By CHRIS LOW
Tennessean Staff Writer
To those who've lived and breathed Tennessee athletics, Haywood Harris is nothing short of a walking Vol Encyclopedia.
To those who've had the pleasure of knowing Harris, he's the quintessential gentleman. Few people have been intertwined as closely with UT athletics the last 50 years as Harris.
''He had a wonderful insight into the University of Tennessee and what fans wanted to know and what we needed to say,'' said Doug Dickey, former head football coach and athletics director at Tennessee.
Harris was hired as sports information director in 1961 by Gen. Robert Neyland and has carried the banner for the Vols with a graceful passion ever since.
Last Friday, Harris, 75, was in Nashville to be inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Fittingly, five others with UT ties also went into the Hall at the same time — Darwin Bond, Richmond Flowers, Bill Justus, Ed Murphey and the late Petie Siler.
Harris, still serving UT as a consultant to Athletics Director Mike Hamilton, was already a member of the Knoxville Sports and CoSIDA halls of fame.
''I grew up a Tennessee fan,'' said Harris, who's from Maryville. ''It has been a pleasure to be a part of helping make others lifelong Tennessee fans. It's been a joy doing what I've loved all my life.''
Harris was much more than just a sports information director.
He was a confidant and advisor to everyone from former head basketball coach Ray Mears, to former athletics director Bob Woodruff, to former Pride of the Southland Band director Dr. W. J. Julian.
''To say he was an outstanding sports information director does not begin to total up the many avenues that Haywood led the university down,'' said former Voice of the Vols John Ward, one of Harris' closest friends.
''His impact on Tennessee athletics was much broader than simply being a publicity contact for national and regional media, of which he was probably the best. He was that person, when decisions were being made that would shape the athletic department, that somebody would say, 'See what Haywood thinks about that.' ''
Harris and fellow UT icon Gus Manning recently co-authored a book, Six Seasons Remembered: The National Championship Years of Tennessee Football. Manning, who was Neyland's sports information director, also remains a very visible part of UT athletics.
If the Vols play, he's there.
In giving a speech some 20 years ago, Ward was asked to name the five most influential people in the growth of UT athletics. In no particular order, he reeled off former Tennessean sports writer F.M. Williams, former Board of Trustees member Tom Elam, as well as Dickey, Mears and Woodruff.
''But as a caveat, I pointed out that I didn't want to leave out Haywood and Gus,'' Ward said. ''It's hard not to think of those two together and the wide-ranging influence they've had on the many traditions Tennessee fans hold so dear to their heart today.''