Tennessee football: Comparing Josh Heupel’s fourth year of career to other Vols head coaches
Pick Analysis. Tennessee Volunteers. player. Scouting Report. 1967. Doug Dickey. 1. 839
9-2 (6-0 SEC)
Co-National Champion; SEC Champion; No. 2 AP and Coaches
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Yes, five of the top six coaches in this ranking were in their fourth year as head coach of Tennessee football while in their fourth year as a head coach in general. Doug Dickey may have two losses while Robert Neyland and Bowden Wyatt each had 0 in their fourth years. However, Dickey easily accomplished the most.
Three years of recruits built specifically for him to run his slot-T formation led by Dewey Warren at quarterback finally paid off. The Vols went 4-5-1 in 1964 under Dickey before going 8-1-2 and 8-3 in 1965 and 1966. Similar to Zora G. Clevenger’s fourth year at UT specifically, all signs pointed to this being the year the Vols broke out.
They started out ranked No. 9 and suffered a heartbreaking loss to the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles. However, they won every game after that. The highlight was a 24-13 win over No. 6 ranked Alabama, but wins over Georgia Tech, the Auburn Tigers, LSU and Ole Miss all stood out as well. UT finished the regular season 9-1, winning the SEC in the process.
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Most notably, the Vols were declared national champions by Litkenhous because UCLA tied the Oregon State Beavers and lost to USC, who lost to Oregon State. Now, Tennessee football did lose 26-24 to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl, but this is a claimed national title, and that’s enough to top the list. Dickey had the best fourth year as a head coach of anybody who led UT.