What Tennessee Vols AD Phillip Fulmer said about the 2020 college football season

Tennessee Vols athletic director Phillip Fulmer said Tuesday he's "optimistic that we'll have football this fall and all of our fall sports this fall."

Fulmer made the comments on "The Paul Finebaum Show." The coronavirus pandemic has forced college sports to be cancelled for the academic year. 

"So much depends on the next couple of months and how that looks and how we get through it," Fulmer said. "But none of us have the answer, and somebody would be lying to you if they said they did.

"We all want it to turn out well and us all to get back to normal, but there's those challenges in front of us and this is unprecedented." 

Almost one month ago, the SEC announced the cancellation of all regular-season athletic competitions and postseason tournaments through the academic year. That included spring football games and pro days. 

"I give (SEC commissioner) Greg Sankey and his staff great kudos as to how they are working to lead us through this," Fulmer said. "So much of it, at first, was kind of reactive. Things were happening by the hour, by the day and then by the week." 

Gov. Bill Lee issued a stay-at-home order that he extended Monday to April 30. As of Tuesday afternoon, state health officials have reported 5,823 cases of coronavirus across the state and 124 deaths. 

Fulmer said he and a few others in the UT athletic department still go to the office every day. He said he's not used to working from home. The building is empty except for them, he added. He and his wife, Vickie, have been spending time with their grandchildren. They've also watched movies such as "Top Gun." 

"It's kind of what I want to watch and they watch it with me," Fulmer said.