Phillip Fulmer Phillip Fulmer ( born September 1 , 1950 ) is a former American football player and coach . He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008 , compiling a 152 – 52 record . He is best known for coaching the Volunteers in the first ever BCS National Championship Game in 1998 , defeating Florida State University . Fulmer was the Volunteers ' 20th head football coach . At the end of his tenure at Tennessee , Fulmer had the second - highest number of wins of any head coach in Tennessee history , just 21 behind legendary coach Robert Neyland . Fulmer also was only the third coach in Tennessee history to win a claimed national championship . His 1997 and 1998 teams remain ( as of 2011 ) to be the last teams to win consecutive SEC championships . Despite a decline in the later years of his career , he was considered by many to be an icon of college football , especially one of institutional loyalty . In recognition of his accomplishments at Tennessee , Fulmer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012 . Fulmer currently serves as a special assistant to the athletic director at East Tennessee State University . Before coaching . Fulmer was born in Winchester , Tennessee where he attended Franklin County High School . Fulmer enrolled at the University of Tennessee as a student in 1968 . He promptly joined the football team as an offensive guard . While playing for the Volunteers , Fulmer garnered All - Southeastern Conference honors at offensive guard . Fulmer helped Tennessee to a 30 – 5 record from 1969 – 1971 , where he played for coaches Doug Dickey ( who returned to UT as athletic director and hired Fulmer as the Volunteers ' coach ) and Bill Battle . The Volunteers captured the SEC championship with a 9 – 2 record in 1969 , went 11 – 1 and won the Sugar Bowl in 1970 , and finished as Liberty Bowl champions with a 10 – 2 record in 1971 . Early coaching career . Fulmer served as linebacker coach and defensive coordinator for the Vols freshman team in 1973 before moving to Wichita State University the following season . He spent five years at Wichita State , where he coached the offensive line in 1974 and 1977 – 1978 and served as linebacker coach in 1975 – 1976 . He followed those years with a one - season stint at Vanderbilt , serving as an aide to Commodores head coach George MacIntyre . University of Tennessee . Fulmer served 13 years as a Vols assistant coach beginning in 1980 before becoming the 20th head football coach at Tennessee , after the decision to replace then - coach Johnny Majors . In Fulmer ' s early career Tennessee won two Southeastern Conference championships , in 1997 and 1998 , and a national championship in 1998 . The Vols made three other SEC Championship game appearances in 2001 , 2004 , and 2007 losing all three . Despite his decline over the last several years of his career , Fulmer ' s winning percentage was still among the top in the country for coaches who had over ten years ' experience . Fulmer helped return Tennessee to national prominence from 1993 to 1998 , when he won the first ever BCS National Championship Game . The Vols appeared in three consecutive Bowl Alliance or BCS games from 1997 to 1999 . They posted 10 or more wins from 1995 to 1998 , with Peyton Manning at quarterback for from 1995 through 1997 . The senior class of the 1998 team compiled a record of 45 – 5 , losing only to Florida ( three times ) , Nebraska and Memphis . Fulmer had a reputation as an ace recruiter , leading many analysts to praise him as one of the game ' s top head coach recruiters . Until 2008 , Fulmer had only had one losing season at Tennessee : in 2005 , Fulmer ' s pre - season third - ranked Volunteers went 5 – 6 , losing to in - state SEC rival Vanderbilt for the first time in his 14 - year tenure . The losing season also kept Tennessee out of a bowl game for the first time since 1988 , a streak of 16 years which was the third - longest in the NCAA . Fulmer never lost to the University of Kentucky , winning 17 straight games . After a slow start in 2008 , Fulmer came under increased scrutiny from Tennessee fans , leaving skepticism about how long he would remain Tennessee ' s head football coach despite having just received a contract extension after the 2007 season . UT athletic director Mike Hamilton finally notified Fulmer of his dismissal on November 2 , 2008 . The next day , he agreed to step down as head coach following the season . That week the Vols suffered a loss at the hands of Wyoming , a 26 point underdog . Fulmer completed his long tenure at the University of Tennessee with a 28 - 10 win over Kentucky on November 29 , 2008 . A rash of Tennessee players being arrested during 2004 and 2005 led to the creation of the tongue - in - cheek Fulmer Cup . Lane Kiffin was hired by Mike Hamilton to succeed Fulmer as the head coach of the Tennessee Vols . Broadcasting , Coaching Rumors and East Tennessee State . Fulmer was a sports analyst on CBS ' s SEC Postgame Show , as well as various programming on the CBS College Sports Network . Fulmer was a strong candidate for the University of Louisville head coaching job . He stated in many interviews that he was interested in the job and also had a phone interview with Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich . However the job was eventually offered to Charlie Strong . After UConn head coach Randy Edsall left for Maryland in January 2011 , sources confirmed that Fulmer expressed interest in the coaching vacancy at Connecticut . After Mike Hamilton stepped down as University of Tennessee athletic director , Fulmer has been frequently brought up by Tennessee fans as a potential replacement , but has said that he doesn ' t consider himself a likely candidate . Fulmer appeared as himself in the 2009 feature film " The Blind Side " . On May 15 , 2012 Phillip Fulmer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . Fulmer will serve as a consultant and special assistant to athletic director Richard Sander at East Tennessee State University , which relaunches a football program it had shut down for financial reasons in 2003 . The recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee doesn ' t expect to coach the new team , which could begin playing at the Football Championship Subdivision level as soon as 2015 . Family . Fulmer and his wife Vicky have three daughters : Courtney , Brittany , and Allison . Son Phillip Jr . is from a previous marriage . Fulmer is also a new grandfather . Fulmers ' s first grandchild ( from his second child Courtney and her husband , former Tennessee linebacker Robert Peace ) made his first appearance at the " Vol Walk " at Neyland Stadium on September 13 , 2008 . Robert Peace is the son of Joe Raymond Peace of Ruston , Louisiana , a former football coach at Louisiana Tech University , and a nephew of football great Joe Ferguson , who played for the University of Arkansas and the Buffalo Bills . Head coaching record . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > < br > < nowiki > ^ < / nowiki >