Tennessee’s Title Spurs Rivalry Even More

Somewhere, Florida Coach Steve Spurrier is seething.

Tennessee, national champion?

Phillip Fulmer, coach of the undefeated Volunteers?

Not even Spurrier’s Gators went unbeaten when they won the national title in 1996, having to avenge a regular-season loss to Florida State by beating the Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl.

Spurrier needed God to “smile on the Gators” to win his title. He needed Ohio State to beat Arizona State in the Rose Bowl, which handed Florida a backdoor key to the championship.

Fulmer? Using the front entrance, he walked into Monday night’s national title game in the Fiesta Bowl with the No. 1 team and walked out with it No. 1, defeating Florida State, 23-16.

In the recent history of the football-as-religion Southeastern Conference, Florida versus Tennessee had been widely viewed as a coaching mismatch between Spurrier (wit) and Fulmer (half-wit).

Spurrier was the genius; Fulmer was Goober Pyle, a longtime Tennessee offensive line coach and loyalist who stuck around Knoxville just long enough to become coach.

Fulmer was overweight and supposedly over his head.

Spurrier whipped Fulmer five consecutive years from 1993 through 1997 and made Fulmer the butt of Citrus Bowl jokes.

No one in Gainesville is laughing today.

Fulmer, 48, has upped the ante on Spurrier, the SEC and the nation. Tennessee is here and here to stay.

In case anyone is wondering, Fulmer increased his record at Tennessee to 67-11 with Monday night’s win over Florida State. Fulmer’s winning percentage of .859 ranks highest among active coaches; higher than any coach named Spurrier.

Unlike Spurrier, Fulmer is not one to gloat.

“I have great respect for Steve,” Fulmer said at Tuesday’s post-title news conference. “It’s an incredible rivalry.”

So much so that Fulmer was due to land in Knoxville on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and catch a 6 p.m. flight to visit a recruit.

“I don’t think it’s totally hit me yet,” Fulmer said of his team’s Fiesta Bowl win. “But it wasn’t 10 minutes after my radio show [Monday night] and someone said, ‘Coach, tell me about what you’ve got coming back.’ I said, ‘Let’s enjoy this at least this evening.’ ”

Spurrier vs. Fulmer should be fun to watch.

Tennessee finally broke the Gator jinx this season with a 20-17 overtime win, and now Tennessee is out to break Florida’s back.

Fulmer can’t match Spurrier in offensive Xs and O’s, but he can run step for step with the Florida coach on the recruiting trail.

Fulmer, not the passing-guru Spurrier is, already has landed Chris Simms, Phil’s son, arguably the nation’s top high school quarterback.

Tennessee is so loaded that Simms likely will redshirt and wait his turn.

Tee Martin, the junior quarterback who led this year’s title run, returns next season. So does star tailback Jamal Lewis, who missed most of the season because of a knee injury. So do sophomore tailbacks Travis Henry and Travis Stephens and defensive back Dwayne Goodrich, the Fiesta Bowl defensive player of the game.

Fulmer came of age this season as a coach. He is admittedly dull, but found other ways to motivate his team. Before the Alabama game, he took a walking stick given to him by a friend and waved it at his players to accentuate a point about the intensity of the Tennessee-Alabama rivalry.

Players started calling Fulmer “Moses” and the cane became a rallying symbol for the team. At meetings, players would sit in a circle and pass the stick around for its “synergy.”

“I didn’t know how corny they’d think it was,” Fulmer said, “but the kids bought into it. And that was helpful. It was just another way to bring the team together.”

Fulmer’s take on the circle?

“Other than being called ‘Moses,’ I thought it was a great idea,” he said.

As we all know, Tennessee’s season was nothing to shake a stick at.

Next year’s national title game will be played in the Sugar Bowl.

Don’t be surprised if Tennessee is in it.