KNOXVILLE (TSK) -- Phillip Fulmer today praised head coach Derek Dooley for "restoring the Vols to their rightful place atop the college football criminal world."

Fulmer said he had become "distressed" during the tenure of former head coach Lane Kiffin that Tennessee was losing its tradition of thuggery and brawling.

"We didn't even finish in the Top 10 in the Fulmer Cup for 2009. The Fulmer Cup! It's named after me, for crying out loud," Fulmer said.

"Sure, we had some good efforts to keep our edge," the former Vols head coach continued. "But Nu'Keese Richardson can't do it all on his own. And besides, that was in-season."

Reached in Los Angeles, Kiffin said he believed most of the players were actually his. "It was all part of the plan," he said.