Phillip Fulmer's Tuesday Media Day Comments

Nov. 4, 2008

"I know everybody -- at least we are -- is ready to move on to Wyoming and all the preparations for that. (It's) homecoming weekend, and get back to work. I think it would almost be inappropriate if I didn't say how very grateful I was and am for the outpouring of support and people responding or contacting me, just being grateful for what we've done here, to me and my family and that's very much appreciated.

"I've never been, really, more pleased and honored than with the response of my football team. Sometimes when you're not doing as well as you would like or anybody expects you to be, you don't always know where your team is. But this team, I've found, is a really unusual group, even though it's been a tough season for us along the way. They've continued to respond and practice hard and fight through the injuries, as we've played eight straight games and five of those being SEC games. So, I really do appreciate that.

"There have been a lot of former players, obviously, and great calls and e-mails. I will get back to all of them at some point. I obviously can't do that all here at one time, but I appreciate them and all the friends and family and everybody concerned. But our focus right now is to turn toward Wyoming. We were in earlier this morning as a staff working, trying to get our team ready. We look forward to the challenge.

"Most of our concerns continue to be with just being more consistent and efficient from an offensive standpoint. That's been our challenge, when we do well with things not to have a penalty or something take that effectiveness away. Our coaches, I'm proud of the way they've responded. They continue to work hard. They're professionals and they'll continue to do that.

"A little bit about Wyoming. They had a really big win last week against San Diego State. They played very well on both sides of the ball. They've been all over the place from an offensive standpoint. They've been doing a lot of different things, almost an offense of the week so to speak. One thing that's been consistent, the run game has been solid. Last week it was outstanding as they rushed for about 240 yards against San Diego State, so that's not something we want to take for granted at all. We're going to have to play well and our defense has been good against the run and consistent most of the year. They certainly are a challenge for that.

"Looking at their defense, they're a solid defensive football team. We've been kind of our own worst enemy offensively. If we can eliminate those and take some further steps forward, then hopefully we'll be able to manage that. They're solid in the kicking game as well.

"We're focused on Wyoming, but also really focused on ourselves to take those steps we need to take to be a better offensive football team."

BERRY NAMED THORPE AWARD SEMIFINALIST

Sophomore safety Eric Berry finds himself one of 13 of the nation's best college football defensive backs after semifinalists were announced Tuesday for the 2008 Jim Thorpe Award.

The award, named after Oklahoma-born Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe, is presented annually to the defensive back who best exhibits performance on the field, athletic ability and character. The semifinalist list will be narrowed to three finalists Nov. 24, and the winner will be announced on the ESPNU College Football Awards Show, broadcast nationally Dec. 11. Formal presentation will be at a banquet in Oklahoma City on Feb. 11.

2008 Jim Thorpe Award Semifinalists Asher Allen, Jr., Georgia; Eric Berry, SO., TENNESSEE; Emanuel Cook, Jr., South Carolina; Vontae Davis, Jr., Illinois; Trimane Goddard, Sr., North Carolina; Malcolm Jenkins, Sr., Ohio State; Trevard Lindley, Jr., Kentucky; Taylor Mays, Jr., Southern California; Mike Mickens, Sr., Cincinnati; D.J. Moore, Jr., Vanderbilt; William Moore, Sr., Missouri; Alphonso Smith, Sr., Wake Forest; Otis Wiley, Sr., Michigan State.

Wiley and Goddard were added to the award's preseason 'watch list' midway through the season. The first Jim Thorpe Award was presented in 1986 to Thomas Everett, Baylor, and last year's trophy went to Antoine Cason of Arizona.

Jim Thorpe is generally considered history's greatest all-around athlete, a man who excelled as a running back, passer and kicker on offense, but also an awesome defensive back. Recognized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame simply as "The Legend," Thorpe also played professional baseball and won gold medals in the 1912 Olympics decathlon and pentathlon.

For more information, contact Lynne Draper of the Jim Thorpe Association at (405) 427-1400.

SEC-TV -- PROFILE ON FULMER; BERRY'S MILESTONE

Phillip Fulmer has been a part of the University of Tennessee football team for 35 years as a player, student assistant, offensive line coach, offensive coordinator and head coach. SEC-TV takes a look at Fulmer's career with the Volunteers as he prepares to step down after his 17th season as head coach.

And SEC-TV co-hosts Dave Neal and Natalie Taylor count down the top SEC football milestones of the 2008 season, including Tennessee defensive back Eric Berry compiling an SEC-record 422 yards on interception returns.

This week's show airs Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on Fox Sports South, and Friday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time on SportSouth.

For questions, comments or feature ideas concerning SEC-TV, please e-mail sec_tv@foxsports.net.