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TSWA honors Fulmer, Bennett

Earl Bennett, the star wide receiver from Vanderbilt, was named College Football Player of the Year and Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee was selected College Football Coach of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.

Bennett and Fulmer were selected by a vote of TSWA members.

Bennett, a junior, became the Southeastern Conference’s all-time leading receiver with 236 career receptions. He finished the season with 75 receptions for 830 yards and five touchdowns despite facing double team and special coverage packages by opposing teams. He was named First Team All-SEC by both the coaches and the Associated Press.

Bennett has decided to forgo his senior and enter the NFL draft in April.

Fulmer guided the Vols to a 10-4 record and the SEC Championship Game for the fifth time in 11 years. The Eastern Division champions found the road to the title game a challenging journey as three of their last four conference wins either were achieved in overtime (South Carolina and Kentucky) or boiled down to a final field goal try deciding the outcome (Vanderbilt).

The Vols lost to LSU 21-14 in the SEC title game. UT defeated Wisconsin 21-17 in the Outback Bowl.

Bennett and Fulmer will be honored during the annual TSWA convention in July.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

       34 Comments

Posted by GreerVol22 on February 22, 2008 at 1:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

funny ain't it? other writers think more of our coach that our own Knoxville paper does.

My bad, you have to be a writer to be a member. That leaves Adams out.

Posted by auttat on February 22, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

In the eyes of all TN Sportwriters, Fulmer was the NATIONAL coach of the year? I put a question mark so that someone will confirm that the TSWA included all of CFB in their voting.

This is dang near hilarious!!

Posted by ggriggs939 on February 22, 2008 at 1:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This confirms the bias of the sentinel toward Phillip and the University. Too bad the TSWA doesn't have a procedure to address that issue and too bad Hamilton doesn't have the balls to limit the access of the kns employees to the athletes at the university.

Posted by bigbluevol on February 22, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)

auttat, if I'm correct, I think that they just pick the best coach and player at schools in the state.

Posted by jimr07 on February 22, 2008 at 1:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

but, auttat is so full of hate for fulmer that he overlooks the fact that other writers consider him to be a good coach. Tennessee was picked to come in fourth in the eastern division but instead won.
that, to me, makes a good coach.

Posted by jimr07 on February 22, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

first, auttat, he was not named national coach of the year. tennessee coach of the year. get out run spot run book and learn to read again. you, sir, are depriving a village somewhere in the world of having its own idiot.

Posted by auttat on February 22, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Sorry jimr07, I have done nothing but support Fulmer for the 3 years I have been reading and posting on this site.

I said it was hilarious because it seems to be a total slap in the face of Adams' article. I'm sorry I did not clarify.

Thanks bigbluevol. That's what I was thinking, too, but wanted confirmation

Posted by jimr07 on February 22, 2008 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)

i am sure glad you corrected that and i withdraw my idiot comment. that should go to john adams.
accpet my apology please

Posted by General_Watermelon on February 22, 2008 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I'm in the wrong profession. I lose market share to my major competitors (see Fulmer's loss to Florida and Alabama by a combined 63 points) and I get shown the door. Fulmer gets voted the Coach of the Year. LOL.

jimr07 - I agree and the fact that Fulmer was able to come back from 63 point combined losses to Florida and Alabama and an enbarrassing loss to a 6-6 Cal team is proof that he deserved the Coach of the Year. LOL Fritter Logic. Hm?

Posted by volfan on February 22, 2008 at 2:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey Adams...you want tomato catsup to go with the crow that you have so overwhelmingly earned? A further set of question for John...how many games of football have you particitpated in? And just how many players have you personally coached in organized football? C'mon John, get a life and get out of town before you are tarred and feathered, and rode out of town on a rail. You have definitely outstayed your welcome in Vol land. A pipsqueak reporter takes it upon HIMSELF to correct any and all problems regarding player personell at UT? What are your credentials for such a task? Your items of biased reporting/editorializing smacks of yellow journalism. Where oh where are the professional reporters/editors of yesteryear? Oh, by the way John, no need to give KNS a two week notice...just get out of town at the earliest!

