Mose Phillip's Watch
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No. If Dickey had stayed as coach, he likely would’ve rivaled the Bear through the 1970s and won a NC. Majors could’ve replaced Dickey in the 1980sDo you think Tn would have keep Bill Battle as head coach if Johnny Majors wasn't so successful at Pitt ? His record wasn't that bad
Just a little before my time
NO, Battle lived off of Dickey's recruits except for maybe Condridge. Bill Battle was in over his head but I did like the guy but being liked won't win football games. I feel the same way about Heupel, I like him but it all boils down to winning or losing. This is a great football program an historic program that has fallen on hard times but we aren't alone in that. Look at Nebraska an Florida State or Michigan. Heck back in the day no one even paid any attention to teams like Clemson an Tennessee enjoyed more success against Alabama than any other program. We were the only program that had multiple wins over Bama. I'm getting old and I want to see this program rise again to the top because that's where we should be.Do you think Tn would have keep Bill Battle as head coach if Johnny Majors wasn't so successful at Pitt ? His record wasn't that bad
Just a little before my time
@Mose Phillip's Watch there were other issues occurring off the field at that time. Had social media been around then, Knoxville would have been really popping. Battle's daughter got caught up in some things and one of them involved a football player, which at that time, was not kosher. He was on his way to having a cup named after him before they named it after Fulmer.
No. If Dickey had stayed as coach, he likely would’ve rivaled the Bear through the 1970s and won a NC. Majors could’ve replaced Dickey in the 1980s
Do you think Tn would have keep Bill Battle as head coach if Johnny Majors wasn't so successful at Pitt ? His record wasn't that bad
Just a little before my time
At the time Battle was hired as coach in 1970, he had 2 boys, ages 6 and 2...A daughter was born later but after he left UT, I believe...@Mose Phillip's Watch there were other issues occurring off the field at that time. Had social media been around then, Knoxville would have been really popping. Battle's daughter got caught up in some things and one of them involved a football player, which at that time, was not kosher. He was on his way to having a cup named after him before they named it after Fulmer.
I was born in 1965 but I studied the history of UT football. If you will watch a video called 100 years of Volunteers Col. Tom Elam explains what happened when Dickey left. Other trustees including Col. Elam wanted to go with Majors then but the AD at the time Bob Woodruff wanted to hire Battle. Elam’s reasoning was , if we ( the trustees ) go with Majors we will need to fire the AD and that is the last thing I want to do so we need to go with Battle. In my opinion this is the biggest mistake in UT football . Majors would have never let the program go down like Battle. Majors would have kept it at the top and UT may very well have been the dominant program in the SEC and not Alabama.