Fulmer downplays Hamilton's 'apathy' take

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Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer said Wednesday that he had not read comments from Vols' athletic director Mike Hamilton, who on Tuesday told the Knoxville News-Sentinel that he was concerned by the "apathy" of Tennessee fans.The Vols are off to a 2-4 start and are 0-3 in the SEC's Eastern Division heading into Saturday's night's home game against Mississippi State.There were vast amounts of empty seats at non-conference home games against UAB and Northern Illinois, and many fans left at halftime of the 30-6 loss to Florida.Hamilton said Tuesday that "you don't want apathy. Apathy is a program killer.""When you say apathy, I don't know if it's got to that extent or not," Fulmer said. "I've seen many people very supportive. Thank goodness for that. I'm sure there is a lot of frustration and disappointment wondering what the heck is going on. This is not the way we typically play here at Tennessee."I haven't seen the comments, but I haven't seen apathy from our football team."Hamilton didn't return phone calls Wednesday. Tiffany Carpenter, a UT spokesman, said Hamilton would no longer comment on the matter because "people will read what they want to read into what he says."Hamilton told the News-Sentinel that he has heard from concerned boosters and realizes that losing donations may soon become a possibility if the Vols don't improve."That's always a risk, particularly in a year with economic situations being as they are," Hamilton said.Hamilton also confirmed that some boosters in limited conversations have discussed Fulmer's possible replacement. He said that, as always, he will not evaluate the football program until the end of the season, but he did not rule out the possibility of making a midseason change.Fulmer's contract buyout is $6 million. Hamilton said he has $7 million in reserve, which could almost cover the $7.5 million cost of buying out the entire staff.The Vols will benefit from good timing if a decision is made to change coaches. Tennessee will receive an extra $15 million from the SEC's new deal with ESPN, so Tennessee has more leeway to fire and hire coaches.Fulmer signed a contract extension with a pay raise this past summer. But as South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier noted, that doesn't seem to be a big deal these days."Just because a guy gets a new, long-term deal, it doesn't mean too much nowadays, except it means he's going to get a lot more money (in a buyout) if they let him go, if he decides enough's enough or whatever," Spurrier said.Meanwhile, Tennessee players are trying hard to avoid the firestorm of criticism."You turn on the news every night and hear things like that," Vols center Josh McNeil said. "But I'm behind coach Fulmer 100 percent, as he is us. You just have to tune those things out and worry at the task at hand."(Ron Higgins writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)