| Sports Report – Phillip Fulmer |
| Written by Chuck Cavalaris | |||||
| Tuesday, 01 July 2008 | |||||
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Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer has passed it with 102 games to spare. The dean of Southeastern Conference head football coaches will be rewarded with a 7-year contract that will average more than $3 million. The deal will start with a salary of $2.5 million and would pay Fulmer about $3.5 million in 2014. It includes a $100,000 annual raise and has a retention bonus. Fulmer is 147-45 in 15-plus seasons as the Vols head coach. UT was the 1998 national champion and also has won two SEC titles and seven Eastern Division titles since Fulmer was named head coach. He is 93-29 against the SEC and 44-33 against ranked opponents. His .766 winning percentage is the best in Division I-A for active head coaches with at least a decade of experience. The Vols finished 10-4 last season and defeated Wisconsin in the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl. Athletic director Mike Hamilton has praised the stability of the football program under Fulmer's leadership. The Vols coach earned just over $2 million last year. Even with a hefty raise, Fulmer will not be the highest paid coach in the SEC. That distinction - along with $4 million a year - goes to Nick Saban at Alabama. LSU's Les Miles and Florida's Urban Meyer earn more than $3 million apiece per season. Tommy Tuberville earns approximately $2.6 per year at Auburn. Tennessee is scheduled to open the 2008 season on Monday, Sept. 1 against UCLA in Pasadena, Calif. There's no doubt it will be a season of change for coach Fulmer, who is a former Vols offensive lineman and spent 13 years as UT assistant from 1980-92. Tennessee's offense will have a new look with the additions of Dave Clawson (coordinator), Stan Drayton (running backs), Latrell Scott (receivers) and Jason Michaels (ends). Greg Adkins (line) is the lone returnee on the offensive staff after the departure of long-time UT assistant David Cutcliffe to become Duke's head coach. The defensive staff features associate head coach John Chavis as the coordinator and linebackers coach along with Dan Brooks (line), Steve Caldwell (ends) and Larry Slade (secondary). The support staff includes Bruce Warwick (football operations), Condredge Holloway (player relations), Scott Altizer (football operations), Kevin VanDerzen (high school relations), Johnny Long (strength & conditioning), Jason McVeigh (trainer), Robert Frazier (equipment), Max Parrott (assistant equipment manager), Judy Jackson (student-athlete welfare), James Mitchell (chaplain), Jim Bob Cooter (graduate assistant) and Raasaan Haralson (graduate assistant). The first home game will be Sept. 13 against the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Kickoff is set for 12:30. Raycom has the broadcast.           
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No matter how many ways you slice it or dice it, the .500 mark is considered to be the break even point for success as a player, coach, team or program.
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