Tennessee is still in search of its next athletics director, which has become a point of contention lately -- and especially over the past 24 hours.
Alabama hired Greg Byrne away from Arizona without ever letting the job hit the open market, which begs the question, just what the heck are they doing in Knoxville? Outgoing AD Dave Hart has been outgoing since before football season started. Getting outmaneuvered by their rivals to the south -- their immensely more successful rivals to the south, at least in the sport that matters in Tennessee -- has created turmoil for an athletics department that majors in it.
As an apparent slice of red meet to the fans, the Vols let it be known Monday Phillip Fulmer is a serious candidate for their AD job.
.@ClowESPN reports Phillip Fulmer has emerged as a prime candidate to be the Vols next Athletic Director.
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) January 16, 2017
Story posting at @USATODAYsports: Group of Tennessee boosters working to install Phil Fulmer as AD. (This is the wacky stuff from last nt)
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) January 16, 2017
“Fulmer has grown close to Tennessee President Joe DiPietro and a group of influential boosters have been working behind the scenes to help install him as Dave Hart’s replacement, according to people close to the situation,” Wolken writes.
Fulmer has exactly zero athletics director experience, but he is a harken back to the glory days of yonder for the Volunteers. He went 152-52 in 17 seasons with six top-10 finishes, three SEC titles, six SEC East crowns and a national championship in 1998.
In fact, even the “bad” Fulmer seasons -- a .531 SEC winning percentage with one top-15 finish and one SEC East championship from 2005-08 -- compare favorably with the marks of his three successors. Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley and Butch Jones have collectively posted a .349 SEC winning percentage with zero top-15 finishes and zero SEC East championships in the eight seasons since Fulmer’s dumping.
It’s not clear what Fulmer brings to the department beyond a familiar face and a living, breathing link to the glory days, but perhaps those attributes are good enough at Tennessee.