By JIM STEELE
pressbox1.com

I remember a rainy November afternoon in Knoxville, watching Tennessee head coach Johnny Majors run through the "T" at Neyland Stadium one final time.

Majors was forced to resign right before the 1992 Memphis State game and despite leading the Vols to three SEC crowns, the first back-to-back titles in 50 years. I remember that summer of 1992, listening to the radio in Martin, Tenn., at my desk, hearing about Majors having heart bypass surgery. I wondered what was going to happen in 1992. I wasn't a big fan of offensive coordinator Phillip Fulmer, especially after his horrid play calling during the 1991 Alabama game, where the Vols' second-half ineptitude snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

I heard a lot of sniping when they gave the reins to Fulmer in Majors' absence. But Fulmer freelanced the offense, going away from the normal I-formation to a five-receiver set, which paid off on a crucial, game-deciding fourth-and-13 play. Majors would likely have gone for the field goal and crossed his fingers.

Not Fulmer. He was playing with house money and nothing to lose. He had a new team, new personnel and the Vols weren't favored to begin with. On that key play, Majors spread out the offense and Shuler hit Ronald Davis for a 25-yard completion. Two plays after that, Shuler ran in the touchdown and the complexion of the game flipped. On the last play, Milan product George Kidd stripped Georgia's Garrison Hearst as he was breaking away, preserving the Vol victory.

A week later, the Vols shellshocked Florida in a Knoxville deluge and suddenly, a rebuilding Tennessee football team had vanquished the two leading SEC East contenders. The tremors started to shake the turf at Shields-Watkins Field as fears Fulmer might bolt for a head coaching job at East Carolina. Tennessee was a team with two coaches, which created a lot of awkward feelings.

When Majors came back, he led the Vols to a flaccid victory over LSU (20-0) and a 40-0 homecoming win over Cincinnati, but there were three horrible losses in a row. Arkansas won 25-24 on a 47-yard field goal to end the game. Alabama locked the Vols down a week later, 17-10. Then, after a brilliant play by Mose Phillips, Tennessee couldn't convert the deuce at South Carolina. The Gamecocks won in Columbia 24-23. The next week, Majors was gone and Fulmer was the coach.

Majors was his own worst enemy. Tennessee Athletics Board chairman Tom Elam said to me, shortly before his death, that Majors treated UT president Joe Johnson "like a towel boy," which disheartened the higher-ups on the Hill. Said Elam: "I had to turn against my friend (Majors)."

So after 16 years of Majors, we were treated to 17 years of Fulmer. Yes, he'll be remembered for two SEC titles, a shot at a national title in 1997 and winning it all in 1998. He'll be remembered for bringing Peyton Manning to Knoxville. He'll be remembered for that 1998 victory over the Gators. He'll be remembered for winning a lot of games.

But he also will be remembered for inconsistency. Tennessee had a penchant for underachieving during much of Fulmer's tenure, despite the victories. You have to consider who the victories came against. Fulmer vs. Florida is 5-12. Fulmer vs. nationally-ranked teams is 33-40, 6-14 vs. top five teams. He will be remembered for horrible losses to Memphis, Vanderbilt and Wyoming. He'll be remembered for the first losing season since 1988 a tying the school mark for most losses in a season. He'll be remembered for the worst bowl loss in UT history (30-3 vs. Maryland in the 2002 Peach Bowl). He'll be remembered for being 3-8 in post-season after the national championship. Thats's including two no-shows in the bowls and three straight losses in the SEC title game.

So the Fulmer legacy is spotty, to be sure. His top-flight recruiting classes, as Stever Spurrier pointed out, don't seem to match their performance on the collegiate field, yet there are over 30 Vols on NFL rosters right now, including several high draft picks. With Nick Saban at Alabama, Spurrier at South Carolina, Houston Nutt at Ole Miss, Les Miles at LSU, Urban Meyer at Florida and Mark Richt at Georgia, competing for top-level talent is more and more difficult. As John Ward says, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana are locked down now because of the coaches in those states. Need evidence? Look at Miami and Florida State. Those former powerhouses are dismal shells of what they once were. Why? Recruiting. You can see the talent gulf between Tennessee's offense and the rest of the league. That's why Fulmer has been shown the door.

I hope this is handled better than the Majors situation and Fulmer decides to stay and be a part of UT, much like Bo Schembecler did at Michigan. No matter what you think of Fulmer, he is an icon and a good person. Was it time for a change? Sadly, yes.

So as a cold rain once again falls on Knoxville and we watch Ol' Phil run through the T one final time as coach, we bid farewell to the Fulmer era. Thanks for the memories, coach, both good and bad. Thanks for being fair with me and my staff and good luck to you in your future endeavors.

While I think Tennessee needed to make a change, knowing that a Big Orange fixture does, indeed, have an expiration date is bittersweet. No matter what you think of Phil's resume as at UT coach, you can't deny he was a good and decent man. Fulmer's Tennessee teams sure made the last 17 autumns interesting.

Jim Steele is webmaster for pressbox1.com and can be reached at pressbox1@gmail.com