Phillip Fulmer: 'I'm going to be around and be involved'
Phillip Fulmer talked golf Friday, the tournament he played in that morning and his upcoming annual event for the Boys & Girls Clubs.
With a little prodding, he talked about his relationship with his alma mater.
If you're thinking Fulmer got a raw deal in the way Tennessee's search for an athletic director went down, you're not alone.
Whether you thought Fulmer was the best option or not, it was a curious procedure to interview a candidate – especially one with Fulmer's relationship with UT – and then basically declare he didn't meet the criteria for the job in the first place.
John Currie was hired and began work April 1. Currie was a sitting athletic director at a Power Five school, Kansas State, and thus satisfied the requirements set forth by new UTK Chancellor Beverly Davenport.
Fulmer, of course, has never been an AD. David Blackburn, the other popular candidate, is a sitting AD, but at Chattanooga. He didn't check the Power Five box either.
The backstory is that Currie was the top aide at UT under AD Mike Hamilton in 2008 when Fulmer was terminated as football coach, 10 years after his national championship season and one year after winning the SEC East.
There is certainly a case for hiring an experienced athletic director to run a program of Tennessee's scope. There is also a case that the search process was clumsy, to say the least.
'Just trying to help'
"I was just trying to help my university,'' Fulmer said Friday. "That's what I'm always going to try to do.''
Fulmer declined to elaborate on the search process. Currie, since returning to UT, has repeatedly acknowledged Fulmer's considerable contribution to Tennessee's heritage – letterman, No. 2 in coaching wins (152) behind Robert Neyland, etc. Does it help soothe wounds, old and fresh? Frankly, it's too soon.
"Currie has got a hard job and a lot to do,'' Fulmer said. "Being a head coach or an athletic director, those are hard jobs. He's got a lot to prove.''
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Fulmer didn't attend Currie's introductory event. I doubt they'll grill burgers anytime soon. But Fulmer hasn't withdrawn from his alma mater and won't.
He played in the letterman's golf tournament Friday at WindRiver. He was headed to the Hall of Fame banquet Friday night. He visited football practice last week.
"Right now, everybody's just getting adjusted,'' Fulmer said. "Butch (Jones) knows anytime he wants to talk about things, I'll always try to be helpful.
"It's my university, too, and I'm going to be around and be involved.''
It's Fulmer's community, too, and he remains involved. His golf tournament, for example, has raised funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs for nearly 20 years. He took over the event when Knoxville native and NFL veteran D.D. Lewis was ready to hand it off.
This year's tournament moves from Willow Creek to Avalon Golf and Country Club on May 5. A bunch of Fulmer's former players are always in the field, from Carl Pickens to Heath Shuler to Al Wilson. This year's headliner is Deon Grant, a 1999 All-American and 12-year NFL defensive back.
"I get asked a lot of times who's the best athlete I ever coached,'' Fulmer said. "It's really a hard question to answer because there are so many. Just from being a pure athlete, Deon Grant has to be one of them.''
The majority of Fulmer lettermen were in their old coach's corner during the AD search. Now it's over and everyone has to move on.
Currie has a hard job to do. Fulmer will still be around, as he should be.
Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Strangemike44.