university of Tennessee mourn Chip Kell the VFL of College Football Pass Away at…

university of Tennessee morn Chip Kell the VFL of College Football Pass Away at…

Chip Kell, Tennessee football great and former Southeast Whitfield coach, dies at 75 | Local Sports | dailycitizen.news

During his playing days at Tennessee (1968–1970), Chip Kell was selected three times as an All-SEC player and twice as a consensus All-American. He passed away on May 25, 2024, in Cohutta, Georgia, at the age of 75.

The 21st Vol to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame was Kell in 2006.

Kell arrived at the Vols from Avondale High School in Decatur, Georgia, as a member of the 1966–67 recruiting class. As a sophomore in 1968, he played center, and without skipping a beat, switched to guard in 1969. He was a member of teams that finished 8-2-1 in 1968, 9-2 and the SEC championship in 1969, and 11-1 and the final No. 4 rating in 1970. While he was a varsity player in Tennessee, he and his senior

On Shields-Watkins Field, classmates have never lost; the sole blemish on their record is a 17–17 draw with Georgia in the 1968 season opener. After finishing their tenure at Tennessee on a 10-game winning run and 28-5-1 overall, Kell and his Vol teammates celebrated the end of their careers with a thrilling 34-13 victory over Air Force in the 1971 Sugar Bowl.

In addition to winning the Jacobs Memorial Award twice as the greatest blocker in the SEC, Kell was named the SEC’s most outstanding lineman by the Birmingham Quarterback Club during his senior year. He competed in the Senior Bowl in 1971 as well. Following the 1970 Kentucky game, he was selected national lineman of the week.

Kell was a two-sport standout for the Vols who was also a brilliant shot putter for the Tennessee track squad. In addition to winning the 1968 Indoor title, he also won the 1969 Indoor and Outdoor SEC titles. With a score of 58-7 from 1968, he held the school record in the shot at the end of his career.

His head coach in 1968 and 1969, former UT Director of Athletics Doug Dickey, stated of Chip Kell, “one of the most powerful athletes that I had ever coached at that time.” “He was way ahead of his time in development by use of weight training, and he became a true leader on the football team.”

Following his announcement of being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Kell said, “I owe

everything to God, my family, school and football. It was an honor to play for Coach Dickey and Coach Battle. I owe a great deal to my high school coaches, Lefty Thompson and Calvin Ramsey.”

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