2. Phillip Fulmer as Ben Kenobi
In the original trilogy, Luke Skywalker had a couple mentors. His first and arguable most influential was Ben Kenobi (formerly Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy), a hero Jedi from the Clone Wars who took refuge on Luke’s home planet of Tatooine to watch over him and eventually guided him in the ways of The Force.
While most would give Mannings’ (the Vols’ Luke) training credits to offensive coordinator Dave Cutcliffe, Fulmer was the head coach at the time and had a career at UT that spanned a much great length of time. In the same way that Ben Kenobi knew what was best for Luke and the Jedi as a whole, so did Fulmer for Peyton and the Vols.
Fulmer holds an 151-52 all-time record as Tennessee’s head coach from 1992-2008, winning eight bowl games including the 1998 National Championship. Fulmer watched over UT’s football program for that time and helped it become the powerhouse it was in the 1990’s.
And much like Kenobi, Fulmer knew when his time had come. Fulmer and the Vols parted ways in 2008, but his legacy will never fade, much like Obi-Wan Kenobi’s.
