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Tennessee Vols five most consequential coaching moves with Phillip Fulmer as AD

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 18, 2021; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee athletics director Phillip Fulmer speaks during a press conference addressing the leadership changes related to the University of Tennessee football program held at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center in Knoxville on Monday, January 18, 2021. Mandatory Credit: Brianna Paciorka/Knoxville News Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK
Jan 18, 2021; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee athletics director Phillip Fulmer speaks during a press conference addressing the leadership changes related to the University of Tennessee football program held at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center in Knoxville on Monday, January 18, 2021. Mandatory Credit: Brianna Paciorka/Knoxville News Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK /
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COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – JANUARY 08: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers directs his team against the Missouri Tigers in the second half at Mizzou Arena on January 08, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – JANUARY 08: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers directs his team against the Missouri Tigers in the second half at Mizzou Arena on January 08, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

3. Keeping Rick Barnes

No, Phillip Fulmer did not hire Rick Barnes. However, after the end of the 2018-2019 season, the Tennessee Vols were in danger of losing him to the UCLA Bruins, who were going through a disastrous coaching search. UCLA can afford to have another coach and still be successful, but the basketball program needs somebody like Barnes to succeed.

Realizing that and all the momentum the program had after winning 31 games, reaching the Sweet 16 and spending nearly a month at No. 1, Fulmer was willing to do whatever it took to keep Barnes. Well, he gave Barnes the sweetest deal in the sport for a coach who hasn’t won a national championship yet.

Barnes got a deal that lasts through 2023-2024 and pays $4.7 million a year starting out with a $250,000 increase each year. As a result, UT was able to keep him on board, and he’s still going strong with the program nearly two years later.

When all this was happening, Barnes at one point admitted he likely would have taken the UCLA job if the program covered the buyout. However, he’s probably in a better situation in Knoxville, Tenn., as he has ties to the are and is much closer to Hickory, N.C., where he is from.

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