Douglas Adair Dickey (born June 24, 1932) is an American former

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player and coach and college athletics administrator. Dickey is a

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

native who was raised in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and graduated from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he played

. He is best known as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

and the University of Florida football teams, and afterward, as the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

of the University of Tennessee.

Early life and education

Dickey was born in

Vermillion, South Dakota Vermillion ( lkt, Waséoyuze; "The Place Where Vermilion is Obtained") is a city in and the county seat of Clay County. It is in the southeastern corner of South Dakota, United States, and is the state's 12th-largest city. According to the 2020 ...

, in 1932, and grew up in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

, where his father was a speech professor at the University of Florida.Tom Mattingly,
In the End
," ''Tennessee Alumnus Magazine'', vol. 83, no. 3 (Summer 2003). Retrieved March 3, 2010. After graduating from P.K. Yonge High School in Gainesville, he attended the University of Florida and played for coach

Bob Woodruff Robert Warren Woodruff (born August 18, 1961) is an American television journalist. Since 1996, he has served as a reporter for ABC News. Woodruff co-anchored ABC World News Tonight in 2006 alongside ABC News journalist Elizabeth Vargas. He was ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

team from

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

.
2012 Florida Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 111, 115, 116, 177 (2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012. Dickey was a walk-on after being encouraged by assistant coach

Dave Fuller Dave Fuller (1915 – September 15, 2009) was an American college baseball coach who led the Florida Gators baseball team of the University of Florida for twenty-eight seasons. Early life and education Fuller attended Wake Forest University i ...

. Dickey began his college career as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, but he remarkably advanced from seventh on the Gators'

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

depth chart to starter after

Haywood Sullivan Haywood Cooper Sullivan (December 15, 1930 – February 12, 2003) was an American college and professional baseball player who was a catcher, manager, general manager and club owner in Major League Baseball. From May 23, 1978, through Novembe ...

's early departure for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

left the Gators without a starting quarterback in 1952.Norm Carlson, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, p. 61 (2007). As a quarterback, Dickey was not a drop-back passer, but a football-savvy game manager, whom Woodruff called "one of the brainiest quarterbacks I ever saw." In January 1953, Dickey led the Gators to a 14–13 win over the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

in the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

, Florida's first-ever

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

-sanctioned bowl game. While a student at Florida, he was a member of the

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

( Florida Upsilon chapter). He graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1954.

College football coach and athletic director

After graduating from the University of Florida, Dickey served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

.Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Tennessean of the Year
Doug Dickey
. Retrieved September 23, 2009. From

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, he worked as an assistant football coach on the staff of

Frank Broyles John Franklin Broyles (December 26, 1924 – August 14, 2017) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach for one season at the University of Missour ...

at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. Dickey was hired as head coach at the University of Tennessee in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

Bob Woodruff, Dickey's head coach during his playing years at Florida. Many supporters of

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

credit Dickey with rejuvenating the program. When Dickey was hired, the Volunteers had not won more than six games in a season, nor been to a bowl game, since

. Dickey was recognized as

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) Coach of the Year in 1965 and

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, and his Tennessee teams won SEC championships in 1967 and 1969. In his six seasons as head coach, his overall win–loss record at Tennessee was 46–15–4 (.738), and the Volunteers received five consecutive bowl invitations. Dickey is credited with starting three Tennessee football traditions that endure today. He placed the iconic "Power T" decal on the sides of the Volunteers'

helmets A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

, had the

Neyland Stadium Neyland Stadium ( ), is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Footb ...

end zones painted in an orange-and-white checkerboard pattern, and originated the Pride of the Southland marching band's "T" formation through which Volunteer players enter the field. Dickey was also responsible for integrating the previously all-white Volunteers by recruiting running back Albert Davis, the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

offered a scholarship to play for the Vols, but the university did not admit Davis.Marvin West,
Tales of the Tennessee Vols: A Collection of the Greatest Vols Stories Ever Told
', Sports Publishing, L.L.C., Champaign, Illinois, p.41 (2002). Undeterred, Dickey recruited wide receiver

Lester McClain Lester McClain (born September 17, 1949) is a former American football wide receiver and the first African American to play at the University of Tennessee. He joined the Volunteers in 1967, and played for them between 1968 and 1970 (freshmen wer ...

