Before arriving on The Flats in 1931, Dodd played his college football at the University of Tennessee despite always wanting to play for the Yellow Jackets. He would go onto have a great career in Knoxville, a career that would eventually allow him to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Once Dodd graduated from Tennessee, he wanted to start his coaching career and for him, there was only one place he was going to coach, Georgia Tech. In 1931, he would take over on The Flats an assistant coach, a position he would remain at until 1944.