Phillip Fulmer Had No Knowledge Of Arian Foster Taking Money

Oct 20, 2012; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers former head coach Phillip Fulmer waves to the crowd after he was inducted into the college football hall of fame prior to the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Neyland Stadium. Alabama won by a score of 44 to 13. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

According a statement released by former Tennessee Volunteers head football coach Phillip Fulmer, he was not aware of Arian Foster taking money while at Tennessee.

"As the head coach at Tennessee for 17 years, I took great pride in having a program that was NCAA compliant, as did our staff and administration. If we knew of a violation, big or small, we reported it."

Last week Foster, a former Tennessee Volunteers running back, said he took “side money” while at Tennessee. Foster made the comments as part of an upcoming documentary.

Foster also claimed he had no food in his fridge and said that at one point his coach (Fulmer, which he didn’t specifically name) brought him and some others food.

Fulmer didn’t specifically address those allegations, but considering that would be an NCAA violation, he’s essentially denying that claim.

There’s famously no love lost between Phillip Fulmer and Arian Foster. According to former Vol receiver Jayson Swain’s Twitter account, Foster wasn’t trying to get Tennessee in trouble, but trying to bring attention to the NCAA, for not allowing players to be paid.

This is largely a non-story as far as it concerns Tennessee presently. It definitely furthers the “should players be paid” debate, but as someone who hasn’t played college football, it’s not a debate I’m willing to take on.