Top 10 Tennessee Vols legends not born in the state

When Doug Dickey took over as the Tennessee Vols football head coach in 1964, things were coming apart. The Robert Neyland years had faded, and the program was two years removed from Bowden Wyatt, who achieved early success but failed to sustain it.

Dickey was a Florida Gators graduate, which wasn’t a rival school at the time. He was also heading to Rocky Top after seven years as an assistant coach with the Arkansas Razorbacks. So while he had southern football experience, he had no experience working with Tennessee yet.

That turned out to be perfect for the program. The Tennessee Vols needed new blood, and Dickey gave it to them by installing the new T-formation. Still stuck in the single wing formation because of Neyland’s success, this was the shot in the arm the program needed.

After one rebuilding year in 1964, Dickey reeled off five straight Top 25 finishes, two SEC championships and a retroactive national championship in 1967. The peak of his program was with Dewey Warren at quarterback. Warren was the perfect mold to run Dickey’s new formation and played from 1965 to 1967.

But Dickey’s legendary status isn’t just due to him reviving the football program. He also revived the athletic program. When he took over in 1985, Tennessee football was on the cusp of exploding as a powerhouse once again.

On top of all that, Dickey also played a huge role in new Tennessee Vols traditions. These include running through the T, the orange and white checkerboard end zones, and the Power T icon that is now on the helmets. And he integrated the football team by bringing in Lester McClain in the late 1960s. All this from Florida grad born in South Dakota.