Dewey Warren (born May 7, 1945) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team and the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. Warren was nicknamed "The Swamp Rat" due to his early years growing up near the marshlands of the Vernon River in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

College career

In three seasons with Warren as the starting quarterback of the Tennessee Volunteers, their record was 19-6. He was the first UT quarterback to pass for more than a 1,000 yards in a season. During his sophomore season, he led the Vols to a win against the Rose Bowl-bound

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

and a berth in the

Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 1959 ...

. Before Warren took over as quarterback, Tennessee's single-season records were 75 passing attempts, 36 completions (by

Johnny Majors John Terrill Majors (May 21, 1935June 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and college coach. A standout halfback at the University of Tennessee, he was an All-American in 1956 and a two-time winner of the Southeastern Confe ...

in the 1950s), and 552 yards. Under coach

Doug Dickey Douglas Adair Dickey (born June 24, 1932) is an American former college football player and coach and college athletics administrator. Dickey is a South Dakota native who was raised in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida, where ...

's wide-open T-formation offense, in 1966, Warren threw 229 passes with 136 completions and 1,716 yards. Warren led Tennessee to an 8-3 record in that transformational 1966 season, followed by an 18-12 win over

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in the 1966

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

, for which he was named the game's MVP. The following year, the Vols went 9-2, won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

championship and were recognized by Litkenhous as national champions before a 26-24 loss to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

. He finished eighth in the voting for the 1967

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

. Warren ended his UT career with 3,357 yards passing and 27 touchdowns.

Professional career

Warren was selected in the sixth round (155th overall) of the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft. He spent one season with the American Football League's

in the team's expansion year, playing in seven games in 1968 and starting three. Sharing time with Bengals quarterbacks

John Stofa John Carl Stofa (June 29, 1942 – April 23, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Early life John Stofa was born in Johnstown, Penns ...

and

Sam Wyche Samuel David Wyche (; January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020) was an American football quarterback and coach. He was a quarterback and head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and a quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. As head coach, he ...

, Warren completed 47 passes in 80 attempts (58.8 percent) for 506 yards and one touchdown. In 1969, Warren played for the

Las Vegas Cowboys The Las Vegas Cowboys were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their roots can be traced to the independent Quad City Raiders, who joined the new Professional Football League of America as the Rock Island Raiders in 1 ...

of the Continental Football League.

Coaching

Warren coached at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, Tennessee, and the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...

. Warren was instrumental in revolutionizing

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

under

LaVell Edwards Reuben LaVell Edwards (October 11, 1930 – December 29, 2016) was an American football head coach for Brigham Young University (BYU). With 257 career victories, he ranks as one of the most successful college football coaches of all time. Among ...

at Brigham Young. Edwards, who had spent his career as a defensive coach, became

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

in 1972; he knew that BYU lacked the blue-chip athletes necessary to win consistently with a conventional run-oriented game, so handed the offense to Warren, who had been hired to install a passing attack. Warren's offense turned every running play into a passing play, and overwhelmed defenses with four and five receivers, coming from every possible position in the offense. Although Warren left BYU after only two seasons, his offense, led by quarterback Gary Sheide, was already setting records. BYU continues to use his offense, with further refinements, today.

Personal

Warren is now the host of a sports talk radio show in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

, where he lives, and also plays in charity golf tournaments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Dewey 1945 births Living people American football quarterbacks American Football League players BYU Cougars football coaches Cincinnati Bengals players Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Sewanee Tigers football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football players Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Savannah, Georgia

College career

Professional career

Coaching

Personal

See also

References