Former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer is inducted into the college hall of fame before the game against Alabama Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.Like everyone else in Big Orange Country these days, Phillip Fulmer has heard the noise surrounding the Tennessee football program he led for 16 full autumns.
He’s heard that third-year coach Derek Dooley is on his way out. He’s heard that Jon Gruden – a UT grad assistant when Fulmer was still an aide to Johnny Majors – is about to replace Dooley.
(Heck, Wikipedia even had Gruden already coaching the Vols in a Wednesday afternoon bio. That statement was later removed.)
He’s even heard support from many corners that if he hadn’t been forced out in 2008, the Big Orange program would be far closer to the elite level he established through the 1990s rather than the 21-24 record it has posted since Fulmer was dismissed.
“It’s difficult to ignore,” he said a few minutes before he addressed the YMCA Prayer Luncheon at the Chattanoogan on Wednesday. “Of course, during most of my time there we were on the other end of the spectrum, we did so well for so long.”