Tennessee’s athletics director was attending practice last fall and saw a couple of offensive linemen whom he thought needed some coaching assistance during a drill. So Fulmer, the former Volunteers coach, jumped in and coached them up just like an old offensive line coach would.

Unfortunately, for Tennessee, that’s an NCAA violation.

Fulmer’s unauthorized participation in practice was among eight NCAA violations that the school reported during the last six months of 2018. Tennessee released a report detailing the violations to USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee in response to a public records request.

Fulmer’s coaching violated NCAA bylaw 11.7.1.1, which pertains to the number and duties of coaches.

The bylaw states that an institutional staff member must count against coaching staff limits if he engages in technical or tactical instruction with players, assists in tactical decisions during games or practice, or engages in off-campus recruiting.

Fulmer regularly attends and observes Tennessee football practices, which does not violate NCAA bylaws. His violation occurred during a Sept. 11 practice, according to the violations report.

Fulmer “provided brief encouragement/instruction to two football student-athletes who were engaged in a blocking drill,” the report states. “The encouragement/instruction lasted less than 30 seconds.

“The Director of Athletics is a former football coach. He was acting on instinct communicating encouragement/instruction to two offensive linemen as he walked past a drill while viewing the team’s practice.”

Fulmer self-reported the incident upon learning he might have committed an NCAA violation, according to the report.

Tennessee, in response, educated Fulmer on what “constitutes technical and tactical instruction.” Additionally, the SEC ruled that Fulmer be prohibited from attending practice for five days and that UT educate all coaches and non-coaching staff members on bylaws pertaining to coaching activity. The NCAA took no additional action.