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Tennessee football: Vols 5 best seasons with second-year head coach

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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5. Bill Battle – 1971

10-2 (4-2); No. 9 AP and Coaches

Won Liberty Bowl

Bill Battle being the first head coach on our list would seem to break the second-year rule pretty quickly. After all, his last year was 1976, and Johnny Majors had to come home in 1977 and start a long-term rebuilding project because of how far the program has fallen.

But he did oversee a program on the decline due to many circumstances not related to him. And when he took over in 1971, the infrastructure was a lot better. That allowed this Alabama Crimson Tide graduate who played for Bear Bryant and studied under Doug Dickey to still succeed.

Relying on a ton of leftover talent from Dickey, Tennessee football had already gone 11-1 in 1970 and finished No. 4 in the nation with a Sugar Bowl win. They entered 1971 with high expectations again but got off to a very rough start. Two games in, they suffered a 10-9 heartbreaker to the Auburn Tigers. Five games in, they lost 32-15 to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Those two games kept them from winning the SEC. But there were highlights in that 3-2 start with a win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and a 99-yard drive to beat the Florida Gators in The Swamp, something they wouldn’t do again for 30 years.Meanwhile, the Vols closed out the year in epic fashion.

They would win out after that start, including a 31-11 home victory over the No. 5 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions to close out the regular season on national television. Then they would score a thrilling 14-13 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Liberty Bowl. A 10-win season, a bowl victory and a top 10 finish all made this a great year.

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