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Tennessee football: 4 best Vols coaches with losing seasons their first year

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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As I said from the start, there’s precedence for Jeremy Pruitt to have success with Tennessee football after suffering a losing season his first year. But the precedence depends on how you measure success.

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Doug Dickey is not the greatest coach in Vols history, but he did revitalize the program in the late 1960s and take it back to heights it enjoyed under Robert Neyland. When he took over, UT had not won more than six games or been to a bowl game since 1957.

But Dickey managed to move the Vols into a new era. He started numerous new traditions, including the Power T, the checkerboard end zones and running through the T. And he also was the first coach at the school to recruit African American talent.

All of this helped him build a program, but it didn’t start out that way. The Vols went 4-5-1 his first year. Dickey’s first year is very similar to Pruitt’s believe it or not. His team was 4-2-1 after a huge upset over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the same way Pruitt’s team celebrated an upset over the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Vols missed a bowl game, however, after they lost their final three games. That’s just like this previous team, which missed a bowl game after losing its final two games. But Dickey took off the next year, going 8-1-2 and finishing in the Top 10. That bodes well for Pruitt.

Next. Tee Martin's 10 best games with Vols. dark

Dickey’s second season launched a run of 10 straight Top 25 finishes for Tennessee football, five of which Bill Battle oversaw, and two SEC Championships and a retroactive national championship. That national title, albeit retroactive, and the fact that Dickey won two conference titles outright, more than anybody on this list, make him the best UT coach ever who had a losing season his first year.

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