Mike Stratton was on Bowden Wyatt’s final Vols teams with winning records

Tennessee football and Buffalo Bills legend Mike Stratton passed away Wednesday. He was part of Bowden Wyatt’s final bit of success with the Volunteers.

He’s more known for his pro career. But an underrated part of Mike Stratton was how he helped extend Bowden Wyatt’s career an extra four years when he played for Tennessee football, similar to what Condredge Holloway did for Bill Battle and what Joshua Dobbs did for Butch Jones.

Stratton, who was a six-time AFL Pro Bowler and two-time AFL champion with the Buffalo Bills, passed away Wednesday at age 78. He made the famous “hit heard around the world” in the 1964 AFL Championship game against the San Diego Chargers, knocking out star Chargers running back Keith Lincoln on a kickoff return with the Bills trailing 7-0. Buffalo would then win 20-7.

However, before even getting to that point, Mike Stratton, who primarily played linebacker, played on both sides of the ball under Wyatt. His impact is blatantly clear if you look at the success of the program during that time.

The year before Stratton, arrived, Wyatt had his first losing season on Rocky Top, going 4-6. While Stratton was there, UT went 5-4-1, 6-2-2 with a top 20 finish and 6-4. Then, the year after Stratton left, the Vols went 4-6.

So Wyatt’s only two losing season were in his final five years on Rocky Top, and the three other winning seasons in those years were 1959 to 1961. As a result, it’s safe to say that Mike Stratton, who became an NFL star, helped to extend Wyatt’s career.

During his career, Stratton scored four touchdowns for Rocky Top despite mostly being known for his defensive talents. His efforts were under-appreciated, though, as he fell to the 13th round of the AFL Draft. Part of that, though, was due to the declining program, and what became clear later was Stratton was simply delaying that decline.

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There were lots of memorable moments in that three-year final run with winning records as well, including the gigantic upset over the No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers in 1959. It also included a win over the No. 15 ranked Alabama Crimson tide in 1960 and another one over the No. 9 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 1961.

Simply put, there were clearly some memorable moments during this period. The problem was Wyatt was stuck in the ways of Gen. Robert Neyland and that old-school single-wing formation, and the SEC had moved past the Vols. People like Stratton were helping to keep him afloat during that time solely due to his talents.

However, it was clear the Vols needed a change, and two years after Wyatt’s final season, Doug Dickey arrived and installed the T-Formation, helping to take the program back to a national level once again. The same thing happened when the game passed Battle by, and Johnny Majors came in and had to reinstall the vertical passing attack.

But players like Mike Stratton should hold a special place in Vol history. They were so talented that they helped to single-handedly stave off inevitable declines for a program that was behind the times under its leadership. Again, Stratton, Holloway and Dobbs stood out on that front more than anybody else, and they deserve credit for just being that good.