Former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer said he had four Vols teams better than the 98 national championship team

Former Tennessee football head coach Phillip Fulmer said he had four Volunteers teams better than the 1998 national championship team. Is he right?

When he went on Erik Ainge’s radio show Friday, Phillip Fulmer spent time defending Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones and noting how he has rebuild the Vols.

Much of what he said is largely accurate, but missed in that headline is something else he said.

Fulmer said on the radio show that he had four teams better than the 1998 national championship team.

"“I go back and I look at my time and I had four teams better than the national championship teams. I’m telling you, ’95, ’96, ’99 and ’01, if we had had the playoff then that they have now, those teams, like ’98, would have been in the playoff. But you know what? Probably so would have Florida. We would have played them again.”"

So here, we have to examine that quote. Was he right?

Well, yes and no. He did have teams better than the 1998 team. But it wasn’t those four teams specifically.

The 1999 team was considered to be loaded because of all the departures the Vols had to the NFL that year. But all of those players played on the 1998 team.

And at the same time, the 1999 team could not adequately replace Al Wilson or Peerless Price.

Meanwhile, the 2001 team was better in spots. The front four on the 2001 team was the greatest front four in Tennessee football history with John Henderson and Albert Haynesworth in the middle. The offensive line was equal in terms of talent, and the Vols also had Jason Witten at tight end in 2001, a position they rarely used in 1998.

In fact, there were more weapons in the passing game overall, and Casey Clausen was comparable to Tee Martin.

But the linebackers and secondary did not come close to the elite talent on the 1998 team. And while the Vols had an arsenal of weapons in the passing game, none of those players came close to Peerless Price in 1998. Price alone makes the weapons better that year.

And on special teams, Jeff Hall was way more reliable than Alex Walls.

The 1995 and 1996 teams came close to the 1998 team in terms of talent.

However, the real team that was better than 1998 was 1997.

All of Tennessee football’s 1998 weapons were largely on that 1997 team. On top of that, they had six additional All-SEC performers that were on the 1997 team.

Oh, and they had a healthy Jamal Lewis at running back.

Sure, they lost Jay Graham and Joey Kent from 1996. But Lewis was better than Graham, and Kent’s departure only opened the door for Price and Marcus Nash to be playmakers. They were better anyway.

Nash was one of the All-SEC performers who left. Terry Fair on defense was another. Jonathan Brown was a third one at defensive tackle. There was another guy on the defensive line who went by the name of Leonard Little, who became an NFL Pro-Bowler.

On offense, they also had Trey Teague at center. And there was this guy under center as well named Peyton Manning, who became an NFL legend.

That 1997 team actually had the NFL’s league leader in sacks, rushing yards, and passing yards all in 2003 with Little, Lewis and Manning.

And while Little and Manning were not on the 1998 team, Lewis got hurt by game four. Who else could replace that type of talent and win the national championship?

Phillip Fulmer’s most talented team as Tennessee football’s head coach, and if they had started Jamal Lewis immediately, and if John Chavis had learned earlier how to play the option, that team would have gone undefeated.