On This Day In Vol History: 1970 Bill Battle Hired

[VolnJC]

I thought this was amusing..Many Vol fans didn't know they had hired a coach the previous day...look how we are hitting F-5 every few minutes to see if we have a new OC

“Covered Extensively by the Historians”
On this day in 1970, Vol fans picked up their newspapers (Knoxville had two in those days, the Journal in the morning and the KN-S in the afternoon) and read of the previous day’s hiring of Bill Battle as the new head coach of the Volunteers.

There were no social media in those days, so there were snippets on the previous evening’s news, with the real analysis being left to the sportswriters of the competing newspapers.

Russ Bebb called Battle the “sleeper” in a group that included assistants Doug Knotts and Jimmy Dunn, like Battle, each of them members of the Doug Dickey staff.

Battle ended up getting the call, lasting until the end of the 1976 season, before starting a highly successful business in collegiate licensing.

On this day way back when, no one knew exactly how events would transpire over the ensuing years. It was the beginning of a new era in Vol football, covered extensively by the historians of that day and even those of more recent years.
“Covered Extensively by the Historians” - The Vol Historian

 

[UT_Dutchman]

Fahr Battle!

 

[VolnJC]

fahr coach battle hire ad battle!

fify!

 

[orange parmejohn]

Funny but I found this stuffed in a wall for insulation, in an old house where I was picking up donations for a local ministry.

 

[CAVPUT]

Pfftt.....lived it.

 

[VolnJC]

Pfftt.....lived it.

What did most fans think of the hire?

 

[VolnJC]

Funny but I found this stuffed in a wall for insulation, in an old house where I was picking up donations for a local ministry.

It looks like it is "below the fold" What else could have been going on in sports that was more important than hiring a coach?

 

[BowlBrother85]

Battle had just turned 28 and was handed some of the best talent in the country at the time... he did well with it until all the players Dickey recruited were gone.

 

[1972 Grad]

What did most fans think of the hire?

I was at U.T. then. The only thing that I remember thinking is that he was young. Didn't really worry about who the coach was back then. We were hurt the way Dickey left us for Florida is about all that I recall.

 

[CAVPUT]

What did most fans think of the hire?

Speaking for myself....I was pissed at Dickey. Considered him a traitor of the highest order. As for Battle, he was too young and UT should have aimed higher.

 

[orange parmejohn]

It looks like it is "below the fold" What else could have been going on in sports that was more important than hiring a coach?

Bama beat USC. :/

 

[Remy]

Battle was hired AFTER Doug Dickey screwed UT over every whichaway possible, from the front, back, side, down the throat, FOR the Florida gators. He took video of it and published it for the world to see and laughed at us. To this day I wouldn't walk across the street to leak on him if he was on fire.

 

[1972 Grad]

Battle was hired AFTER Doug Dickey screwed UT over every whichaway possible, from the front, back, side, down the throat, FOR the Florida gators. He took video of it and published it for the world to see and laughed at us. To this day I wouldn't walk across the street to leak on him if he was on fire.

If your Johnson was long enough, you wouldn't have to walk across the street.

 

[Remy]

If your Johnson was long enough, you wouldn't have to walk across the street.

Your mom and aunties said it worked well enough for all of them.

(way too easy man)

 

[livefaith]

My late mother, sweetest woman on the planet, was a big Vol fan from the 50s until the 70s. When she saw the way that the fanbase treated Battle in his ouster, she walked away from her fanhood almost entirely. The hatred, name calling, seems like a UHaul at his house. She would watch UT games for a few minutes when on TV. But never attended again or really cared much until the day she died. That was 2010. She was a Vol fan, but that event did a number on her.

 

[1972 Grad]

My late mother, sweetest woman on the planet, was a big Vol fan from the 50s until the 70s. When she saw the way that the fanbase treated Battle in his ouster, she walked away from her fanhood almost entirely. The hatred, name calling, seems like a UHaul at his house. She would watch UT games for a few minutes when on TV. But never attended again or really cared much until the day she died. That was 2010. She was a Vol fan, but that event did a number on her.

He was treated pretty badly, but getting out of coaching was the best thing that ever happened to him. He made untold millions in sports licensing.

 

[photovol]

What did most fans think of the hire?

He played at Bama for Bryant, enough said, Vol fan?

 

[1972 Grad]

He played at Bama for Bryant, enough said, Vol fan?

That didn't seem to be much of a problem the first 3 years, when he went 31-5.

 

[VolnJC]

Battle had just turned 28 and was handed some of the best talent in the country at the time... he did well with it until all the players Dickey recruited were gone.

I knew he was young but I had no idea that he was that young

 

[knox73]

It was a disastrous hire. Bill is/was a good man. No way at 28 he should have been hired. Was not even a coordinator. Woodruff tried to pull a rabbit out the hat as he did with Dickey who was a terrific coach at UT then left in traitorous circumstances to go to Florida, his alma mater.

Woodruff tried to hire an unknown and promote from within. John Majors wanted the job and I don't think was interviewed. This was the most tragic episode until Hamilton hired Kiffin-Dooley to follow Fulmer. Battle took over one of the top programs in sec and drove it into the ground. Whosever mother turned on the vols for the moving van episode needed to kick the old lady in the butt. A blind person could see the destruction underway - recruiting was abysmal.

Thanks for commemorating one of the worst days in Vol history. Seriously thanks for posting this as it most definitely was a monumental event - which it took 12 years to recover from.

 

[LWSVOL]

on this date 18 years ago, Tennessee won the National Championship

 

[hog88]

on this date 18 years ago, Tennessee won the National Championship

Sure hope we're not waiting 18 years for another one.

 

[LWSVOL]

Sure hope we're not waiting 18 years for another one.

waited 47 years on that one

our history says it is a long time in between them

 

[onevol74]

on this date 18 years ago, Tennessee won the National Championship

Also the date of the LAST SEC Championship. We are in the longest drought in school history. Never before has this program wondered in the dessert for so long.

 

[Backwards K]

This was a terrible hire. Not as bad as hiring Kiffin or Dooley but may have been the worst hire in Tennessee HC history up to that point. Battle took over a program that Dickey had elevated to the top of the SEC and was poised for great things. Battle was capable enough on the field but admittedly did not like recruiting and the talent level plummeted quickly and it took Tennessee 15-20 years to get back to where it was when he took over.

If the Vols had hired Johnny Majors at that point, they would have done much better. Johnny understood the importance of recruiting and he would have built on the momentum started by Dickey.