When the Big Orange Caravan stopped at the First Tennessee Pavilion in downtown Chattanooga last year, John Currie was Tennessee’s athletic director and there was still at least some optimism that Butch Jones could succeed as the Volunteers’ football coach.
Thursday night was another reminder of how much has changed in less than a year on Rocky Top.
Phillip Fulmer, now the athletic director, led the Caravan back to the Scenic City with Jeremy Pruitt, a football coach he hired, in tow on the first of five caravan stops across the region. The fan frenzy came just days after university system president Joe DiPietro announced another significant change in Knoxville.
DiPietro announced last week that Beverly Davenport soon will be removed as chancellor of the Knoxville campus. But Fulmer insisted the move will have little effect on the athletic department.
“I have a job to do,” Fulmer said, speaking to reporters before he mingled with fans at the sold-out event. “It won’t affect us. I appreciate the contributions Dr. Davenport made. We had a good relationship, but that doesn’t affect us. We are moving on as an athletic department.”