University of Tennessee football coaching legend Phil Fulmer will be in DeKalb County next month at the 2nd Annual Man Up Dinner at Smithville First Baptist Church. The 2012 inductee into the College Coaches Hall of Fame will be the guest speaker for the event on Sunday, May 4. The dinner kicks off at 6:00 p.m. in the church’s LEC. Costs of the meal is free, but a $10 donation is suggested. A pre-dinner meet-and-greet with Coach Fulmer will begin at 5:00 p.m. and costs $30, which will cover the suggested meal donation. Anyone wanting to be part of the meet and greet will need to register at the church website, www.smithvillefbc.org.
During his tenure with the Volunteers, Fulmer became the 1998 National Coach of the Year and achieved 137 wins in his first 15 campaigns, tying for the fourth-most in a 15-year span in college football history. He brought home 2 SEC championships and a piece of 7 SEC East Division title. When playing the nation’s No. 1-ranked teams, he had an impressive 5-0 record.
While Coach Fulmer was a notable foe to reckon with on the gridiron for U.T between 1992-2008, he did more than lead teams to victories. He also helped guide young men into winning lives off the field.
“When we started our program, I wanted it to be all facets,” Coach Fulmer told Smithville FBC Pastor Chad Ramsey during a recent phone interview. [Ramsey and his wife, Kathy, are huge UT fans who grew up in East Tennessee during Fulmer’s winning reign.]
“We [the coaches] were like parents away from home for them, and we told them we would get them better [athletically] and support them academically, but we’re also going to have this Christian background and attitude around our program, and we did. We influenced a lot of kids along the way. You could pour into them, but you couldn’t make them do it. We had a lot more success than we didn’t. You get into coaching, thinking I can make a difference. We’re dealing with kids’ lives. I think they would tell you they came through it at a really, really good time for Tennessee because we had that family attitude.”
Fulmer himself enjoyed a solid family upbringing in the tiny town of Winchester, Tennessee.
“I had just a magical childhood,” Fulmer said. “My dad worked two jobs all his life. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. They were the most loving Christian people you could ever imagine. Honestly, it was almost like Mayberry. We grew up Southern Baptists. Every time the church opened, we were there—Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday night. I was saved at 13.”
“I went away to college and found my Christian friends, and we’re still friends today, teammates Steve Robinson of FCA and John Keller, who went on to become a Baptist minister himself. Even now, through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, we speak and get around our young people as much as we can. My coaches in Little League, Babe Ruth and on up through high school were great influences as well.”
“When I became a coach, I wanted that to become a part of our legacy and part of our mentoring of young people as much as we could. We were the first ones in the conference to have a fulltime team chaplain in the building. They tried to do the separation of [church and] state thing, but we found a way to make it work. It’s been real important to me all my life, and I’m thankful for the people who touched my life so much growing up.”
Coach Fulmer left his charmed existence after graduating from Franklin County High School and earned a spot as offensive guard on the Vol football team.
“Going away to college was a big deal,” Fulmer said. “I didn’t have a way to pay for my education. So, if I got a scholarship, which I did, they couldn’t run me off. I was going to finish,” he said with a chuckle. “You grow a lot in college. The basics are still the same—do the right things. When I became the head coach in ’93, we started a Bible study, and we still have it going now. A group of us meet every other Monday.”
Now retired, the 74-year-old continues walking the Christian walk at his home in Maryville.
“I’m reading now 12 Ordinary Men,” Fulmer says. “It’s a fantastic book. All the apostles/disciples are heroes for all of us. The challenges that they had and the failures that they had made them into the people and leaders they were. It’s just incredible.”
Coach Fulmer will be delivering a motivational speech at the 2nd Annual Man Up Dinner at Smithville FBC Sunday, May 4. You’re invited to join the coach for “great food, a great talk, and more importantly a time for men of all ages to connect with God.”
