In texts and documents obtained by Adam Sparks, it sounds like UT AD Phil Fulmer was a lot more worried about a loss to Vanderbilt than he was by any possible rule-breaking by Jeremy Pruitt. Was he looking the other way... or was he just truly clueless? We may never know. Either way, the story below is some excellent reporting by Adam Sparks (now in his third year of covering UT for the News-Sentinel).
Pull-quote:
Fulmer’s email sheds light on his mindset at the time UT first uncovered wrongdoing under Pruitt. Fulmer sounded like a coach making excuses for a poor season rather than an athletics director addressing serious rules violations.
UT Chancellor Donde Plowman was concerned about serious problems in the program and wanted to know Fulmer’s plan if Pruitt was fired. But Fulmer responded by focusing on much smaller issues that missed the point.
He fixated on the team’s weightlifting, nutrition, practice habits, quarterback play, lack of pass rushers, difficult SEC schedule and the psychological effects of losing to Vanderbilt two years earlier.
“You also have to realize how bad the program was when we arrived here,” Fulmer wrote to Plowman. “We had no big linemen, no one that benched 400 (pounds), and no natural leaders.
“(Pruitt’s staff) inherited a very bad 2018 football team. … The loss to Vanderbilt was really hard for anyone to swallow. Vanderbilt had an excellent QB that picked us apart.”
