Hall of Fame
Dr. Guy M. Francis served as the team doctor for over 30 years, beginning in 1944. He was part of the Campbell Clinic staff and became the official team physician in 1967.
A noted surgeon, Francis was a graduate of Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and earned his M.D. Degree from Baylor University School of Medicine in Waco, Texas. Francis completed his internship and four years of residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, La.
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Below is from the 1985 UTC Football Media Guide written by Roy Exum of the News Free Press.
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Nobody in the history of football, UT-Chattanooga, or medicine could possibly be more deserving, but the simple truth is Guy M. Francis would have hated this.
Dr. Francis, who for 30 years served as the team physician for all UTC sports and who grew to love the Moc athletes just as much as his own children, died early this summer after a lengthy bout with cancer and this year's UTC Football Media Guide is dedicated to his memory.
Yet, the honest truth of the matter is the ever-so-kind gentleman who endeared himself to countless thousands of students - would have disliked all this because it just wasn't the doctor's style.
You see, Dr. Francis was always on the sidelines, encouraging the players when not tending to a lump or a bruise, but was always towards the back of the crowd. His height enabled him to see over the biggest lineman and he found the conversation not so intense back there. But it was more than that.
Maybe it was growing up on that prairie farm in Texas where there weren't many people. Or perhaps those early years of medicine during the war when he delivered countless babies and set all those broken bones in addition to being an outstanding surgeon ... Dr. Francis just never was one to stand in the spotlight.
But he was always there, whether it be a football game in the rain or basketball in the snow. He was forever showing up at practice be it in the hot August sun or in the hot wrestling room.
And it may be he was at his best when he would diagnose it was spirit and soul that needed healing worse than muscle and sinew. One-on-one, the doctor couldn't be touched.
But this dedication he wouldn't have liked, despite the fact all who knew him love it.
Because all of us knew him loved him.
