Washington - ennessee coach Phillip Fulmer will not return next season, a person within the athletic department familiar with the situation has confirmed. The person requested anonymity because no official announcement has been made. Fulmer and athletic director Mike Hamilton were to hold a press conference at 5 p.m. ET Monday to make the announcement.

ESPN.com cited multiple sources that Fulmer, 58, met with Tennessee officials Monday morning where they agreed it would be best if the coach did not stay on the job after this season. The Tennessean also reported Fulmer would announce he would step down.

Hamilton and other Tennessee officials did not immediately return voicemails left by The Associated Press. Fulmer did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone. Neither did Fulmer's agent, Jimmy Sexton, immediately return a page left on his cell phone.

The Vols fell to 3-6, 1-5 in the Southeastern Conference after winning the league's Eastern Division title last season after a 27-6 loss at South Carolina on Saturday night.

"Anybody that likes Tennessee and cares about what the product looks like on the field is frustrated," Fulmer said Sunday.

Fulmer signed a new seven-year contract in the summer which was worth $2.4 million this season. A buyout of the contract after this season would cost $6 million.

The contract was to be worth an average $3 million annually over the next seven seasons with built-in raises each season, raises for an SEC championship or BCS bowl appearance and an automatic one-year extension for every eight-win season.

Fulmer's longtime attorney and friend, Jeff Hagood, said he was aware of what was being reported about an announcement but declined to talk about it. "I'm really upset about this right now," he said of the news reports.

Fulmer currently has a record of 150-51 all-time in 17 years, which includes 1992 in which he coached three games in place of then-head coach Johnny Majors while he had heart surgery. Majors was ousted after he returned following a loss at South Carolina but finished the regular season.

"It's a tough part of the profession," said Florida coach Urban Meyer.

Tennessee officially named Fulmer head coach on Nov. 29, 1992, and he led the Vols to the 1998 national championship - the school's first since 1951.

Dubbed the dean of the SEC coaches for being the longest tenured in the league, Fulmer is the third winningest active coach among coaches with 10 years of experience, trailing only Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Penn State's Joe Paterno.



Written By BETH RUCKER

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