The Big Orange Caravan made a stop in Atlanta on Tuesday night, and several former Vols came out to see Tennessee’s coaches and Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer. Former Vol defensive back Fred White was in attendance, and Vol legend and former All-American linebacker Al Wilson also showed up.
Wilson spoke to the crowd gathered inside SunTrust Park, the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium. And he talked about his excitement for what Jeremy Pruitt is trying to do at Tennessee.
“I’m super excited for the way he’s trying to bring Tennessee football back and the direction in which he’s going,” Wilson said per a release from the university. “He’s getting some good quality players to come in, and at the end of the day that’s what we want.”
Tuesday marked the first time Wilson had met with the Vols’ new head coach, and he came away impressed with what he heard from Pruitt. And Wilson knows a thing or two about football.
Wilson was a team captain for the undefeated National Championship Vols in 1998 and was a consensus first-team All-American that season as well. He would go on to be drafted by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft and made five Pro Bowls in his eight-year NFL career.
The Vol legend accomplished all his accolades at Tennessee under the direction of Phillip Fulmer as his head coach. And the former Vol got to meet up with his former head coach on Tuesday as well, and he thinks the hiring of Fulmer as Tennessee’s new Athletics Director is a home run.
“Coach Fulmer is my guy,” Wilson said of his former coach and current UT AD. “We’ve been through a lot together over the years, and it’s great to see him where he is now, having an opportunity to become the athletic director and to get this program back to where it’s supposed to be. I’m super excited for Coach.”
Tennessee is coming off their worst season in program history after going 4-8 overall and 0-8 in SEC play in 2017. But with Fulmer at the helm of Tennessee’s athletic department and Pruitt guiding the way in football, plenty of Vol fans have hope that the future will be much brighter than the recent past.
And now you can add a Vol legend to that list of optimistic fans as well.
