A report from ESPN’s Chris Low is linking former Tennessee head football coach Phillip Fulmer as a candidate for the University of Tennessee’s vacant athletic director position. And Low’s report claims Fulmer is a “prime candidate” for the job.
.@ClowESPN reports Phillip Fulmer has emerged as a prime candidate to be the Vols next Athletic Director.
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) January 16, 2017
Low appeared on the Finebaum Show to add more context to his report, stating Fulmer is a “100 percent viable candidate” and added Fulmer “has people there that think he can bring the Tennessee family back together.”
“He’s 100% a viable candidate…he has people there that think he can bring the Tennessee family back together” – @ClowESPN pic.twitter.com/koLTn5Lmu6
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) January 16, 2017
Fulmer’s name has been tied to Tennessee’s AD position before back when Mike Hamilton resigned from the position in 2011. Ultimately, Tennessee decided to hire Dave Hart as AD, and now the university is looking for his replacement after he announced his retirement over the summer.
Now things have come full circle with Fulmer’s name once again emerging as a candidate for the AD position.
It was announced in April of 2013 that Fulmer would help bring football back to East Tennessee State University as a consultant and special assistant to ETSU’s AD Richard Sander. And ETSU’s football program made its debut in 2015 after being dormant for over a decade. Fulmer last coached for the Vols in 2008 before being fired in the midst of an 5-7 season.
We discussed the merits and probability of Fulmer as Tennessee’s athletic director in our weekly podcast today as well, which you can find here.
Fulmer was the head football coach at Tennessee from 1992-2008, winning 152 of his 204 games coached at Tennessee, including the 1998 National Championship. He’s second only to General Robert Neyland in wins and winning percentage as a head coach at Tennessee.
