Tennessee still has a ways to go before returning to glory on the football field but the program’s Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer is more certain than ever he hired the right man to get the job done.

Fulmer met with the media in Knoxville on Thursday to discuss his recently signed four-year contract with Tennessee and offered up plenty of discussion on the progress of the football program under first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt.

“He had done so many things in the department, it was kind of the same path I took,” Fulmer said. “I had mowed the grass, painted the weight room and done all those things to work your way up and he’d done those things, plus been a high school coach. It was impressive from that standpoint. Four months later, I’m even more sure that he’s the right guy.”

This interview segment was posted by WATE Sports Director in Knoxville Marshall Hughes on Twitter:

Fulmer also offered up a somewhat bold statement on the future of the program in Knoxville, in another video posted by Marshall Hughes.

“You better buy your season tickets cause a couple years from now they’re going to be really hard to get,” Fulmer predicted.