Could you imagine Phillip Fulmer in crimson instead of orange and white?

It seems crazy, but that’s the path the current Tennessee athletic director’s life almost took. In fact, if Tennessee hadn’t convinced him legendary coach Bear Bryant was about to retire, he may have ended up in Tuscaloosa.

As you can see in the video below, the title-winning Tennessee coach and former player recounts what Bryant said to him 10 years later:

“Coach Bryant was the guy at that time across the country,” Fulmer said. “Alabama had just won the national championship in ’66 and I think ’61 or ’63 — something like that. We were on the border of Alabama where I grew up, with a lot of Alabama people there. I considered Alabama strongly. UT had a great year in ’67 and Alabama had an average year or even a down year. That sort of flipped things a little bit.

“Then Tennessee sort of convinced me a little bit that Coach Bryant was going to retire because he was getting older. I look back now and he was young, really. He obviously didn’t retire, but I took that into consideration. I didn’t want to play during a coach change, you know? So I came to Tennessee and, fast-forward 10 years later, I’m on the field in pregame warmup, getting ready to play Alabama, and Coach Bryant walks by my offensive line drills and says, ‘Boy, I haven’t retired yet.’ I’m not even sure he knew my name as a prospect, but he remembered that.”

Fortunately for the Vols, Fulmer ended up in Knoxville, leading the Vols to the 1998 title as a coach. Now, Fulmer will watch new Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt take on No. 1 Alabama on Saturday.