Sanning: No matter the results, Phillip Fulmer should not step down to coach Tennessee football again

Many Tennessee fans are calling for current Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer to rejoin the Vols on the sidelines, but would it actually benefit the program?

I don't know what Tennessee fans are thinking, and quite frankly I can't blame them for feeling the way they do, honestly.

The 2019 Vols have gotten off to an incredibly disastrous start, dropping their first two games of the season at home and turning the ball over four times in a 34-3 loss to ninth-ranked Florida to begin SEC play.

It seems as if Jeremy Pruitt's master plan for this season hasn't fallen into place, and he's taken plenty of heat for it from Tennessee fans, some of which are already calling for Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer to step down and replace him.

Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports recently predicted that Fulmer would take over the reigns by the end of the season and as you'd expect, a vast majority of fans in Knoxville agree with him.

The only problem is, they're wrong. All of them.

No matter what decision Fulmer comes to in regards to Pruitt's future after this season, he should not return to the sidelines to lead Tennessee's football program. 

Am I saying he's incapable? Absolutely not. During his tenure in Knoxville, the Vols reached unprecedented levels of success year after year, and his track record speaks for itself. 

An undefeated season in 1998 that culminated in Tennessee's first National Championship in over 31 years was the cherry on top, and UT had just two losing seasons under Fulmer's watch.

The Vols were consistently ranked near the top of the AP poll year after year, bringing about the lofty expectations that ultimately caused his demise following a poor start to the 2008 season. 

In fact, in just his first 16 games, Pruitt has now lost more games by 25 or more points than Fulmer did during his entire tenure. 

Does that change my stance on this topic? Absolutely not. In fact, it only strengthens it.

One can argue that this is the worst start to a Tennessee football season since the Derek Dooley era and they wouldn't be far off. However, during Fulmer's final season, the Vols fell to a 26-point underdog in Wyoming. 

That doesn't exactly exude confidence. 

I'm not saying that the man can't coach, I'm just stating the obvious: his time in that role has passed. 

Enter Fulmer the athletic director, not the head football coach. Since taking over the position following John Currie's catastrophic tenure, he's taken strides in getting Tennessee back to relevance across the board.

Basketball is thriving and Rick Barnes is here to stay. Fulmer made the difficult decision of letting Holly Warlick go and bringing in former Lady Vol Kellie Harper to lead the women's program.

Baseball is gaining traction under Tony Vitello and the soccer program has reached new heights under Brian Pensky. Then there's the Weekly's, whose names speak for themselves. 

Dec 9, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers Athletic Direct Phillip Fulmer, left, introduces new Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt during a timeout in the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

Even Tennessee volleyball has made a resurgence under second-year coach Eve Rackham, who was also another hire made by Fulmer. The point is, the impact he's made during his brief tenure in that position trumps anything he could be doing on the sidelines right now. 

I'm absolutely certain that Fulmer is unhappy with how the season has started. The look on his face at each postgame press conference says it all. But does that mean he should be ready to jump ship so quickly?

In simple terms, no. No matter who the coach is, Tennessee football is going to be no easy fix.

When Pruitt initially arrived, I knew this would be more than a two-year project. I didn't think this season would have gone south so quickly, but that shouldn't change Fulmer's mindset. 

He knew what he was getting into when he hired him in Jan. 2018. He knew that the mess leftover from the debacle that was the end of the Butch Jones era would take years to clean up. 

In fact, calling it a mess would probably be an understatement. 

The Vols finished below .500 and failed to make a bowl game appearance for the second consecutive season last year, but upset victories over ranked opponents in Auburn and Kentucky gave fans a glimmer of hope.

Unfortunately for Tennessee fans, that glimmer vanished in the form of a 38-30 loss to Georgia State. It faded even further into the oblivion when the Vols allowed what should have been a win slip through their fingers late against BYU. 

I remember being on the sidelines and hearing an audible gasp from the crowd when the Cougars moved into scoring range, and I can't fathom that Fulmer's reaction was much different. 

I can't imagine that he was thinking of cutting ties with Pruitt and coaching the team again either. 

No matter what happens over the course of the next three months, the Vols need not panic and need not jump ship. The results may be painful, but it is always darkest before the dawn.

That reality still doesn't change the fact that the architect behind perhaps the most successful era in UT football history is exactly where he needs to be.

And that's not on the sidelines.