Posted by auttat on February 22, 2008 at 2:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Once again, I am so sorry jimr07. I should have known that Earl Bennett would not have been the NATIONAL player of the year, but in my defense, I was blinded by the fact that Fulmer was coach of the year. I did not read the article correctly.

I will go back and hide under my rock. SHEEEEZ!

Posted by General_Watermelon on February 22, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Is Adams life in danger? Serious question. Some of these rednecks in and around the Knoxville area may hang him from the highest tree. Let me know if you need the General's help John......so I can cut the rope. Go back to LSU you loser!

Posted by jimr07 on February 22, 2008 at 2:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)

fritter, you, too are an idiot. you overlooked the fact that we were picked to come in fourth in the east division. so winning it doesn't count in your book.
i have asked this many times before and never get an answer from any of you fulmer haters. who would like to see there as head coach? what kind of record would be satisfying to you?
If you think we are going to win the championship every year to make you happy, then i have ocean front property in arizona for sale. cheap. just like your comments

Posted by auttat on February 22, 2008 at 2:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Easy General, oletdtn is starting to show again in your posts. The Darkside seems to await you!!

Posted by thesavageorange on February 22, 2008 at 2:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Is this a conference award or just the state of Tennessee?

Posted by volfan on February 22, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Savageorange
it is the Tennessee Sports Writers Association. I am assuming that most, if not all, of the major newspapers in TN have representatives who do the actual voting. Wonder just who John Adams voted for? I think that I would give serious consideration to prohibiting any and all sportswriters from KNS from participating in any interviews, locker room access, etc. until this irresponsible.... (you fill in your image of this sorry excuse for a sports editor.) You may not be able to beat them with ink, since they buy theirs by the barrel, but you can control to some degree what they have access to.

Posted by AlpharettaVol on February 22, 2008 at 2:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

General: What is a "major competitor?" Seems like many folks on this site just consider major competitors schools that we lose to in a particular year. For instance, what about Georgia? I hear lots of you folks singing the praises of Richt on a regular basis. I believe we have beaten them 3 out of the past 4 times we played.

Posted by cjraney on February 22, 2008 at 3:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Gen'l-
After losing "market share" to your big competitors, maybe you should have looked for ways to improve OVERALL performance instead of hanging head after tough setbacks. Sometimes it pays to look at the entire picture/season, not just focus on one or two things/games.

I say this absolutely filled with disgust with the way we played in those embarassing losses. Glad we didn't throw the whole season away.
Go Vols!

Posted by qwerty6969 on February 22, 2008 at 3:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I would like to see how any of the young men John Adams has tutored have turned out. The players he has coached. The sons he has raised.

Whoops; I forgot. John has never sired nor coached a child. He never played a down himself.

Having John Adams write about discipling young men is like Popular Mechanics magazine hiring an editor who has never seen an automobile.

Hiring Adams to analyze and write about anything MANLY is a lot like sending Sam Venable to cover the ballet.

Posted by russ on February 22, 2008 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I guess Fulmer did went the state this past year.

Posted by russ on February 22, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Correction "win"

Posted by westcoastvol on February 22, 2008 at 6:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Attaboy, Phil!

I'm sure you barely squeaked this one out, but who cares? You really showed the coaches at Austin-Peay, UT-Martin, et cetera how it's done!

John Adams ROCKS!

Posted by LargeOrange on February 22, 2008 at 6:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Adams is a hack and a total jerk. He not only went over the top on his article but he also is on some kind of publicity tour about it. He was in Birmingham on the radio with Paul Finebaum on Tuesday and some one here in Atlanta today told me they heard him giving an interview to one of the big sports talk stations here in Atlanta yesterday. If you haven't done it yet you need to listen to this jerk on the Finebaum show. I think UT controls who get press credentials, I think John Adams should have to buy a ticket and sit in the stands from now on. I would love to look over and see this a-hole sitting in my section this fall.
http://www.finebaum.com/media/archive...

