Tennessee Football: The worst five coaches of all-time

The Tennessee Volunteers seem to have their program going in the right direction lately with the hire of current head coach Josh Heupel back in 2021. Heupel has improved the Vols in recruiting and record on the field. His past two starting quarterbacks in Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton have each been drafted into the NFL the last two years.

However, before Heupel there have been some periods of difficult times for the Vols and their fans, who are some of the most passionate and loyal in the SEC.

Since joining the SEC in 1933, There have been a few coaches even that had below .500 winning percentages during their time with the Vols, who always have high expectations.

Who are the worst Tennessee Volunteer football coaches of all-time?

Harvey Robinson (1953-1954)

Robinson lasted only two season in Knoxville, going 6-4-1 in 1953 and regressing to 4-6 in 1954. Coming off of replacing one of the greatest coaches all-time in Bob Neyland, Robinson was far below expectations.

Robinson would leave Tennessee for an assistant coaching position for the University of Florida, but return as the backfield coach from 1960-1963 according to Vols Wire.

Bowden Wyatt (1955-1962)

Wyatt followed Robinson, and mediocrity seemed to ensue in Knoxville during his time there. Wyatt compiled only one season of more than 10 wins in 1956 and had a winning percentage of 62%, which is far below expectations for the Vols. His last season would be 4-6 and led to his firing.

Bill Battle (1970-1976)

This name may be familiar now a days as the Athletic Director for the University of Alabama. Before his time as an athletic director however, Battle had a seven year run as head coach of the rival Vols.

Battle would outdo his predecessor Doug Dickey who failed to have a single 10 win season in Knoxville, having 10 or more wins in each of his first three years as head coach. The program would regress thereafter however, and go 28-17 in Battles final four seasons.

Battle would be forced following the 1976 season, which ended up being a great thing for the Vols as legendary coach Johnny Majors would end up succeeding Battle and having a lot of success.

Derek Dooley (2010-2012)

Orange pants may be the most memorable thing about Dooley, and that was not even necessarily positive- just unique. Dooley is the son of legendary Georgia Bulldogs coach, Vince Dooley but would not live up to the Dooley name in his three seasons in Knoxville.

Dooley would not have a single winning season during his time with the Vols and was fired following the 2012 season.

Jeremy Pruitt (2018-2020)

Pruitt was third in the line of underwhelming coaching hires after Derek Dooley and Butch Jones. The former Nick Saban assistant seemed like a promising hire for the Vols, especially due to his defensive pedigree in a league like the SEC that is built on just that.

Pruitt however would have only one winning season during his second season in Knoxville going 8-5. The other two seasons combined would be 8-16. Pruitt would be fired for cause following significant recruiting violations.