Tennessee quietly gave AD Phillip Fulmer an extension during the offseason
By Keith Farner
Published:
Tennessee turned out to be fairly busy with contracts in the offseason. It was already reported that coach Jeremy Pruitt received a two-year contract extension and $400,000 raise, which has since been put on hold.
But now a report from the Knoxville News-Sentinel explains that Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer received a two-year contract extension in May now through Dec. 31, 2023.
“Athletics Director Fulmer and I began discussing a contract extension in late 2019, and we put finalizing the extension on hold while we focused on COVID response,” Chancellor Donde Plowman said in a statement to Knox News. “Having stable leadership of Tennessee Athletics has been important, especially in these uncertain times. Phillip was the first to voluntarily take a 15 percent salary reduction in response to COVID-related budget constraints in Athletics. I appreciate his dedication to Tennessee Athletics, and the University of Tennessee.”
The contract extension, until now, was unreported and not announced by Tennessee.
A name synonymous with Tennessee football, Fulmer is a former Tennessee football co-captain who went on to lead the Volunteers to a football national championship and earn first-ballot induction into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame. He has been connected to Tennessee for more than 40 years.
Fulmer continues to make $900,000 each year. His annual retention bonus increased to $150,000 from $100,000. Fulmer is eligible for that annual retention bonus if he remains Tennessee’s AD on Dec. 31 each year throughout his contract.
There are some incentives, including an additional performance bonus of up to $100,000 annually, as determined by Plowman. For Fulmer to be eligible for this bonus, Tennessee’s athletic department must operate at a surplus for the fiscal year, ending on June 30, following the contract year on which the bonus is based. With this new performance bonus, Fulmer is now eligible for up to $400,000 annually in performance bonuses.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
