Tennessee Football: Phillip Fulmer was all of us during Gator Bowl

Before Tennessee football went on its fourth-quarter run to win the Gator Bowl, Phillip Fulmer was all of us, and he was “P.O.’d.”

The Gator Bowl was a difficult time for Tennessee football fans. At least the first 55 or so minutes were tough, the last five minutes were a bit more fun.

Tennessee Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer was all of us during the first 55 minutes and he went onto Nashville’s 104.5 The Zone to air out his frustration.

"“I was P.O.’d, now,” Fulmer said. “I’m telling you, I came down that elevator and I was thinking this is not going to be fun.”"

Sounds like Fulmer was ready to lay into Jeremy Pruitt after the game ended, but what he didn’t realize is he was probably the good luck charm and all the Vols needed were him to come down to the field to start scoring.

Once Fulmer reached the sideline, the Vols scored back-to-back touchdowns in a wild comeback that no one expected to happen. Fulmer was a bit more excited once he got down to the sideline.

"“And it’s just right in front of your eyes,” Fulmer said of the wild comeback. “You’re talking about gutsy, to kick that onside kick. As a head coach, I don’t know that I could’ve gotten that out of my mouth. But (Pruitt) was very confident in it. I think that tells you a lot about our coach.”"

I also think it tells you a lot about Pruitt’s coaching style and what he has already built in his short time at Tennessee. Pruitt never gave up.

It looked like Tennessee was going to take a beat down and when most coaches would have not given everything they could to complete a near-impossible comeback, Pruitt continued to fight and the fight was there in the players, too.

"“He’s close to the kids,” Fulmer continued. “He’s very demanding, they’ve responded really well to him. And he’s darn good. He’s a workaholic. All those things are what it takes to be successful.”"

I think Pruitt is building something special and Fulmer thinks that too. 2020 will be an interesting year for Pruitt and it could be the year that he proves himself to the rest of the college football world.