152-52 (96-34 SEC); 1 National Championship; 2 SEC Championships
He’s second in all-time wins, third in all-time winning percentage among full-time head coaches and one of only two Tennessee football head coaches to win an undisputed national championship. Naturally, Phillip Fulmer is going to be one of the top two head coaches on this list with that resume.
It was dramatic and unfortunate how he took over, as he did so by going 3-0 as interim coach while Johnny Majors had a health issue in 1992, beating Florida and Georgia, and then being named head coach while Majors was fired at the end of the year because of a three-game losing streak midseason. He closed out that year by winning the Hall of Fame bowl.
However, after going 9-2-1 in 1993, retroactively 10-2 after the Alabama game switched from a tie to a win, he secured the coup of the century by beating out Ole Miss for Peyton Manning. Recruiting was Fulmer’s strong suit, and this proved it more than anything.
After an 8-4 campaign, Manning, whose presence drew in tons of other elite recruits, ushered in the best run of the modern era for the Vols. Over the next four years, they would go 45-5 and win two SEC Championships and a national championship, ironically after Manning left. They had five straight top 10 finishes.
Over the course of 16 years, Fulmer led his team to 14 bowl games, he coached in 15 and he won eight of them. He oversaw seven top 10 finishes and 13 top 25 finishes along with three SEC East titles. Legends like Manning Jamal Lewis, Al Wilson and Eric Berry came through under him, and his legacy is firmly cemented, even if he did fall off a bit in the 2000s.