Fulmer Facts

IN THE LAST EIGHT YEARS TENNESSEE FOOTBALL HAS . . .
         Posted an overall record of 84-17
         Won more games than all but three other teams in Division I-A college football
         Captured the schools second consensus national title with a perfect 13-0 record in 1998
         Won a pair of Southeastern Conference championships (1997, 1998)
         Posted a 57-12 record against SEC opponents
         Won 29 of 42 games against nationally ranked teams
         Won 49 of 53 home games at Neyland Stadium
         Played in seven New Years Day bowl games
         Had 47 players selected in the NFL Draft, including nine first-round selections 

1998 NATIONAL TITLE LEADS TO TENNESSEE FOOTBALL SUCCESS
Tennessee capped a perfect 13-0 1998 campaign with a 23-16 victory over Florida State in the 1999 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. That victory gave the Vols a consensus national championship and the first in college football under the current BCS system.

Tennessees 1998 national championship was its second consensus title in school history. UTs first consensus national championship came in the 1951 season, when the Vols posted a 10-1 record under General Robert Neyland. The 1951 squad had a dominating defense, posting five shutouts en route to a perfect regular season.

Tennessee has also won four other national championships throughout the years, according to various rating systems that were in place during the years in which the teams competed. These championships are recognized as legitimate by the official NCAA Football Records Manual.

Tennessees other officially recognized national championships are as follows:
1938: 11-0, Coach: Gen. Neyland, National Champs by Dunkel, Litkenhous, Boand, Houlgate, Poling
1940: 10-1, Gen. Neyland, Dunkel, Williamson
1950: 11-1, Gen. Neyland, Dunkel, DeVold
1967: 9-2, Doug Dickey, Litkenhous

FULMER FACTS
Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer is the nations winngest active coach in terms of percentage with an 84-17 record, good for an .832 winning percentage.

Fulmers accomplishments in his eight seasons as head coach put him in elite company in college football coaching history. The 1972 Tennessee grad holds SEC records for reaching both 50 and 75 wins in the quickest amount of time. Fulmer reached 50 victories midway through the 1997 season, his fifth as head coach and got to 75 victories late last season, in his seventh full year as head coach. Tennessees Nov. 18 win over Kentucky marked Fulmers 100th game on the Vol sideline.

Fulmers coaching record stacks up favorably with several of the games all-time great coaches. In fact, Fulmers 76 victories after eight seasons (seven full, one partial) ranks as the third-most all-time and second in modern history. Since 1900, the only Division I-A coach with more victories in his first eight seasons was Oklahomas Barry Switzer, who posted 83 wins in his first eight seasons as the Sooners head man. Fulmers 76 wins were one more than the 75 wins that were accumulated by Penn States Joe Paterno, Nebraskas Tom Osborne and Southern Californias John Robinson in their first eight seasons as head coaches. 

VOLS COACHING STAFF LEADS SEC IN STABILITY
A key to the success of the Tennessee football program has been the stability of the Volunteer coaching staff, headed by Phillip Fulmer, who is completing his eighth full season as UT's head coach and his 21st on the Volunteer coaching staff.

Overall, seven of Tennessee's 10 coaches have been on the full-time coaching staff staff for six years or longer, including defensive coordinator John Chavis (12th season), tight ends coach Mark Bradley (11th) and offensive coordinator Randy Sanders (10th). The average tenure for UT's 10 coaches, including Fulmer's time as an assistant, is 8.0 years, tops among Southeastern Conference schools.

In addition, UT is one of just two schools in the country to have a head coach and coordinators who also played at the school. Nebraska is the only other school in the nation that can boast that fact. Tennessee is one of only 10 schools in the country that have three or more coaches on staff who also played at the school. In addition to Fulmer, Chavis and Sanders, Director of Football Operations Condredge Holloway also wore a Vol uniform. Football administrator David Blackburn did not play football at UT, but did graduate from the school.

AVERAGE SEC COACHING TENURES
1. Tennessee	8.0 years
2. Florida	7.0
3. Mississippi State	5.7
4. Alabama	5.4
5. Vanderbilt	4.5
6. Auburn	3.7
7. Kentucky	3.5
8. Georgia	3.4
9. Arkansas	2.9
10. Ole Miss	2.4
11. South Carolina	2.1
12. LSU	1.5

FULMER vs. RANKED TEAMS
The 2000 Vols have faced four nationally ranked opponents, posting a 2-2 record. UT defeated 22nd-ranked Southern Mississippi, 19-16, in the season opener at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 2. No. 6 Florida defeated Tennessee, 27-23, in Knoxville on Sept. 16 and 19th-ranked Georgia posted a 21-10 win over the Vols in Athens. Tennessee rebounded with a 17-14 win at No. 17 South Carolina on Oct. 28. UT has now defeated at least two ranked teams in each of Phillip Fulmers eight seasons as head coach.

The Vols have had excellent success against ranked teams under Fulmer, posting a 29-13 record. Fulmer has guided the Vols to a 10-10 record against top 10 teams, an 11-3 record against teams ranked between 11 and 20 and an 8-0 mark against teams ranked from No. 21 to No. 25. Tennessee has met an average of five ranked teams per year under Fulmer.

FULMER'S MILESTONE VICTORIES
WIN	DATE	SITE	OPPONENT	SCORE
1	Sept. 5, 1992	Knoxville	Southwestern Louisiana	38-3
25	Sept. 23, 1995	Knoxville	Mississippi State	52-14
50	Nov. 8, 1997	Knoxville	Southern Mississippi	44-20
75	Nov. 20, 1999	Lexington	Kentucky	56-21
Fulmer reached his 75th victory in his 88th game as head coach, joining an elite group of coaches to reach.

WINNINGEST ACTIVE FOOTBALL COACHES
Coach, School	Years	Record	Pct.	Bowls
PHILLIP FULMER, TENNESSEE	9	84-17	.832	5-3
Bobby Bowden, Florida State	35	315-86-4	.783	17-5-1
Lloyd Carr, Michigan	6	57-16	.781	3-2
Joe Paterno, Penn State	35	322-90-3	.780	20-9-1
Steve Spurrier, Florida	14	132-37-2	.778	5-5
R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M	12	109-36-2	.748	2-7
Dennis Erickson, Oregon State	14	130-46-1	.737	4-4
Butch Davis, Miami	6	50-20	.714	3-0
Rick Neuheisel, Washington	6	50-20	.714	3-1
John Robinson, UNLV	14	113-48-4	.697	7-1
John Cooper, Ohio State	24	192-83-6	.694	5-8
Bill Snyder, Kansas State	12	98-43-1	.694	4-3
Paul Pasqualoni, Syracuse	15	115-53-1	.683	5-2
Dennis Franchione, Alabama	18	138-65-2	.678	2-1
Lou Holtz, South Carolina	29	223-110-7	.666	10-8-2
Minimum five years as a Division I-A head coach as of 11/30/00

University of Tennessee Athletics

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