University of Tennessee Athletics
Fulmer Named State Farm Eddie Robinson "Coach of Distinction" Winner
December 03, 1999 | Football
Fulmer led the Volunteers to the 1998 national championship and 13-0 season and has the best winning percentage among active Division I-A coaches. His 54 victories from 1995-99 are the most in school history over a five-year span, and, during the same time period, 79 Vols earned academic All-SEC recognition. He is 76-13 overall.
Fulmer, 49, works with the Knoxville Boy's & Girl's Club, the Greater Knoxville Metropolitan Drug Commission, the Jason Foundation, and, with his players, is a regular visitor to area schools, hospitals and retirement homes. I'm honored to receive this award, Fulmer said. Eddie Robinson's legacy was built not only on the field, but also in the community and in the lives of the players he coached. Coach Robinson was a winner in every sense of the word and I am proud to have an award with his name on it. The award carries with it a $10,000 contribution to the University of Tennessee General Scholarship Fund.
Fulmer was chosen from a field which included Larry Smith of Missouri, Jim Tressel of Youngston State and Fisher DeBerry of Air Force. The panel of judges overseeing the selection included former Nebraska head football coach Tom Osborne, Arkansas athletic director and former head football coach Frank Broyles, Lafayette athletic director Eve Atkinson, retired Southern University AD Marino Casem, and the Boston Globe's Mark Blaudschun, president of the Football Writers Association of America.
