Sterling Marlin Has Higher Expectations for Tennessee Football Than Phillip Fulmer Does

First, some background: back in January, Phil Fulmer was quoted in a Knoxville News-Sentinel article summing up the Vols' 2006 season as such: "The bottom line is you've got nine wins. Nine wins is OK at Tennessee. It's OK." Those comments touched off much debate among Vol fans as to whether nine wins really is OK at Tennessee and whether Fulmer meant "OK" as in "a suitable goal" or as in "meh ... it's OK ... I guess."

Whatever Fulmer meant, Sterling Marlin apparently disagrees. Marlin, NASCAR veteran, Tennessee native, and ardent UT supporter -- he drove a car commemorating Tennessee's 1998 national championship at several Busch Series races in 1999 -- talked a little Tennessee football in an interview leading up to the Daytona 500. When asked if he'd rather win a third Daytona 500 or see Tennessee win another national championship, Marlin admitted Daytona is a priority, but added:

Tennessee winning a national championship would be a close second. The Vols have a big hill to climb though. Last season was one of the hardest to get through in a long while. We were 9-4 and just 5-3 in the SEC and that just doesn't cut it if you are a Tennessee football booster. To have our team fall out of the Top 25 in the national rankings was pretty darned hard to swallow. This is a program that is used to being ranked in the top 10. We have to get back to that place.

It's interesting that Marlin called the 9-4 2006 season "one of the hardest to get through in a long time," considering the Vols were 5-6 just the year before. But that third sentence cuts to the heart of the matter: nine wins "just doesn't cut it if you are a Tennessee football booster." I have no idea how much financial support Marlin gives UT yearly, but it could be significant. The profits from the aforementioned 1998 commemorative car all went to the Tennessee athletic department and a room in an academic center for athletes was named after him.

So while the wolves might not be at Fulmer's door, it does seem clear that for at least one monied booster Fulmer's definition of "OK" isn't good enough.