Surprise! Fresh off the hot seat, Phil Fulmer joins the Big Boy SEC Coaches Club thanks to a one million dollar raise. Fulmer's new contract is worth an average of nearly 3 million dollars per year through 2014 thanks to yearly -- and automatic -- $150k bumps. Fulmer will also get a chance to win additional bonuses for winning an SEC championship ($350,000) or a national title ($850,000). Fulmer's new salary puts him in league with contemporaries such as Les Miles, Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, all of whom own one national title in the aughts of the new millenium.What other conference rewards one of its middling coaches with a million dollar pay raise?
Oh, sure... stop squawking. I know: Fulmer won his division in 2007, and he managed to get the Vols to the double-digit win category (10, to be precise) to boot. He has a national title on his resume. And he has a great overall record: as a head coach he's won 147 games, losing only 45. And he's a sterling 87-27 in the hypercompetitive SEC.
But let's get real. Fulmer also lost 4 games last year, was humiliated by Florida and Alabama, and embarassed the SEC by losing to a 7-6 Cal team in Berkeley. 2006 was nominal but disappointing by Tennessee standards (9-4) and 2005 is known as "the season of which we do not speak" by Vol fans thanks to the UT's first losing season in two decades.
The problem isn't Fulmer's overall body of work, which is good. It's the trend. Fulmer's last conference title came in 1998 and it was only by the grace of God that the Vols had a chance to square off against LSU in the SEC Championship of '07. And in that time Fulmer's Volunteers have won a paltry three bowl games, lost five, and failed to appear in 2005 thanks to that losing record.
But give Fulmer credit: he's agreed to massive changes within the program for '08. Tennessee is moving into the modern age of college football by installing the spread offense. 2008 isn't exactly a crucible for Fulmer, but it's important that the Vols make it a respectable year. Fulmer's raise brings added pressure on him to perform.
Tennessee seems to be giving a message to Fulmer. Instead of a reward for prior performance, it's a new expectation that the Vols will live up to their storied tradition. Usually a massive pay raise implies that the administration is wholly behind their head coach. In this case, I think the UT athletic department are saying, "You're a 3-million dollar SEC coach. Now go perform like one."
