Here is to Tennessee having many more years of mediocrity
inkbiggrin:
For those of you that don't know what I am talking about this is an old article that tells the whole sorted story:
Alabama Fans Say Bon Voyage to Tennessee's Phil Fulmer
by Franklin Crittenden
Alabama defeated Tennessee 29-9 in Neyland Stadium in front of 100,000 disappointed orange-clad fans. This was the second straight lopsided loss to Alabama for Coach Fulmer and the Tennessee Volunteers. Watching Phil Fulmer suffering at Alabama's hand has become one of my greatest pleasures.
Now I am sure that sounds childish, petty and unsportsmanlike, but hear me out. You need to know why I feel this way.
There is a story that needs to be toldāa story that young Alabama and Tennessee fans may not have heard until this moment. Phil Fulmer is responsible for almost a decade of pure hell for the University of Alabama and its fans. It would seem that Coach Fulmer had another profession back in 2000. He was a Private Investigator. You know, one of those sleazy people that helps other people gather dirt on someone they want to get even with, or get rid of.
He was "Phil Fulmer, PI."
Yes, Phil Fulmer decided on his own to personally launch an investigation into allegations that an Alabama booster had paid a Memphis recruit to play for Alabama. Normal channels for that sort of thing were to report it to the NCAA, but that would not assure the outcome Fulmer wanted. So Phil decided to put on his trench coat and handle this case himself. Now I know some of you will find it hard to believe a coach would go that far to take down a rival, but if you will bear with me, I will show you that is exactly the case.
Let me take you back to a summer around the turn of the century when this all started taking place. This following is quoted from Wikipedia. "During the
2000 season, an assistant football coach at Trezevant High School in
Memphis,
Tennessee claimed that
Logan Young, an Alabama
booster, had paid Lynn Lang, the Trezevant head football coach, approximately
$150,000 to encourage defensive lineman
Albert Means to sign with the Crimson Tide. Following the investigation by the NCAA, Alabama received a five-year probation, a two-year
bowl ban, and a reduced number of scholarships that the university could give outālimiting them to twenty-one scholarships per year. A secret witness was later unveiled to be
Phillip Fulmer, head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team."
Now the above is just part of Fulmer's involvement in this twisted story.
There were clandestine meetings in exotic places such as the Shoney's in Chattanooga, Tennessee with informers. There were meetings at rich Tennessee boosters' homes to plot and plan strategy over coffee and cookies. A Tennessee booster who was by coincidence the mortal enemy of The Alabama booster name in the investigation. You can see where this is going. There was the gathering of witnesses to give false testimony to NCAA investigators by Fulmer himself. Witnesses that were hand picked by Fulmer. Some of these witnesses were people who wanted to be more involved with Alabama's football program as scouts, but were shunned by the coaching staff. They had scores to settle, and Fulmer help them settle those perceived wrongs.
I know this all sounds outlandish, but it is true.
In the following years there were several lawsuits filed by victims of Fulmer's frame job courtesy of Tennessee's buddies at the NCAA. Why didn't the SEC step in? The commissioner at the time was a Tennessee graduate, that's why.
Even until today the courts are trying to sort out and make restitution in this soap opera of a mess.
Here is one example I quote from the
Birmingham News from Sept. 17, 2008.
"TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)āThe NCAA has paid $150,000 to settle with a key witness in its last case against the Alabama football program.
"The
Birmingham News reported Wednesday that recruiting analyst Tom Culpepper received $150,000 in May. He was a secret witness in the NCAAās investigation into Alabama football recruiting.
"The NCAA had signed a confidential agreement with Culpepper to pay his legal fees and protect him from any possible court judgments. Under the agreement, Culpepper had to release the NCAA from any claims against the organization
"Culpepper gave a deposition in July as part of his divorce proceedings, saying that the NCAA paid his attorneyās fees and expenses related to litigation stemming from the NCAA investigation, in addition to the money he received in May."
So far all the court cases have been found in favor of the Alabama side, including the one filed against the NCAA themselves.
Unlike the NCAA real courts require real evidence to find people guilty of wrongdoing.
Now you might wonder, why would someone as important as Phil Fulmer would lower himself to personally get involved with something this nasty?
Recruiting, that is the reason Fulmer went undercover. He wanted Alabama crippled.
For years leading up to this ugly chapter, Alabama had been coming into Tennessee and stealing what Fulmer considered his prized recruits.
When Fulmer heard there was a deranged booster with a serious drinking problem in Memphis bragging that he could buy players for Alabama, he saw his opportunity to rid himself of this Alabama problem for good.
To do this he enlisted friends he had made through his affiliation with the American Football Coaches Association (which at the time he was president of) to some powerful people inside the NCAA infractions committee.
