A beautiful plaque prominently featuring the late former Baylor quarterback, Bobby Jones (Football & Baseball ’57), will soon be on permanent display in the newly dedicated Doug Dickey Plaza at the University of Tennessee.  Jones was the Baylor quarterback who led the Bears to victory over the University of Tennessee in the 1957 Sugar Bowl.

After Jones graduated from Baylor in 1957, he entered the coaching profession, and within a short time, became an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee for Head Coach, Doug Dickey.  Unfortunately, Jones and two other assistant coaches, Bill Majors and Charlie Rash, were tragically killed in a West Knoxville train accident two days after coaching their team to a 7-7 tie with eventual national champion Alabama.  Bill Majors and Charlie Rash will accompany Jones on the plaque displayed in the plaza.

The school dedicated two areas within its athletic complex in honor of former Volunteer Athletics Director and Head Football Coach, Doug Dickey: the Doug Dickey Hall of  Fame Plaza, adjacent to the new residence hall being built on Lake Loudoun Boulevard, and the Doug Dickey Hall of Champions, located in the north hallway of the Neyland-Thompson Center. The area will serve as the main entrance to the athletic facilities for all Tennessee student-athletes. The Hall of Fame Plaza will recognize all members of the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame, including all current inductees to the Lady Vol Hall of Fame, as well as future classes for the combined hall. The Hall of Champions will recognize the tradition of competitive excellence for all Tennessee sports and will detail NCAA and SEC championship teams, Olympians, All-Americans and championship moments. “These areas symbolize our history of competitive excellence,” said Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics, Dave Hart. “It is entirely appropriate to name them for one of the finest leaders in Tennessee athletics history.” The dedication of the Doug Dickey Hall of Fame Plaza and the Hall of Champions was coordinated in conjunction with the reunion of the 1965 Tennessee Volunteer team on its 50th anniversary.

Doug Dickey brought Tennessee into the modern era of football when he became Head Coach as a relatively unknown former quarterback from the University of Florida in 1964. The Volunteers had not won more than six games in the past six seasons prior to Dickey’s arrival. His first season saw just four wins but his teams would go on to win 46 games and two Southeastern Conference championships during his six-season tenure. The 1967 team was named National Champions by the Litkenhouse rating service.

Dickey’s biggest victory had little to do with football. In 1965, he led the Volunteers to an 8-1-2 record, a mark that led to SEC Coach of the Year honors. To accomplish that, he had to rally his team after his three assistant coaches were killed in a train accident two mornings after a 7-7 tie against Alabama. It was a somber game day the following Saturday when Tennessee defeated Houston 17-9, but the Volunteer family had won by rallying around each other to get through the tragedy.

The memory of Bobby Jones is also honored at Baylor.  His widow, Rosemary Jones, established the Bobby Jones Memorial Award shortly after his death.  The award is presented each year to an outstanding senior player from the previous year for leadership on and off the field during the week preceding the Homecoming game. The Baylor coaching staff chooses the recipient.