General Neyland Stories

#1
G

GoodlettsvilleVol

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#1
Post your favorite ones here.

I am deeply saddened by the fact that, due to the time expanse, I cannot sit down with someone who can relate from memory old stories from the Neyland era.

That would be something.
 
#3
#3
Florida 16 is the only positive memory i can remember in my adult life. idk, i saw us beat alabama in 06 when i was 10 years old.
 
#4
#4
Florida 98 and Arkansas 98 are the most memorable for me in person. I rushed the field for Florida and still have turf and the ticket in a ziplock bag. I started leaving the stadium when we did not convert on 4th down before the Stoerner fumble. I was so loaded off. The crowd erupted and me and my buddy ran back into the stands and squeezed in with complete strangers. We watched the final drive and TD.
 
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#5
#5
Oh he was great. He'd call em' oskies, and talk about steam. It always cracked me up. He loved practical jokes, (invented the upper decker) and had cool nicknames for all the boys, before Chris Berman, I was Truffle Pig, always with a face full of dirt...then there was Gimlet ass, Ragamuffin, and Ol' Crinkle Cut. He'd call Beattie, "Beady Davis Eyes", even wrote that song.
 
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#6
#6
1990 vs Florida. Sat in the upper deck around the 30 yard line with my family as a 12 year old. The most dominant performance I have seen live and my family wanted to leave at the end of the third quarter to beat traffic. I won the battle and was able to watch Us all do the gator chomp with the band playing that song and also watch Spurrier not shake hands because he was so pissed. Special time...
 
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#7
#7
SDV said:
Florida 98 and Arkansas 98 are the most memorable for me in person. I rushed the field for Florida and still have turf and the ticket in a ziplock bag. I started leaving the stadium when we did not convert on 4th down before the Stoerner fumble. I was so loaded off. The crowd erupted and me and my buddy ran back into the stands and squeezed in with complete strangers. We watched the final drive and TD.
Click to expand...

Came here to post almost exactly the same thing. Best two games I had ever been too and I had been going to almost every game since about 89' or so.
 
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#9
#9
Found some video of Neyland in the Penny Farthing bike race back in the day....that old whippersnapper gave it heck that day.

 
#11
#11
1985 Auburn game. AU was ranked #1 in the country with eventual Heisman trophy winner Bo Jackson and expected to win big. The Vols had a relative unknown Tony Robinson at quarterback. We took control of the game early and held on for a convincing win in Knoxville. My wife and I will never forget that day and that game. Neyland was rocking!
 
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#12
#12
2015 Tennessee Vs UGA. I went with my dad and his best friend, that dude is a pretty much like an uncle to me. We began drinking at The Goalpost Tavern around 9AM and didn't stop until 3. We headed towards Neyland and got to our seats. UGA was waxing us in the first half, and I thought that we were in for a long night. Tennessee went into the locker room down by 7 I believe, and we were talking to some fans sitting around us about our 2nd half thoughts. There was an odd gust of wind that kind of blew across the upper deck on a somewhat calm and non windy day, and it felt like everything changed. Tennessee ended up winning in the 2nd half and I'll never forget in our excitement, the looks on the UGA fans faces sitting behind us and my dad's best friend egging it on that we won. High fives all around from everyone in the section and we went home happy.
 
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#13
#13
Luckily I’ve got quite a few good memories of watching/attending games in Neyland. Sadly, only God knows when we will see it again.

I mean, it’s kinda mind blowing to think where I was in life the last time we beat Bama.
 
#14
#14
1982 over Bama! I was 8 years old but understood the magnitude of that win. I still remember my much older brother crying he was so happy.
 
#16
#16
My favorite thing about General Neyland was what he meant to Tennessee Football. And what Tennessee Football meant to the University. And what the University meant to the city of Knoxville and the state of TN.

Now the city thinks they did it all on their own, the university doesn't need the program, and General Neyland is just a statue.
 
#18
#18
I can actually say that I've been out on the practice field right alongside General Neyland. He was athletic director at the time but very much took part in the practices. He would be out on the field shouting encouragements just like the coaches . I believe this was about 1955 during the Bowden Wyatt era. Back then they had a fan day where they would let fans out on the field right alongside players and coaches. You could participate and see everything close up. Enjoyed being out there as a kid and not many people can say they have been with General Neyland at practice.
 
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#19
#19
There are some good books on the General.
Unless your in the upper 70's, doubtful there
are many on here - that old - your out of luck.
The late Larry Fleming (Chatt Times - Dalton
Dailey Citizen) said UT Fans have to quit living
in the past. All he got email wise - in his later
days were people wanting stuff on the General.
He said, if you were around Coach Majors, he
was just a milder version of Neyland.
 
#22
#22
One weird thing that I think I recall is the 100 Years of Volunteers set though it had a lot of good Neyland stories and stories from people who played and knew him, it didn't have any audio or film from the coach himself just stills.

When I arrived at UT Coach Cafego was still around though not on staff. I would give anything if I could have sat down and heard his stories. Dr. Kozar was there and I always planned to seek him out but never quite made it happen.

Coach Majors' passing really brought home that an era was passing.
 
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#24
#24
For years, General Neyland was chairman of the college football rules committee—from the mid-fifties until his death in 1962.

There was a time in the late fifties when Ray Eliot, former Illinois coach who spoke up as the General was about to adjourn a rules committee meeting. (The President of the American Football Coaches Association was invited to the Rules Committee meeting as a courtesy, but he did not have a vote.)

"General," Eliot said, "I come here representing the 5,000 plus members of the American Football Coaches Association who overwhelmingly support unlimited substitution and you are not even going to put the subject on the agenda?"

With that, the General looked around the room and asked for a show of hands of those who like to see free substitution discussed. A few hands, were raised, sheepishly.

The General then asked, "All opposed." With that, Neyland grabbed Davey Nelson's hand and raised it along with his and said: "I can see there is not sufficient interest in discussing chicken (expletive) football. This meeting is adjourned."
 
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