Also a player in this sorted chapter was Roy Cramer, the now retired SEC commissioner, Tennessee graduate, and friend of Fulmer's.
Fulmer was good at this sort of behind the scenes backstabbing. If fact, it is known that Fulmer's rise to head coach at Tennessee was accomplished in much the same manner by undermining his boss Johnny Majors, and then appointing himself to replace Majors as Tennessee's football coach.
Soon he was deposing witnesses, gathering evidence, hiring private investigators, and even testifying in front of the NCAA's investigation committee himself.
Now I am not trying to claim there was no wrongdoing done by this so-called Alabama booster in Memphis, Tennessee.
There was.
What I am claiming is that Fulmer's involvement was personal, and his influence on investigators biased the case. His involvement assured a severe punishment for a trivial violation by any standard.
It led to one of the most severe punishments ever handed down by the NCAAāall for one booster throwing big talk and money around at a high school coach in Memphis to influence one player's decision on where to play college football.
The player involved in this case had no idea this was even taking place, and was leaning toward Alabama anyway.
The severity of the punishment handed down was the direct result of Fulmer misleading investigators, tampering with witnesses,influencing the NCAA judgement and to a certain degree creating some of the violations himself out of gossip.
Then he went on to influence and encourage witnesses to give false testimoniesāwitnesses who had scores to settle with Alabama. Most of these witnesses were Tennessee boosters. How interesting?
Fulmer got his wish. Alabama was for all purposes out of his way.
This frame job led to an entire coaching staff resigning. An entire team of young men's college careers wasted. A respected university tarnished. An entire fanbase punished because of one drunk booster and a conniving, insecure coach named Phillip Fulmer.
Yes, Coach Fulmer's involvement in this ugly chapter is well documented. Even as late as last year, Coach Fulmer was a no-show at the SEC Media Days in Birmingham to avoid being served a subpoena to testify in another case concerning this situation.
The subpoena was later served to him at this year's meeting, when he finally did show up under threat of a fine by the SEC.
So yes, I enjoy watching Fulmer get beat by Alabama, and I will enjoy watching him be fired from his illegitimate job as head coach at Tennessee.
Who wouldn't in my shoes? I know Johnny Majors would agree with me completely. What goes around comes around Coach Fulmer. I also think it would be sweet justice if this loss to Alabama ends up being the final nail in Coach Fulmer's coffin. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, it was a little chilly Saturday night in Knoxville, Tennessee.
So, Bon appƩtit, and Bon voyage Phil Fulmer! All your friends down in Alabama wish you well in your upcoming retirement.
Post script...
Here is a final statement on the Fulmer tenure at Tennessee quoted from the Decatur Daily.
Shanks disputes Fulmer's claim of playing by rules
Mark Edwards
Nov 04, 2008 (The Decatur Daily - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Decatur native Philip Shanks couldn't help but choke and cough a bit as he watched a televised news conference Monday afternoon in which Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer announced he has been fired, effective at the end of the season.
Shanks was one of the attorneys who represented former Alabama assistant coaches Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams in a defamation lawsuit against the NCAA filed in 2002. Fulmer became embroiled in the case when documents proved that the Vols coach took time to turn in Alabama for recruiting improprieties in 2000.One particular statement by Fulmer on Monday infuriated Shanks: "We've had some of UT's greatest teams, we've had many of its greatest players, and we've done it right by the NCAA's rules."
"I was appalled by Fulmer's claim that he has played by the rules. That's a blatant falsehood," said Shanks, who has retired from his Memphis law firm.
Shanks said that in 2004, he and Montgomery attorney Tommy Gallion sent to Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton more than 300 pages of documents showing a pattern of cheating by Fulmer.
"He ran the most corrupt football program in the Southeastern Conference," Shanks said. "We had documents of free automobiles given to players and talented juniors receiving six figures to return for their senior years.
"Moderately talented players were receiving $2,000 a month. And nobody at Tennessee ever responded."
The NCAA handed down sanctions to Alabama's football program in February 2001 for recruiting violations.
Fulmer and some of his assistant coaches spoke with NCAA investigator Richard Johanningmeier in 2002 about their belief that Tide boosters were buying top recruits.
His interviews were supposed to remain secret but became exposed during a court case involving the NCAA and Crimson Tide booster Logan Young, who died in 2006.
Although Alabama has long since served its NCAA penalty, Shanks said he couldn't allow Fulmer "to go out with some weepy news conference" without commenting on his role in the case.
Shanks said he can't help but think of the irony that Fulmer won two SEC titles and a national title before becoming involved in the Alabama case and none of either afterward.
