Doug Dickey - Butch Jones

[onevol74]

Thanks vollygirl. I'm really not that ancient, however, just ten years older than you. I was fortunate enough to become a Tennessee fan at precisely the time Dickey was building Tennessee into a national power. My first vague football-related memories are, strangely, of Navy playing in a bowl game. It turns out that it was their last appearance in a major bowl (1963); Roger Staubach was quarterback and won the Heisman Trophy that year. I vaguely recall the 1965 Bluebonnet Bowl, which we won 27-6 over Tulsa. In those days, there was typically one game broadcast nationally per week so you were very lucky to see your team, no matter how good they were, on TV two or three times a year. I remember the 1966 Gator Bowl victory over Syracuse more clearly. Future Pro Football Hall of Fame running backs Larry Csonka and Floyd Little combined for 300 years against us but were unable to overcome the 18-0 lead we had established. We first acquired a transistor radio in 1967 and listened to every game that season and, of course, I have been a deeply devout Big Orange fan ever since. It was George Mooney's last season as the "Voice of the Vols." See George Mooney was voice for fans from 1952 to 1967 » GoVolsXtra. (How many of you know that the famed Notre Dame broadcaster, Lindsey Nelson, actually started the Vol Network in 1949? See (UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics - Facilities). Mooney, incidentally, was a much more polished announcer than John Ward but John was so much more colorful. Speaking of the legendary one, these play calls should really bring back a flood of memories: Tennessee Football - John Ward Announcer - Greatest Play Calls - YouTube

Interesting thing I remember about that 1965 Bluebonnet Bowl was it was played on the muddiest field ever. It is the only game I have ever seen a team wear their home and visitor jerseys in the same game. In those days UT only wore Tennessee Orange period. The only game I remember them wearing a white jersey was in the 1969 Cotton Bowl where Texas made them wear white.

But in the Bluebonnet Bowl Tulsa wore either their home or away jersey until halftime and changed to the other jersey at the half due to the fact that you could not make out the numbers from all of the mud. I had never seen that before or since. Neither jersey helped them that day and by the end of the game the players probably preferred that you might not be able to see their number since UT dominated them.

 

[Brillovol]

Speaking of the legendary one, these play calls should really bring back a flood of memories Tennessee Football - John Ward Announcer - Greatest Play Calls - YouTube

This, sir, is why I became a UT fan at such a young age...listening to John Ward on the radio with my dad upstairs because my mom couldn't stand our celebrations and lamentations. I can't wait to take my daughter to her 1st game in Neyland so she can follow in the footsteps. Here's to hoping Butch can truly resurrect the program like Dickey did! Thanks for the history lesson!

 

[Volosaurus rex]

In '66, I sat in sec S, a great angle. I thought the kick was good too. I love these posts! I loved Dickey then. But, I remember the 69 Ole Miss game (Archie Who?) and the Gator Bowl. We coulda been Nat. Champs in 69! Both games are great reminders of our KY game in Lex last yr when a team doesn't show up. Dickey was on his way home to the Gators and the team knew it. Anyway, I loved Dickey for what he did for us. I wish he had stayed. And after the outstanding job at Florida (not), I'll bet he wishes he had stayed at UT. I just wish he hadn't shrunk all our butts to 17" to squeeze in Neyland!

The rumor was that the Orange Bowl had agreed to pit Tennessee against Notre Dame in a first-ever matchup, had we not lost the infamous Archie Who game. That loss also spawned the incident that gave Jack Reynolds his nickname "Hacksaw":

"Reynolds earned his nickname in 1969 by cutting an abandoned 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air (some accounts claim it was a Porsche) in half with a hacksaw after his previously unbeaten University of Tennessee team returned from an embarrassing 38-0 road loss to Ole Miss. "I came back to school and I was very upset," Reynolds said. "I had to do something to relieve my frustration." He decided to turn the abandoned car into a trailer for his newly purchased Jeep. After working through the night on the project, chewing through 13 hacksaw blades, he returned the next day with some teammates to show off his handiwork. However, when they arrived, both halves of the car were gone. For the remainder of his career, the nickname stuck." ( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Reynolds_(American_football and Hacksaw was ‘cut above the other guys’ » govolsxtra.com Mobile)

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Here are a couple of additional points to consider in assessing the impact and success of the Dickey era: (1) From 1965-72, Tennessee was the only program in the country to win eight or more games in eight consecutive years. Back then, this was a point of emphasis in an era when 10-game regular seasons were the norm. (An 11th regular season game was first adopted in 1970.) (2) During this period, Tennessee went 73-15-3 for a winning pct. of .81868, which was third nationally behind only Dartmouth (Ivy League schools had not faded from the Division 1-A landscape yet) and Nebraska (see I-A Winning Percentage 1965-1972). Admittedly, Dickey was no longer coach in 1970-1972 but his recruits were still filtering through the system. After they were gone, Tennessee went into serious decline as Bill Battle simply was not able to recruit at the level necessary to maintain the program.