RIP Woody Widenhofer

#6
#6
BigOrangeAl 1979 said:
We had some very tough games against his Vandy squad with Peyton from 95-97 his defenses played us very tough.
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When I was living in Destin, Woody was also living there. He and I would sit at the bar at Pompano Joes in Miramar Beach and talk football. I asked him this very question, “how did your Vandy defense give Peyton Such a difficult time”. His answer, we had Tennessee’s play calling signals from the sideline. I very much enjoyed talking football with him. His wife was a realtor in Destin. He was most proud of his Steel Curtain defense with the Steelers.
 
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#7
#7
Tennesseefan2019 said:
Woody Widenhofer was a tremendous defensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s. My thoughts and prayers go out to Woody's family and friends.
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Loved the Steelers growing up. Those defenses were man eaters. Oh the good old days when head slaps were legal,no 5 yard bump on receivers and you could actually hit a quarterback.😁
 
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#8
#8
tn4elvis said:
Loved the Steelers growing up. Those defenses were man eaters. Oh the good old days when head slaps were legal,no 5 yard bump on receivers and you could actually hit a quarterback.😁
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Exactly. In college football, you might as well remove the pads because you can't touch one another, let alone tackle without fear of the "targeting" rule.
 
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#11
#11
BoroVolFan said:
When I was living in Destin, Woody was also living there. He and I would sit at the bar at Pompano Joes in Miramar Beach and talk football. I asked him this very question, “how did your Vandy defense give Peyton Such a difficult time”. His answer, we had Tennessee’s play calling signals from the sideline. I very much enjoyed talking football with him. His wife was a realtor in Destin. He was most proud of his Steel Curtain defense with the Steelers.
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That is a cool story. I remember reading an article somewhere years ago that he worked in a toll booth down there for a while and was recognized by many of the SEC fans on their way to the beach. It mentions on wiki that he said he didn't have anything to do at the time and he just liked meeting people.
 
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#15
#15
BoroVolFan said:
When I was living in Destin, Woody was also living there. He and I would sit at the bar at Pompano Joes in Miramar Beach and talk football. I asked him this very question, “how did your Vandy defense give Peyton Such a difficult time”. His answer, we had Tennessee’s play calling signals from the sideline. I very much enjoyed talking football with him. His wife was a realtor in Destin. He was most proud of his Steel Curtain defense with the Steelers.
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That honestly doesn't surprise me at all they had our signals. Outside of Cutcliffe, nobody on Fulmer's coaching staffs or Fulmer himself ever struck me as a technical football genius.
 
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#16
#16
CR-vol said:
That is a cool story. I remember reading an article somewhere years ago that he worked in a toll booth down there for a while and was recognized by many of the SEC fans on their way to the beach. It mentions on wiki that he said he didn't have anything to do at the time and he just liked meeting people.
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Yes, he did work in the toll bridge booth going into Destin. I believe he subsequently moved to Dallas, and I lost track of Woody.
 
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#17
#17
05_never_again said:
That honestly doesn't surprise me at all they had our signals. Outside of Cutcliffe, nobody on Fulmer's coaching staffs or Fulmer himself ever struck me as a technical football genius.
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I haven’t checked the record, but I believe Woody told me his greatest satisfaction was Peyton not having a touchdown pass on his defense. Again, I have not verified the accuracy of his statement.
 
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#20
#20
BoroVolFan said:
I haven’t checked the record, but I believe Woody told me his greatest satisfaction was Peyton not having a touchdown pass on his defense. Again, I have not verified the accuracy of his statement.
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Can't find box scores for those games, but it's possible. He only faced Peyton one year (1997), but the offense scored only 17 points.
 
#22
#22
Purple Tiger said:
Woody was a coach at VU from 1995 to 2001. I believe he faced Peyton three times.
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Fair enough, he faced him once as a HC and twice as a DC. They gave up 12, 14, and 17 points in those years. I can't find box scores or even a list of stats from those games on the internet.
 
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