He is by far the most selfish, egotistical scoundrel that has ever crossed this program. He did whatever he could to screw over whoever he could in order to retain power. It started with Johnny Majors, a man who gave him his first big break, and ended with the biggest middle finger to a collegiate fanbase you could find.
After getting a super, duper friendly contract that let him establish "8 wins a year is an automatic contract extension", he became so scared Dave Clawsen would take his job that Phil sabotaged the offense intentionally so Clawsen couldn't run his show, proceeding to go 5-7 with a talented Tennessee roster. He was rightfully fired, took zero responsibility as he let his players cause a scene at the press conference (all without saying a word to restore order) and then had his team no show in Neyland that led to Tennessee losing to FREAKING WYOMING, costing a new coach a chance to get to a bowl and valuable extra practices. This occurred all while taking a $6M buyout on the way, taking no responsibility for the program's shortcomings and putting Tennessee way behind the 8 ball in the SEC.
Say what you want about John Currie, but he had a well-established head coach lined up to take over the program in Mike Leach. In a time where Tennessee fans were fuming, hurt and lost, Phil could have rallied the fanbase or offered public support to the program in a grave time of need after "Schiano Sunday". Instead, like a snake, he weaseled his way with boosters, taking advantage of a chancellor who was over her head and desperately needing some guidance. He spilled lies and led a mutiny (confirmed by Brett McMurphy) to take back power over the football, not in good faith, but because he held a grudge over being fired by an AD that had not been involved with the program in almost a decade. He then took over the AD with no actual experience how to run a modern P5 collegiate program, didn't hire a search firm to help vet or assist in the hiring of a football coach during a critical moment for the program and hired a goober that almost destroyed the program. He then let Pruitt run amok, who could have gotten us severe sanctions if Donde Plowman and Randy Boyd hadn't stepped up. Instead of doing the right thing and take responsibility for his actions, where he could leave with some dignity and with some form of a good name and retire properly, he once again made sure to line up his pockets. He took a $1M buyout and was fired but had enough pull as a former national title winning coach to disguise his firing as a retirement and took the money. Because Phil doesn't care about the University of Tennessee, he only cares about himself and his pockets. He lied about knowing what was going on as Pruitt ran rampant, breaking NCAA rules even though he guaranteed he was going to fix the football program. He had the gall to say he left the program better than what he had, which was a total lie, and couldn't take any ownership in his press conference, not once apologizing to the university or its fans for letting it get as bad as it did.
Not only that, he alienated Rick Barnes (MAYBE THE EASIEST DUDE TO DEAL WITH IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL) so bad Barnes was going to take the UCLA job WITHOUT A COUNTEROFFER. Randy Boyd and boosters actually got involved to retain Barnes because Barnes was so fed up with how Phil did his job. He hired Kelly Harper, who while a good person, had shown she could not win at a P5 school because she was a UT alum and he didn't know enough about women's basketball to know who to actually hire (and once again eschewing a search firm to assist). He did zero in terms of renovations or progress for facilities, somehow made the football program worse from the day he was hired and embarrased the program once again with the disgraceful exit of Pruitt.
He constantly suppressed his coaching staff, perpetually fearing he would get replaced because as a snake, that's how he got the job to begin with. David Cutcliffe carried his water and showed he was a mediocre coach once Cut left. He's a blight on this program and the 1998 National Title doesn't cover his sins. He squandered countless teams while the SEC was down, got his ass handed to him by Steve Spurrier year after year and then by Mark Richt and Urban Meyer. He somehow managed to win just a singular SEC title with freaking Peyton Manning as his QB and in 16 years only managed two. He's a mediocre football coach that lucked into an awesome situation that Johnny Majors built, all while incredibly lucky that David Cutcliffe/John Chavis was already on staff when he backstabbed Majors for the job.
He's a disgrace to the university and the athletic department and they should rename Phillip Fulmer Way, instead calling it David Cutcliffe Road. I hope he never gets honored at the university again. He's a selfish con artist who cared more about himself and used his status as an alumni and "aw shucks" demeanor as a ruse to step on people and destroy careers to get what he wanted.