, who was admitted and became the first black Volunteer football player. In 1969, the Volunteers clinched their second SEC championship and were invited to play Florida in the

. Rumors swirled that Dickey was planning to return to his alma mater to replace retiring

Ray Graves Samuel Ray Graves (December 31, 1918 – April 10, 2015) was an American college and professional American football, football player and college football coach. He was a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where ...

as head coach.Carlson, ''University of Florida Football Vault'', p. 87. Tennessee lost the game 14–13, and Dickey left for Gainesville. Dickey became the head football coach at the University of Florida in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. In his nine seasons as the Florida coach, Dickey led the Gators to four bowl appearances, and an overall record of 58–43–2 (.573).College Football Data Warehouse
Florida Coaching Records
. Retrieved September 23, 2009. Notably, Dickey gave the Gators' former Heisman-winning quarterback

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

his first coaching job, as the Gators quarterbacks coach, in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. Dickey did not achieve the same level of success at Florida that he had at Tennessee, and he was replaced by

Charley Pell Charles Byron Pell (February 17, 1941 – May 29, 2001) was an American college football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most notably remember ...

after a 4–7 season in 1978. Dickey ended his college coaching career with an overall record of 104–58–6 (.637).College Football Data Warehouse, All-Time Coaching Records
Doug Dickey Records by Year
. Retrieved September 23, 2009. Dickey returned to the University of Tennessee, where he served as athletic director from 1985 through 2002, leading one of the premier intercollegiate athletic programs in the nation. His time as athletic director was notable for the improvement and expansion of the university's athletic facilities. Neyland Stadium was expanded to more than 100,000 seats, and other additions included the Thompson–Boling Assembly Center and Arena, the Lindsey Nelson Baseball Stadium, the Goodfriend Tennis Center, executive suites at Neyland Stadium, the Neyland–Thompson Football Complex, and the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center. Dickey also had the unusual experience of watching his son, Daryl Dickey, become the starting quarterback for the Volunteers in the middle of the 1985 season and leading them to a 35–7 win over the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

Honors

Dickey was honored as "Tennessean of the Year" by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. He is also the recipient of the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

's John Toner Award recognizing his abilities as a sports administrator and the Robert Neyland Memorial Trophy recognizing his contributions to college football, and is a member of the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, and was recognized as a "Distinguished

Letter Winner In sports or activities in the United States, a letterman is a high school or college student who has met a specified level of participation or performance on a varsity team. Overview The term comes from the practice of awarding each such parti ...

" by the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

. After retiring in 2002, he was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a coach in 2003.

Controversy

Gator flop

Florida quarterback

John Reaves Thomas Johnson "John" Reaves (March 2, 1950 – August 1, 2017) was an American college and professional football player who was a quarterback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and three seasons in the United States Football L ...

entered the 1971 game versus Miami looking to break

Jim Plunkett James William Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons. He achieved his greatest professional success during his final eight seasons with the ...

's NCAA record for all-time passing yardage in his last regular-season game. The Gators led the game throughout, and were up 45–8 when Reaves threw an interception to Miami's defense with little time left in the game and 14 yards separating Reaves from the record. After calling timeouts to prevent the Hurricanes from running out the clock, the Florida Gators defense dropped down onto their stomachs in unison and allowed the Hurricanes to intentionally score. Known thereafter as the "Gator flop", the play allowed the Gators to get the ball back so Reaves could break the record. On the next drive, Reaves found Carlos Alvarez for a 15-yard gain to break the record, and after the game, the entire Gators team jumped into the fountain at the

Miami Orange Bowl The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Downtown Miami. The Miami Orange Bowl was considered a landmark and served as the ho ...

that was formerly used for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

' live mascot. Hurricanes coach

Fran Curci Fran Curci (born June 11, 1938) is a former American football player and coach. He was an All-American quarterback at the University of Miami in 1959. He served as head coach at the University of Tampa from 1968 to 1970, the University of Miami ...

refused to shake the hand of Gators coach Doug Dickey after the game for pulling "a bush-league stunt", though Dickey denied knowledge the flop was coming. Dickey later blamed it on a punt that was run back earlier in the game. In a 2010 interview, Dickey stated, "I didn't say to lay down, but I said to let 'em score." and later told players "But at least try to block the extra point.'"

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickey, Doug 1932 births Living people American football quarterbacks College Football Hall of Fame inductees Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Florida Gators football coaches Florida Gators football players Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers athletic directors Tennessee Volunteers football coaches People from Vermillion, South Dakota Sportspeople from Gainesville, Florida Coaches of American football from Florida Players of American football from Gainesville, Florida