Jason Foundation.
He also has served on such boards of directors as Boys and Girls Clubs, American Football Coaches Association and Child and Family Services.
Fulmer is married to the former Vicky Morey and has four children: Phillip Jr., Courtney, Brittany and Allison.
