Coach is on the griddle for snooping on 'Bama
by Tony Basilio
In the summer of 2000, University of Tennessee head football coach Phillip Fulmer could brook no more of the University of Alabama's rogue recruiting. Maybe it was the dubious Dubose football administration then in power at rival 'Bama that sent the usually cautious Fulmer over the edge, or maybe it was the Albert Means recruiting debacle of '99-00. Whatever the case, the Vol chief finally snapped.
Some of you doubtless have no clue what I'm talking about. That's because almost nothing has been written about the situation locally—this at a time when at least 10 columnists have held forth in local dailies across the Southeast. But that's a subject best addressed in another column.
The revelations first appeared in the Huntsville Times a couple of weeks back that Fulmer went to Chattanooga on Aug. 7, 2000, on a fact-finding mission, with local attorney Jeff Hagood in tow. In the Scenic City, Fulmer met Alabama-based recruiting analyst Tom Culpepper, and according to documents from the NCAA, he maneuvered Culpepper into revealing long-standing illegal recruiting tactics of the Tide program.
Unbeknownst to Culpepper, Fulmer was recording him during selected parts of their discussion. Out of eight hours of conversation between the two, about two hours were captured on tape. Fulmer then turned his findings over to NCAA Investigator Richard Johanningmeier.
So what the Alabama nation has long suspected now appears to be true: Phillip Fulmer did indeed try to play an active role in the dismantling of the Alabama recruiting apparatus. (Although it should be noted that none of the violations the NCAA cited against Alabama were a direct result of his vigilance.)
Fulmer's detective work hasn't played well across the Southeast, as columnists and talk-show hosts alike have taken him to task for what they see as both a violation of coaching ethics and an example of one man's rogue vigilantism.
A Huntsville Times columnist sniped that, "It won't be long before the Tennessee coach may have to apply for the witness-protection program. If he keeps losing minor bowl games, it won't be UA fans he'll need protection from."
Randy Kennedy of the Mobile Press Register opined that Fulmer's "quest to harm Alabama... ensured that this rivalry will continue to get nastier." And Alabama syndicated columnist/talk-show host Paul Finebaum offered the following assessment of Fulmer and his character: "Fulmer has become college football's biggest rat. Is another coach ever going to trust this man again about anything?"
But lest anyone gets drunk on Finebaum's sour grapes, let's consider what Fulmer and other Southeastern Conference coaches were up against whenever they ventured into 'Bama recruiting territory.
Only a few months prior to Fulmer's turn on the P.I. circuit, Florida's then-head coach Steve Spurrier sent the following letter of admonishment to the Tide's then-coach Mike Dubose: "You're not going to buy players from me without an investigation of some kind. PS: I've been hearing this crap for the last couple of years now." Though Alabama ultimately walked on those particular charges, the message was clear: SEC coaches were wise to 'Bama's tactics. And it fell to Phil Fulmer to grab the Elephant by the tusks.
The Albert Means affair was probably the last straw. Means was regarded as the top player in the state back in 1999. He was a high-school All-American who had expressed interest in coming to Tennessee. But come winter of 2000, Means didn't even visit Knoxville, casting his lot with Alabama instead. We later learned that Means was in effect "sold" to the Tide by his high school coach for several thousand dollars, money that neither the player nor his mother knew was changing hands.
Unlike the rest of the SEC, Fulmer did something about it. Was he out of control in doing so? Maybe. But not nearly so much as the program he exposed. Self-righteous pundits be damned: Fulmer gets the final word. If you want something done, do it yourself. Coach F. saw a wrong, and he righted it. Roll Tide!
Tune in and talk sports with "The Tony Basilio Show" each weekday from 3-6 p.m. on the network (670 WMTY-AM, 850 WKVL-AM, 1140 WLOD-AM, 1290 WATO-AM, or 1400 WGAP-AM).
January 29, 2003 * Vol. 14, No. 5
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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