One of the reasons Tennessee football emerged back into the national spotlight under Doug Dickey was because of the program’s ability to flip the field. The year Dickey took over, Ron Widby became his starting punter, and Widby immediately became the greatest punter in the history of the program at that time. It really wasn’t even close.
As a sophomore in 1964, Widby averaged 41.1 yards per punt on 74 punts. He was critical because of the way the Vols’ offense struggled implementing Dickey’s T-formation, which replaced nearly four decades of Rocky Top running the single-wing. His leg helped them stay in contention for a winning record, which they just missed out on.
At the time, Widby was a three-sport athlete, and his primary sport was basketball under Ray Mears. He only became a punter after the coaches requested that Mears allow him to play football. In 1965, he only punted 20 times for an average of 42.8 yards per punt. But he was about to have the greatest sports season in college history.
When 1966 arrived, Widby was already shattering UT punting records. He did it again with an NCAA leading 43.8 yards per punt on 48 punts, earning All-American honors. Then he went on to become a basketball All-American and SEC Player of the Year. That doesn’t do anything for his rankings as a punter, but it’s pretty impressive. And he did spend seven years in the NFL after that.