A disk drive is disclosed including a disk, a head coupled to a distal end of an actuator arm, and a voice coil motor (VCM) operable to rotate the actuator arm about a pivot to actuate the head radially over the disk, wherein the VCM comprises a coil. Control circuitry within the disk drive measures a load resistance of the coil prior to executing a load operation, wherein the load operation moves the actuator arm off a ramp to load the head onto the disk. The load resistance of the coil is then converted into an initial coil temperature estimate.