chris low...
phillip fulmer, who a decade ago brought tennessee its first national championship in 47 years, will not return as the vols' coach next year, multiple sources told espn.com.
an announcement is being planned for later monday at neyland stadium. The vols (3-6, 1-5 sec) have lost four straight games and are in danger of suffering their second losing season in the last four years. Fulmer, who's won 150 games at his alma mater and is the dean of sec coaches, met with tennessee officials monday morning, and they reached a mutual agreement that it would be best for all parties if fulmer was not back next season. There had been increasing scrutiny on fulmer, who took over full time as head coach in 1993 and has been at his alma mater as a player, assistant coach and head coach for more than 30 years. The vols won the national title in 1998 and were one of the top programs in all of college football in the 1990s, but the program hasn't been the same this decade. They've lost 31 games since the end of the 2001 season.
