What Phillip Fulmer told the Tennessee football team before 1998 national championship season is not what any fan would expect
The Tennessee Volunteers’ last national championship came in 1998 when the team went 13-0 to claim the first BCS title. Tennessee hasn’t really come close to returning to the championship stage since.
The 1998 season is one of the most memorable seasons in Tennessee Vols history.
Tennessee went 13-0 in 1998 while claiming the first ever BCS national championship.
It was a magical season that caught many by surprise — the Volunteers were ranked No. 10 to start the year.
Tennessee’s players, however, fed off the doubt from the national media, and, apparently, from their head coach.
Vols legend Tee Martin reveals Phillip Fulmer’s message to Tennessee ahead of the 1998 season
Vols legend Tee Martin, the starting quarterback on that 1998 team, recently shared head coach Phillip Fulmer’s pre-season message to team.
Martin told WKRG that Fulmer told the team they were only going to win six or seven games in 1998.
“We were doubted coming into that season,” said Martin. “We lost a lot of great players [from] the previous year. Coach Fulmer even told us in the spring that we were going to win six games. And at best, [he said], ‘You guys are winning seven and barely making it to a bowl game.’ And we’re like, ‘What?’ We had some very competitive guys, and the main thing we had was leadership.”
That was obviously a motivational tactic from Fulmer, and it worked to perfection.