Joe Lee Dunn, who is in the UTC Mocs Hall of Fame as a player and, a former coach, has died at 75.
He was a Little All-American defensive back for the Mocs from 1965-67. He also served as an assistant coach on three Southern Conference Championship teams in the 1970s.
In 1965, he set punt and kickoff return records. He returned 27 punts for 292 yards and 20 kickoffs for 415 yards. He led the Mocs with 555 rushing yards and also had five interceptions on defense.
He was a co-captain.
Dunn had a long career as a collegiate assistant coach and defensive coordinator. He was on Joe Morrison’s staff at UTC from 1971-79, then had stints at New Mexico, South Carolina, Memphis, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State and New Mexico State. He was head coach of the Lobos (1983-86) and the Rebels (1994), compiling a 21-37 career record.
Dunn was a defensive coordinator for Ole Miss for two years before serving one season as head coach. His Ole Miss team in 1994 went 4-7 and had a 2-6 conference record.
He was defensive coordinator at Arkansas for a year before joining Mississippi State. He was there from 1996 to 2002.
Known for his aggressive style on defense, he is credited with inventing the attacking 3-3-5 defensive scheme.