Former Tennessee head coach and recently-named athletics director Phillip Fulmer is ready to get back in the mix on the recruiting trail on behalf of the Vols. With a new head coach in place (Jeremy Pruitt) and a new staff coming together in Knoxville, having Fulmer provide a couple nuggets of insight every now and then can come in handy. After all, Fulmer was recruiting as Tennessee’s head coach for a long time and he has come to learn a thing or two about the recruiting pipeline in Knoxville.
But Fulmer is preparing himself to go another step farther in the recruiting efforts, should he be needed. According to Michael Bratton of Saturday Down South, via Twitter, Fulmer says he has already passed the necessary NCAA testing to be cleared to officially recruit football players to Tennessee.
Phillip Fulmer plans to help Tennessee's new staff recruit "I've passed my (NCAA recruiting) test, I'm ready to hit the road. I've made a lot of phone calls."
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) December 11, 2017
That is certainly interesting to see because it is not the norm for an athletics director to get involved in the recruiting efforts of a school beyond approving recruiting budgets and events. But if there is any doubt Fulmer has been itching to help get Tennessee back on track as an SEC contender, his move to land the AD role and quick action to clear himself to be able to recruit for the program should speak volumes about his commitment to improving the Vols on the football field even if he is no longer the head coach.
The only question left to answer here is just how involved Fulmer will actually be in the recruiting efforts, or if this is a short-term play as Tennessee builds a new staff just before an early signing period in college football.