Phillip Fulmer cameos in 'Blind Side' show how close Tennessee was to landing Michael Oher
"The Blind Side," the 14-year-old feel-good movie about the early life of football star Michael Oher, was back in the headlines this week. The former Briarcrest Christian, Ole Miss and NFL star is seeking to end the conservatorship of his name and financial dealings with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy.
But a film cameo by Phillip Fulmer is reminding Vols fans how close Oher actually came to signing with Tennessee.
Fulmer was the coach of the Vols when he worked hard to recruit Oher in 2004. A few years later, as fate would have it, Fulmer was recruited to play himself in the Oscar-winning movie, showing the world how the recruiting process went down.
And by then, Oher was an NFL standout.
When does Phillip Fulmer appear in 'The Blind Side'?
In the movie, Fulmer and six of his staff members are shown huddled around a computer, watching a highlight video of Oher.
"I want him. I want him bad," Fulmer said.
Fulmer is shown on a home visit, too, wearing an orange and white striped tie with his suit and a power T pin. The scenes show college coaches pitching their programs to not only Oher, but also the biological son of the Tuohy family, SJ. Fulmer's offer to SJ was to join him on the Neyland Stadium field to do the coin toss for the first game of the season.
Fulmer also shows up in a scene at one of Oher's high school football practices with a group of coaches.
"Is that Michael? Is that Oher?" Fulmer said, pronouncing his last name "O-hair." He's quickly corrected by Leigh Anne Tuohy, played by Sandra Bullock.
"It's 'oar,' " she said, not even looking at Fulmer standing next to her. "Like a paddle in a boat. Oher."
Fulmer looks from Leigh Anne Tuohy to Oher's fictional coach Burt Cotton – Oher was actually coached at Briarcrest by now-Auburn coach Hugh Freeze – slightly taken aback by the correction.
After Oher participates in a drill, tackling his teammate with ease, the camera pans to Fulmer, who says, "Wow," with a smile. After a quick banter with a Clemson coach, Fulmer turns to Cotton and says, "Coach, you've done a great job with this young man."
How close was Tennessee to getting Michael Oher?
Tennessee made Oher's final four along with LSU, Memphis and Ole Miss.
He visited Knoxville for the Auburn game in October 2004. He was drawn to Fulmer, who was a former offensive lineman.
"When I went up there, it was unbelievable," Oher told the Commercial Appeal. "I enjoyed it. I loved everything about it. Anywhere I go is going to be a great decision. Tennessee is pretty high up there. I pulled for Tennessee a lot growing up."
Fulmer had an opportunity to get the Vols in the lead position when David Cutcliffe was fired from Ole Miss. Fulmer made his in-home visit before Ed Orgeron was hired to coach the Rebels.
"When Fulmer left and Michael went to bed, I told my wife I'm surprised Michael didn't commit tonight," Sean Tuohy told the Commercial Appeal in 2005.
Freeze also believed Oher was leaning toward the Vols.
"I thought it was Tennessee," Freeze told the Commercial Appeal. "They had a chance to get him to commit that night, but they didn't ask for it."
Sean Tuohy described Fulmer's approach as "the biggest soft sell. I really respected his approach. He didn't back me into a corner." He and Freeze believed Oher was going to Knoxville until the day he told them he chose Ole Miss.
READ MORE: Tuohy biological son on former football player Michael Oher's allegations: 'I get it, why he's mad'
What did Phillip Fulmer say about being in 'The Blind Side'?
Fulmer thought the movie sounded like a fun project, and it didn't hurt that Bullock was starring in it, he said in 2009.
Fulmer said directors let the coaches play themselves and ad lib a little bit. The movie included cameos from SEC coaches Nick Saban, Tommy Tuberville, Houston Nutt, Ed Orgeron and Lou Holtz.
"It was fun seeing those guys, it really hadn't been that long from one way or another that I had seen them," Fulmer said in 2009. "We're all friends from having been in the conference so long. So it was good to catch up and kind of see what they thought about their upcoming seasons.
"This was June 1 that this was going on, so everybody was undefeated at the time, so everybody was in a good mood," Fulmer joked.
Most of the coaches only filmed for a day, but with Tennessee being a finalist for Oher, Fulmer had more scenes than some.
"Us being Tennessee and having a lot more to do with the recruiting process of Michael, we had a bit more in the movie than they did," Fulmer said. "But that one afternoon was fun, it was fun to catch up and be around and hear the latest and the greatest of what's going on."
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: 'The Blind Side': How close was Tennessee to landing Michael Oher?
