Fulmer Comments on Vols Potentially Wearing Black Uniforms in 2020

Tennessee Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer has stated on numerous occasions that he is a traditionalist when it comes to uniforms, but that hasn’t stopped him from giving his thoughts on the Vols’ plans to wear black jerseys against Kentucky in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I am a traditionalist, but I also know that there are more reasons to look at things,” said Fulmer during an appearance on Midday 180. “Coach and I will talk about that and get to a good place, I’m certain. We had, actually, generally talked about it all the way back — and I can’t remember if it was when he was hired or just before he was hired — that, if it meant a lot to him, we would look at it here and there.”

The idea of Tennessee bringing back the black uniforms was first released to the public when head coach Jeremy Pruitt announced that it was something the coaching staff and players were considering in order to help the Knoxville community last week. “One of the things we want to do is when we play the Kentucky game, we want to wear black jerseys. When the game is over with, we want to find a way to auction the jerseys and raise money for Black Lives Matter. That’s just one thing that our kids have talked about,” said Pruitt during a virtual press conference on June 18th.

“I thought he (Pruitt) had a good idea, and obviously we’re not a political institution, so we will certainly be able to support causes that we choose to as we go through this,” Fulmer would later state during his appearance on Midday 180.

Pruitt also recently created a Football Culture Committee and appointed wide-receiver coach Tee Martin as the leader of the organization. During an appearance on “The Swain Event,” Martin explained the Vols’ plans for the black jerseys in greater detail. “These players now, they love the uniforms. They’ve been wanting the Smokey Gray, wanting black jerseys for a while,” said the former Tennessee Quarterback. “When everything was happening, it was brought to Coach Pruitt’s attention. It had legs earlier, but it kind of went away. But now it felt like a great way to show our support, for him to show his support, and all of us to show our support for the cause.”

“We’re supporting hearing our players, giving them an opportunity to speak their hearts and minds, and supporting the community we serve,” said Martin. “The statement (Coach Pruitt made) was speaking more to that, not necessarily to the organization (Black Lives Matter). We’re going to find an organization within our community (Knoxville) to support.”

The plan is currently for the Vols to wear the alternate black uniforms against Kentucky on November 7th in Neyland Stadium. Below are some potential options for the Vols that were created by uniform guru, Chad Fields.

https://twitter.com/CfieldsVFL/status/1273655891582205952?s=20