Posted by orvol on February 22, 2008 at 7:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Let's be real about Adams, like Geraldo Rivera, he can say whatever's on his mind. The reality is that he's a mediocre writer at best, who generally only evokes the response, "There's 5 minutes of my life that'll I'll never get back" after someone reads one of his articles. This story has given him more publicity than he's had in years!

Posted by dash727 on February 22, 2008 at 9:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Write the board of KNS to demand the end of Adams. The boycott has begun against advertisers of KNS sports including the pitiful News Sentinel sports radio show daily between 10-12 on the Sports Animal.
It is time for a house cleaning at the KNS. Too much incest. The staff is stale, ineffective and predictable. We need new reporters that are hungry and can instill pride and discipline in the newsroom. The new sports editor needs to be recruited from the best journalists in America prepared to motivate a rebuilt team with contemporary strategies as they train in their cubicles against the best reporters in the SEC and D1 sports.

Posted by dash727 on February 22, 2008 at 9:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

hey capstone your women really sucked last night. How many more coaches after Gottfried and Smith need to be fired to be competitive. I heard you bought a condo in Shreveport. Tampa was nice on the first.
Story is, blubberbuubbabama might get kicked out of the SEC due to the inability to compete in sports. After having to endure three days in your ignorant state last week I am convinced ya'll can win the Shoney's all you can eat contest. A lot of fat ugly people in tuscalooserville!

Posted by rockyknox on February 22, 2008 at 10:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

LargeOrange, thanks for the link to the Finebaum show. Isn't it something that Adams runs to Alabama to hide out with the enemy? Finebaum ripped the UT coaching staff when he wrote for the Daily Beacon in the 70's. He ripped Bill Battle and even ripped Coach Mears for the problems he had with one star athlete. Finebaum mentions that Adams has been writing for the KNS for over 20 years. Way way way too long. The small man must go!!!!!!!!

Posted by rockyknox on February 22, 2008 at 10:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The business leaders of Knoxville need to send a message to the KNS. A few weeks without advertisments thanks to John "Little Man" Adams should get their point across.

Posted by Indianavol on February 22, 2008 at 11:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I wonder if John Adams will show his sorry behind at the awards dinner???

Posted by philfan on February 24, 2008 at 4:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I did not know Fulmer had won the SEC Eastern Division 5 times out of 11 years. I just wish he could win more SEC championships, but these will come with time. I have no problem with Fulmer winning this award, even though it is limited to the State of Tennessee. I also had no problem with Croom winning the SEC coach of the year, with a 7 and 5 record. It is appropriate to award the coaches who have shown the most improvement, instead of just the coaches who have won the most games or the most championship trophies. As much as I admired Cutcliffe, I have a feeling I will look forward to the anything goes philosophy of our new Offensive Coordinator, Dave Clawson.

Posted by youguysarefunny on February 27, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)

First of all, the award was for Tennessee College Coach of the Year. No state of Tennessee coach, other than Ken Sparks, had a better record than Fulmer. It's obviously unlikely that sportwriters the western part of the state would vote for a coach at Carson-Newman, because they're unlikely to have followed the Eagles' football program.
As far as a slap in John Adams face, I don't think so. In fact, I'm sure the award was voted on well before his column was even published and possibly before this last rash of discipline incidents.
Also, keep in mind, when you're dealing with awards like this, many of the Tennessee sportswriters don't even cover college athletics - it's mostly guys who cover prep sports. They're very likely unfamiliar with the all the state's coaches other than Fulmer, Bobby Johnson and maybe Tommy West. Winning this award when 10-4 is the second-best record in the state isn't exactly like winning the Nobel Prize.
Lastly, some guy said there should be a nationwide search for the best sports journalists to replace the KNS staff. That's ludicrious. The same people that are so upset with Adams would try and run that writer out on a rail, too. Do you think the "best sports journalists" would bite their tongues about all these arrests and discipline issues and continue praising our "workin' like heck" to correct the problems?

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