Criticism of Fulmer intensifies - again

Oct 29, 2008 - 4:37 PM By Bob Birge PA SportsTicker Staff Writer

Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer may be the most unpopular man in the Volunteer State.

As Tennessee continues to lose, calls for Fulmer's ouster grow louder and more intense. It makes one wonder how much longer the second-winningest coach in school history can survive.

One thing Fulmer is not going to do, however, is apologize for his record - and he's certainly not going to quit.

"I'm not a dog that barks and then runs into the house," Fulmer said during his weekly news conference on Tuesday. "I'm going to do my job on a daily basis and do it the right way."

Tennessee (3-5) heads into Saturday's game at South Carolina in last place in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference and needs to run the table just to reach seven wins.

With only one win in five conference games, the Volunteers could be headed for their second losing season in four years - they went 5-6 in 2005, the only time they have finished below .500 during Fulmer's tenure at Tennessee.

Last season, calls for Fulmer's ouster began after a 59-20 loss to Florida dropped the Volunteers to 1-2. Tennessee regrouped to win the SEC East, finishing the season 10-4 and getting the critics off Fulmer's back, if only briefly.

A year later, the Volunteers will be lucky to even salvage a bowl game. They lost to their three biggest rivals this year - Florida, Georgia and Alabama - and could be headed to their first seven-loss season since going 4-7 in 1977, Johnny Majors' first year at Tennessee.

The Volunteers close the regular season with home games against Wyoming and Kentucky, sandwiched around a road contest at Vanderbilt.

In his 16th season at Tennessee, Fulmer owns a career record of 150-80, winning a national championship in 1998, two conference titles and five division crowns.

Longtime Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis defends the record of his boss.

"I look at a man who has won 150 ballgames and done some things at the university that hadn't been done before," Chavis told The Tennessean. "And he's done it with class and the way it's supposed to be done."

In a perfect world, Fulmer's record would earn him the loyalty of the university, and it still might.

But in the big-time world of college football loyalty often is in short supply - especially in the manic SEC, where fans eat, sleep and breathe football 365 days a year.

"We're in the age of instant gratification and what have you done lately," Fulmer said. "I understand that. Hopefully, we can give everyone good encouragement about winning and what we're going to do in the future, with how we play."

Even with last year's success, Tennessee is a mediocre 27-19 since the start of the 2005 season.

In could be that after 16 years, Tennessee simply needs a new face to run its football program.