At 67 years old, Phil Fulmer isn't new to the college sports world or the SEC.
The whole athletics director gig, however, is a change. Named the chief executive of Tennessee athletics in December after a bizarre end to the John Currie era, the former Vol head football coach is getting a feel for the new view.
The adjustment came with some help from a name familiar with both Tennessee and Alabama fan bases.
"I had Bill Battle, Coach Battle, even though he was at Alabama," Fulmer said referring to Alabama's AD from 2013-2017. "I was one of his captains and we stayed in great touch and if I had a really big question, I'll ask him."
Fulmer played for Battle when the Alabama grad coached the Vols from 1970-76. The two have the shared experience of being fired as Tennessee's head coach after initially successful tenures.
"I called whoever the coaches were," Fulmer said at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin on Wednesday. "These guys have been around as head coaches and assistants and you get a real answer, not a political answer. Those things help."
One of Fulmer's first act as AD was hiring a new football coach. Then-Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt -- once a player who faced Tennessee in Fulmer's time as head coach -- landed the gig in early December.
When asked, Fulmer reflected on how much the game outside the game has changed since he was on the Neyland Stadium sidelines. Practices were open to reporters until the final few years he coached. Fulmer saw how things were evolving.
"The social media part of it and the ability to film anything and the competition between you guys," Fulmer said to a group of reporters. "Everybody wants the scoop and the latest story. Then there's no secrets."
Access to players and coaches for interviews have also diminished in recent years. Fulmer traced at least a branch of those roots to the coaching tree from which Pruitt blossomed.
"That probably comes from the Alabama model where it's having so much success," Fulmer said. "Coach Saban has his ways of doing things and these guys are all coming out and people are following suit.
Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.