KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Vol For Life and 1998 National Championship-winning football coach Phillip Fulmer is recovering after a medical procedure on Thursday at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Fulmer's family released a statement saying the Winchester, Tenn., native was "alert and in good spirits."
"Phillip underwent a medical procedure Thursday at UT Medical Center. He is alert and in good spirits and will remain at the hospital for a few days. We are thankful for the outstanding care he’s receiving, and we also appreciate the prayers and concern of so many who have reached out. He is looking forward to cheering on the Vols as they kickoff another exciting season!"
Fulmer turns 73 on Sept. 1. He's been retired from University of Tennessee athletic duties since leaving the athletic director's job in January 2021.
In a 16-year career as UT head coach, Fulmer notched a 152-52 won-loss record as well as the 1998 National Championship, according to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
Fulmer has essentially committed his life to UT for at least the last 40 years.
ALL VOL
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Fulmer played offensive guard for Tennessee under coaches Doug Dickey and Bill Battle. Tennessee during that time won the SEC Championship in 1969, notched an 11-1 record in 1970 and beat Air Force in the 1971 Sugar Bowl.
Fulmer worked as an assistant at UT after graduation and then went to Wichita State for five years, coaching the offensive line for much of his stay in Kansas.
For a year in the late 1970s, Fulmer was an aide to Vanderbilt University's head coach.
In 1980, he came back to Tennessee for good.
During the next 12 years, Fulmer was an assistant coach, then an offensive line coach, then an assistant head coach and then an offensive coordinator.
In 1992, head coach John Majors had to undergo heart surgery. It proved a pivotal year for Tennessee, Fulmer and Majors himself.
Fulmer took over coaching duties for several games before Majors returned to the field. But in November 1992, Fulmer was announced as the new head coach.
In the latter years of Fulmer's time as head coach, Tennessee's fortunes slipped. As a result, amid pressure to step down, he told the team in November 2008 he'd be leaving.
FROM A.D. TO RETIREMENT
Fulmer's time at UT wasn't entirely over, however. UT continued to struggle to field a consistently successful team, and it went through several leaders over the next nine years after Fulmer stepped down.
At times during that rocky period, fans would call for Fulmer's return.
In December 2017, he was appointed UT's vice chancellor and director of athletics. Soon after, he hired Jeremy Pruitt, who had made his mark as an assistant at several major programs including Alabama and Florida State.
But Vols fans would rue Pruitt's selection for many years to come.
In November 2020, UT administration officials were alerted about questionable recruiting tactics by Pruitt's staff. UT Chancellor Donde Plowman fired him for cause in January 2021, and Fulmer elected to retire.
Ultimately, UT and the NCAA conducted lengthy investigations into the conduct of Pruitt and his staff. Many former members were sanctioned this summer.
The football program also had 11 wins wiped from its record from the 2019 and 2020 seasons. And, as part of its punishment for the Pruitt years, the NCAA also assessed UT at least $8 million in fines.
AN IMPACTFUL CAREER
Even today, Fulmer is known as the man who coached quarterback great Peyton Manning in the late 1990s during the New Orleans native's sparkling career in Knoxville.
Fulmer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012 as a coach. He's also a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
While Fulmer was head coach, Tennessee finished in the AP top 25 in 13 of 17 seasons and appeared in 15 bowl games, according to the National Football Foundation.
He is No. 2 behind Gen. Robert Neyland for all-time wins at Tennessee.
1998 is the season for which he'll forever be remembered.
The team went undefeated, scoring several thrilling victories including an overtime, heart-stopping win against hated rival Florida and coach Steve Spurrier at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee would go on to win the national championship in January 1999 against Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.
Fulmer talked with emotion later in life to WBIR about that moment when his team reached college football's highest mountain.
Cameras flashed, the orange-clad crowd in Sun Devil Stadium roared and people rushed to the middle of the field. Amid all the chaos, Fulmer told 10News he felt the comforting presence of his father, who had died about a decade beforehand.
"It was a beautiful time for everybody that loves Tennessee," the former Tennessee coach recalled.
