By Tom Mattingly
The University of Tennessee unveiled statues, known now as “historical monuments,” of national championship coaches Doug Dickey (1967) and Phillip Fulmer (1998) Sept. 25 outside Neyland Stadium at “Champions Corner.”
The ceremony was a special moment as numerous members of the two teams and Vol fans from across the years were present to honor the two Tennessee coaching legends. The two statues joined Gen. Robert R. Neyland’s as part of an impressive tribute to Vol football.
Dickey, now 94 and looking forward to the arrival of his memoirs in book stores everywhere, shared thoughts on his 1967 Vols winning the SEC title and defeating the 4 major SEC opponents on the schedule. That brought back memories of one of the seminal seasons in Tennessee football history. Dickey restored the “swagger” associated with Vol football. Without a doubt, the 1967 Vols were Dickey’s best team, as well as his favorite.
The 1967 Vols are one of the school’s finest teams, compiling a 9-1 regular season record, 9-2 overall, winning the SEC title, and finishing No. 2 in the nation. It was the school’s first league crown since 1956 and would be followed by another in 1969.
Looking back at the way the season progressed, Tennessee fans knew more about their team in the evening of Sept. 30 than they did earlier that day. The Vols lost their season opener against UCLA 20-16 two weeks earlier, so many fans didn’t know what the good guys had in store for them for the rest of the season.
With a bye week following the UCLA contest, the intervening two weeks saw demanding workouts to correct inadequacies exposed against the Bruins.
The demands placed on the players showed up in the contest against Auburn. Tennessee played better on both sides of the ball, taking a 27-13 victory over the Tigers. Auburn made but one first down rushing.
A few weeks later, here came the key game of the season. Dewey Warren and Charlie Fulton had been injured, and Dickey turned the Vol offense over to Bubba Wyche, a junior who had played sparingly to that point. He had played some the week before against Georgia Tech, but this was Alabama . . . at Legion Field . . . against Bear Bryant.
Wyche led the way behind one of the best offensive lines in Vol history—Bob Johnson at center, Joe Graham and Charlie Rosenfelder at guard, and Elliott Gammage and John Boynton at the tackles.
Talk about pressure. Tennessee was ranked No. 7 and Alabama No. 6. It was the renewal of a classic football series that meant a great deal to fans on both sides.
That day, Vol defensive back Albert Dorsey celebrated his 22nd birthday by intercepting three Ken Stabler passes in the fourth quarter, the final one for a score and the eventual 11-point margin. It was the Vols’ first win over Alabama since 1960.
When one player was injured, another stepped to the front. The Vols played three quarterbacks — Warren, Fulton, and Wyche, and didn’t miss a beat.
Linebackers Steve Kiner and Jack Reynolds, both sophomores, led the Vol defenders. It was a special time.
Sophomore safety Mike Jones made the cover of Sports Illustrated, fighting Alabama’s Dennis Homan for the football. In a future publication, SI would credit defensive back Jimmy Weatherford for making the play, but Vol teammates, when interviewed, definitely said it was Mike.
The 1967 sophomore class didn’t have a nickname like “The Flaming Sophomores of 1928,” but they played really well in key positions. They included Jones, tight end Ken DeLong, defensive back Jimmy Thomas, Kiner, Reynolds, punter Herman Weaver, defensive end Vic Dingus, defensive tackles Frank Yanossy and Steve Carroll, and wide receiver Garry Kreis.
It was a T-E-A-M, when all the myriad pieces came together in exactly the right fashion.
After the game, someone called the News-Sentinel sports desk and asked if Dickey would be “flying home on the team plane” or “walking up the river” to Knoxville. Such was the rising spirit the Vols were instilling in their fans all across Big Orange Country. By all accounts, the Vols were back on the winning track. Right where they belonged.
The Vols defeated LSU 17-14 the next week, narrowly avoiding an ambush by a team that ended up in the Sugar Bowl and rolled through the rest of the schedule. They broke an 8-year losing streak with a 20-7 triumph over Ole Miss in Memphis. The Vols played Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, losing 26-24.
Dickey put the year into perspective noting that, “When you beat Auburn, Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss in the same year, you’ve done pretty well.”
Writing in the Oct. 30, 1967, issue of Sports Illustrated, John Underwood defined the moment: “Doug Dickey did not allow himself the luxury of going particularly nuts after his finest victory, one that established his team as the South’s best. He is now among the cool and collected big-time winners, and he reacted like any man would who has just beaten Bear Bryant. He was humble, but he smiled a lot.”
For Dickey and a host of Vol fans, the 1967 football season was something special. The Vols put the season-opening loss to UCLA far back in the rearview mirror and provided special memories for Vol players, coaches, and fans that would last forever.
“Champions Corner” exists to commemorate moments like these.
