Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer quietly got the last word with the Vols when his replacement, Lane Kiffin, left the school in horrific fashion. Fulmer was pretty humble and seemed to be holding back in his statement. Kiffin was not as lucky on Saturday when Fulmer served up some thoughts on CBS’ halftime show.
Fulmer said the Tennessee fans felt betrayed and embarrassed by Kiffin, which is nothing new. He added that Kiffin’s arrogance turned people off, no surprise. The best part was the point Fulmer raised about Kiffiin’s luck: “how does a guy like this end up with two jobs with historic football teams like Tennessee and USC?” Phil, we’ve all been wondering the same exact thing. Slap a different last name after Lane and he’s not USC’s coach. The Trojans will learn that the hard way.
As if that wasn’t enough, Fulmer had more thoughts for WDEF (via SB Nation). “I don’t think we should have made the change. I would have won 7 or 8 games just like Kiffin did. You could have saved all that money and heartache.”
Well, here’s the thing: the Vols wouldn’t have hired Kiffin if they thought that was going to happen, and winning 7 or 8 games is the reason they made the change — it’s simply not good enough for Tennessee. Fulmer wasn’t delivering and obviously Kiffin created a mess. The fans will have to be patient with Derek Dooley and hope he can do what his daddy did for Georgia otherwise we’ll be seeing another change in a few years.
