Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer was fooled by Jeremy Pruitt or feigned ignorance, email shows

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Fulmer was either unaware of the gravity of the situation or went to great lengths to feign ignorance. He was not implicated in any violations, but it appears he was in the dark more than an athletics director typically would be.

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Here are the excuses Phillip Fulmer made for Jeremy Pruitt

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.

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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.

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“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.”

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Fulmer wanted to retain Pruitt as coach

Fulmer praised Pruitt’s recruiting and spent more time examining problems on the field than compliance issues. And he thought Pruitt wanted stricter enforcement of NCAA rules in the football program.

“Jeremy knows the rules and will ask if something comes up,” Fulmer wrote. “I have made it clear we will not cheat.”

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In his final defense about Pruitt’s job performance, he argued that the Vols would’ve had a winning record in 2020 if four or five plays had been taken away from the Kentucky, Arkansas and Auburn games.

In 2020, Pruitt had a 3-7 record. UT lost to Kentucky 34-7, Arkansas 24-13 and Auburn 30-17.

If those games had gone in Pruitt’s favor, Fulmer wrote, “we would all feel different about the year.”

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