Honestly, it’s almost a curse to become the best coach in a major Tennessee Vols sport. This weekend will mark the eight-year anniversary of Pat Summitt, the greatest coach in UT history, stepping down due to dementia. It also comes amidst the COVID-19 quarantine.
Taking all that into account, we figured we’d look at the history of elite coaches on Rocky Top who were forced into early retirement due to health reasons. Our research helped us discover that the greatest coach in the school’s three major sports, Tennessee football, Tennessee basketball and Tennessee women’s basketball all retired early due to health reasons.