Phillip Fulmer led the Tennessee Volunteers to the 1998 national championship, but after he was fired during the 2008 season, the program went into a bit of a tailspin.

Prior to last season, he was brought in as the school’s new athletic director, and one of his first decisions was hiring then-Alabama DC Jeremy Pruitt as the team’s head coach.

On Tuesday, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum — a Tennessee alum — praised the school’s decision to bring Fulmer back, telling The Daily Beacon that it was the most important thing to happen to the Vols in a generation:

“I criticize like the next person, and I’m not saying I wasn’t in favor of (Fulmer’s firing as football coach),” Finebaum said, “but I think the most important thing that’s happened to the Tennessee football program in a generation is Phillip Fulmer returning when he did last year. I think it saved the program from literally going under.”

There’s still a lot of work to be done with the football program, obviously, but Pruitt seems to have the Vols on the right track.

Meanwhile, the Vols’ men’s basketball team is the No. 1 team in the country, so Fulmer’s tenure is off to a rocking start.