Why was Jim McDonald head coach for one year?

[VOLINVONORE]

I believe he agreed to accept the head coaching job strictly on an interim basis. I may be wrong, as I was twelve years old at the time.

Everyone knew he was only there fo one year and his record was about what was expected. Wyatt has a few personal problems and there weren’t many names in the desk drawer. They were wise to wait for Dickey.

 

[ZZ13]

He was the Cliff Wettig of football (that was a painful year sandwiched between Ernie & Bernie and an SEC Tournament championship).

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

He was the Cliff Wettig of football (that was a painful year sandwiched between Ernie & Bernie and an SEC Tournament championship).

Ernie and Bernie won the SEC regular season in 1977, before the return to the conference tournament, and then DeVoe won the first tournament championship when it returned to the conference. Disappointing transition year with the talent, but a blip on the radar

 

[feathersax]

Only to betray us. Great AD, but I'll never forgive his betrayal in leaving for UF.

I felt that way for years, but his tenure as AD proved his loyalty in the end. His son Daryl cemented my feelings with his heroic QB play in 1985, particularty that Sugar Bowl trouncing of Miami.

 

[Savannahbayvol]

McDonald actually wanted the job but the general feeling was it was time to cut all connections to the single wing past. Dickey said many times McDonald worked tirelessly during the transition to get DD off to a good start.

The first 2 players McDonald took Dickey to introduce were Bob Johnson and John Boynton. Dickey said he thought to himself if he keeps introducing me to guys like these 2 this might be a pretty good job!

McDonald was from Ohio(played for tOSU) and was the one who recommended a young coach at Wittenburg named Ray Mears to Andy Holt to be our new BB coach.

We owe a lot to Coach McDonald plus as mentioned his son Jim Jr was a solid player in 66-68.

 

[ru4real-really?]

I can offer some insight on this as I was a UT student at the time. The product he put on the field was simply put awful! He transitioned to a T formation without any splits with a fullback and right and left halfback. Like we would have drawn it up if we were playing sand lot ball. The offense did absolutely nothing! They played the games because they had too! Nobody took them seriously and they were lucky to win the few games they won. As I recall, the uniforms were equally as bad as the offense! We had tailbacks trying to play a position they had never played...Quarterback! That was truly the darkest of times in Tennessee football history! But he at least forced a change and Doug Dickey was hired. The young assistant coach from Arkansas would lead the Vols out of the darkness!

 

[OrangeInKy]

McDonald actually wanted the job but the general feeling was it was time to cut all connections to the single wing past. Dickey said many times McDonald worked tirelessly during the transition to get DD off to a good start.

The first 2 players McDonald took Dickey to introduce were Bob Johnson and John Boynton. Dickey said he thought to himself if he keeps introducing me to guys like these 2 this might be a pretty good job!

McDonald was from Ohio(played for tOSU) and was the one who recommended a young coach at Wittenburg named Ray Mears to Andy Holt to be our new BB coach.

We owe a lot to Coach McDonald plus as mentioned his son Jim Jr was a solid player in 66-68.

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.

 

[OneManGang]

Only to betray us. (Dickey) Great AD, but I'll never forgive his betrayal in leaving for UF.

This /\.

Dickey knew literally everyone in the NCAA hierarchy and knew where they had buried the bodies. Ever wonder WHY none of the (many) off-field run-ins with local law enforcement and other incidents during the Fulmer years never raised a peep out of the NCAA? All DAD had to do was call one of his contacts at the league office and say, "Hey, do you remember when ...?" and the investigation would get memory-holed.

The story of how he got the indoor practice facility built is legend. Then-Chancellor Jack Reese looked out his office window one fine day and noticed that there were bulldozers knocking down the tennis bubble and pushing dirt around on Upper Hudson Field.

He called Dickey, "Coach, what's going on over there?"

Dickey drawled, "Building our new indoor practice field."

Reese. "Uh, Coach, how are you paying for this?"

Dickey: "Had some leftover money this year."

Reese: "But you're supposed to go through the UT Building Commission!"

Dickey: "Naw, I talked to a couple of them and they said OK."

Reese: "Well. next time tell me. OK?'

 

[oldvol50]

I think that’s right. Wyatt unfortunately had problems with alcohol and they were forced to make a move over the summer.

That's absolutely correct.

 

[Seattle Hillbilly]

My recollection was that Wyatt being let go was a sudden thing - he assaulted a sportswriter at the SEC Meetings while under the influence. Back then, this sort of stuff got hushed up but that was the rumors anyway. McDonald was purely an interim until they could hire someone else (Dickey).

I remember back in the day my dad saying he heard a rumor he hit the bottle pretty hard.

 

[Tin Man]

I remember back in the day my dad saying he heard a rumor he hit the bottle pretty hard.

Yeah, but he was swinging at the fella from Alabama…