Kell way ahead of his time

Photo by Joe Raymond

Chip Kell waves during the College Football Hall of Fame enshrinement parade Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Former University of Tennessee offensive lineman Chip Kell will forever be remembered as a player ahead of his time.

But Kell, a two-time All-American and three-time All-SEC performer from 1968-70 while the Vols went 28-5-1, made his entrance into the College Football Hall of Fame at just the right time.

Kell, 58, was enshrined Saturday night in a star-studded induction class that included Florida running back Emmitt Smith, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, Heisman Trophy winners Mike Rozier and Charlie Ward, Virginia Tech defensive lineman Bruce Smith and Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps.

“This is the highlight of my career, I’ll tell you that for sure,’’ said Kell, who led the Vols to the 1969 SEC championship. “This is like going to football heaven, only its real life.

“It’s just one outstanding class, all tremendous people. This is very humbling.’’

Some 40 years ago it was Kell who did the humbling as a powerful incoming freshman at UT out of Georgia.

“Chip was an unusually strong player at an early age as he was one of the early players to use weight training,’’ said former UT athletic director and football coach Doug Dickey, who recruited and coached Kell. “You could count on us running Curt Watson behind him in short yardage situations, and you knew they were going forward.’’

Kell won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the SEC’s most outstanding lineman on two occasions and was a finalist for the 1970 Lombardi Award. He’s one of only four Vols to earn consensus first-team All-American honors twice, playing center and right guard.

“Chip was perfect from a pad leverage and speed standpoint,’’ said UT coach Phillip Fulmer, who played alongside Kell. “Chip has always been one of the guys I’ve had in mind as an example when coaching players.

“I remember we had lots of drills against each other. Sometimes it went OK for me, and sometimes it was not much fun at all.’’

Kell, who will be the interim football coach at Tennessee Temple in Chattanooga this season, chuckles when asked about his strength advantage.

“My dad was a high school coach, and he had me lifting weights when I was 8 years old,’’ Kell said. “I was bench pressing 400 pounds in high school.’’

Back then, Fulmer said, 300 was considered a benchmark for lineman, most of whom weighed fewer than 250 pounds.

Former UT quarterback Bobby Scott said he remembers Kell as a pretty nice guy with teammates and off the field.

“But teams didn’t want to get him mad between the lines,’’ Scott said. “I remember one time before an Alabama game, this ’Bama nosetackle was quoted in a Birmingham newspaper saying Chip was too big and too slow to handle him.

“We told Chip about it, and he was mad. He went out there that Saturday and just buried the guy all day long.’’

Some of Kell’s favorite moments at UT were wins over his home-state schools of Georgia and Georgia Tech, along with the Vols’ 1969 SEC title march.

The Decatur, Ga., native was also a track champion with the Vols from 1967-70. Kell won the SEC outdoor shot put title in 1969-70, and his Georgia high school shot put record of 66 feet, 7 inches still stands.

Kell was drafted in the 17th round of the 1971 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers and played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL in 1971 and 1972.

He’s the 21st UT representative inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, which has fewer than 900 members.

“Chip’s a guy I will never forget playing with,’’ Fulmer said. “A lot of times he knocked two guys down on one play.’’