KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee football is rich in tradition and Vols Wire will explore the program by examining each head coach’s tenure.
This installment will focus on Doug Dickey’s time as head coach of the Big Orange.
He took the reins of the football program in 1964 and remained in Knoxville until 1969.
Dickey is a native of South Dakota, but he was raised in Florida. He was a quarterback and defensive back for the Gators from 1951-53. As a player, he led Florida to a victory over Tulsa in the 1953 Gator Bowl.
He is a member of the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame as he coached both the Volunteers and Florida in the postseason tilt.
Dickey is also a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame, the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.
He began his coaching career as an assistant at Arkansas under the legendary Frank Broyles. Dickey was in Fayetteville from 1957-63.
He then came to Knoxville, where he led Tennessee to a pair of Southeastern Conference championships in 1967 and 1969, and the 1967 national championship.
Dickey was a two-time SEC Coach of the Year in 1967 and 1969. At UT, he had a coaching record of 46-14-4. His overall career mark is 104-58-6 and was 2-7 in bowl games throughout his career as a head coach.
Dickey left Tennessee following its 14-13 loss to Florida in the 1969 Gator Bowl to become head coach at Florida, where he stayed from 1970-78.
In 1979, he was the offensive coordinator at Colorado.
He returned to Rocky Top to become Tennessee’s athletic director in 1985 and retired from that post in 2002.