Phillip Fulmer debuted the Phillip Fulmer Hall of Fame Football Camp in 2016 at the Rocky Top Sports World in Gatlinburg.

Now that Fulmer is the athletic director at Tennessee and unable to run it, former UT running back Jabari Davis is keeping the camp going.

Davis told Saturday Down South that the camp, now named the Legends of Tennessee Football Camp, is slated for June 14-16 at Northview Senior Academy in Kodak, Tenn.

“That is where the idea came from, to keep it going and to be able to talk to kids about school, life and what it takes to be great,” Davis said.

“Everything is done by me with fundraising and directing the camp. The only thing I took from Coach Fulmer is that I am keeping it a 3-day event and keeping it in the Smoky Mountains travel area to give families the same opportunities for a camp vacation. Parents with kids plan their travel around camps.”

Davis says that this camp is really about the Tennessee community and for Vol Nation.

“If you have kids that come to Tennessee games and are big UT fans that want to come to a camp that is ran by some of the older guys that played, that their parents or grandparents remember, we will be active with the kids while being knowledgeable and is an opportunity for us to inspire kids and love on them for three days,” Davis said. “We will teach them about the game and all of the tools that it takes to play the game, and also if you have dreams of playing for Tennessee one day we can give a blueprint in what it takes to be successful and chase those opportunities.”

 

Davis will be alongside other VFL’s, including Tony Robinson, Eric Westmoreland, Chris Treece, Jayson Swain, Cedric Houston, Gerald Riggs, C.J. Fayton, Justin Harrell, Gerald Riggs, A.J. Johnson, DeAngelo Lloyd and Fred White.

Having VFL’s helping with the camp also gives former players a chance to reunite, like they did during Fulmer’s two years of leading the camp.

“It gives us a time to get together and hang out, talk about Tennessee football and what we are doing now as fathers, husbands and boyfriends,” Davis said. “We would go over to Coach Fulmer’s house and he would have a big dinner. We would sit back, and with everyone so busy with life, this gave us an opportunity to also catch up.

“I just wanted to keep that great thing going after having a good time the past two years; I couldn’t let it just drift away because so many kids look forward to the camp. I coach a youth football team and I would bring about 15-20 players from my team to the camp to get ready for the season by going through drills and working on key fundamentals – so I decided to keep it going and create a name to make it an annual thing.”

Davis’ work in keeping the camp going should not go unnoticed. There’s a lot more work involved than just teaching fundamentals.

“I have reached out to a lot of different people about sponsorships and coming on board and building a camp committee in having people we can depend on. I would also like to take this camp on the road to Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee in the future,” he said.

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The camp will host players ages 7-14, the ideal age group, Davis said.

“I have always had a passion to coach and work with young people,” Davis said. “I have been running camps the past seven years and one of the main reasons I got into it was that it teaches life skills. More now than ever, we need coaches in the community. We need camps that these kids can go to and be mentored, to be taught right and wrong with life lessons and principles of what it takes to be successful by being motivated and disciplined so that you can achieve those goals in life.

“Kids now are fighting battles with social media, bullying, school shootings, households being divided, so as being a coach it is beneficial for us to be around these kids more and tell them it’s going to be okay and it’s not going to be easy as you are going to fail a lot, but you have to keep on working.”

Registration for the 2018 Legends of Tennessee Football Camp can be done here.