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Tennessee football: Watch Phillip Fulmer celebrating with Vols after Auburn win

By Caleb Calhoun

AUBURN, AL - OCTOBER 13: Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer celebrates with defensive lineman Kyle Phillips #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers after defeating the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)
AUBURN, AL - OCTOBER 13: Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer celebrates with defensive lineman Kyle Phillips #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers after defeating the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /
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UT athletic director and former Tennessee football head coach Phillip Fulmer celebrated with the Volunteers on the sidelines as they beat the Tigers.

Tennessee football had a sense of deja vu Saturday, a little taste of the program returning to prominence under first year head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Phillip Fulmer was on the sidelines cheering on the Vols.

As Fulmer did for 16 years as a head coach, he was clapping, celebrating, and embracing players and coaches. It was a show of emotion that nobody had been able to see from him for a long time, and it’s something that was only part of what was a great day on Rocky Top.

VolQuest reported Jesse Simonton tweeted out video of the former coach celebrating after the Vols recovered the onside kick at the end, assuring their victory. Here’s a look at that.

Fulmer then embraced Jauan Jennings after the game. That was a big deal, as he was a part of making sure Jennings was reinstated after what happened at the end of last year under the previous coaching staff and athletic director. On top of that, he was also celebrating with other players. Here’s a look at both of those videos.

And finally, there was an Instagram story that Dominick Wood-Anderson put up of Fulmer in the locker room. As a guy who had his fair share of wins against Auburn and even the Alabama Crimson Tide, he taught the players how to sing about not caring about the state of Alabama.

This was a perfect game for Fulmer to be at because it was reminiscent of his tenure. One of the marks of Fulmer’s career, especially  in the early to mid-2000s as head coach, was Tennessee football’s unique ability to pull off major upsets on the road.

The Florida Gators in 2001, the Miami Hurricanes in 2003, the Georgia Bulldogs in 2004 and the LSU Tigers in 2005 are all major examples. But he also had lesser ones that were still huge wins for their time, including the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2000, Florida in 2003, and Georgia again in 2006.

So scoring a huge upset win against a ranked team on the road as a major underdog is a great way for Fulmer’s hire, Jeremy Pruitt, to get his first signature win on Rocky Top. Tennessee football is now riding high coming off a bye week, and they should be. Even if the Alabama Crimson Tide smoke them next Saturday, this is clearly a sign of the program going in the right direction.

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