Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 4-1
1970Sugar BowlW 34-13
1971Liberty BowlW 14-13LSU1972Astro-Bluebonnet BowlW 24-17
1973Gator BowlL 19-28
1974Liberty BowlW 7-3Stats
Big games
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
12-8 against his rivals. Just 1-6 against Bear Bryant.
Building the roster
Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1970-1976) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.
“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.
The NFL pipeline
The NFL pipeline
players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 1 went in the first round.
At least 13 — his 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 seasons predate the modern 7-round draft, so this table’s pre-1994 pick counts are a floor, not a full count, for those seasons.
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | R1.25 | Stanley Morgan | Wide Receiver |  New England Patriots | Estimated |
| 1977 | R4.27 | Larry Seivers | Wide Receiver |  Seattle Seahawks | Estimated |
| 1977 | R4.28 | Mickey Marvin | Offensive Guard |  Oakland Raiders | Estimated |
| 1977 | R5.23 | Andy Spiva | Linebacker |  St. Louis Cardinals | Estimated |
| 1976 | R2.25 | Ron McCartney | Linebacker |  Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1974 | R3.07 | Bill Rudder | Running Back |  San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 1974 | R5.10 | Haskel Stanback | Running Back |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1973 | R3.10 | Jamie Rotella | Linebacker |  Baltimore Colts | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | R3.24 | Bobby Majors | Defensive Back |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1972 | R5.18 | George Hunt | Place Kicker |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1972 | R6.18 | Jackie Walker | Defensive Back |  San Francisco 49ers | Estimated |
| 1972 | R6.20 | Curt Watson | Running Back |  New Orleans Saints | Estimated |
| 1972 | R6.25 | Ray Nettles | Linebacker |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.
Career
Coaching career
The arc of his career is on Now.
Inheritor inherited a power and neither built it higher nor let it collapse
6th-best Tennessee tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Doug Dickey (1964–1969) · succeeded by Johnny Majors (1977–1992).
| Season | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||
| Record | 11-1 | 10-2 | 10-2 | 8-4 | 7-3-2 | 7-5 | 6-5 | |
| Postseason | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | L bowl | W bowl | — | — | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | ||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+1.6 pts at Tennessee · #569 of 1290 · middle half