General Neyland vs Bear Byrant

Don't attribute nonsense (and rather awful nonsense at that) to me and I'm cool. I will correct you if you're going to do that, and I'd expect you to do the same if the roles were reversed.

You're frazzled on this subject and can't seem to concede even obvious points. You could argue that Bryant was better without trying to make us believe that Bryant had a tougher road to hoe than a coach returning from war. This makes you seem silly and trite...more than usual. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
1901 Michigan held every opponent scoreless. So did 1919 TAMU, '37 Duke and several others.

The statement usually made is that Tennessee is the most recent team to complete a regular season unbeaten, untied and not a single score by an opponent.

Others have done it too. Tennessee will likely hold the record as latest (1939) forever. Given how the game has changed.
 
The statement usually made is that Tennessee is the most recent team to complete a regular season unbeaten, untied and not a single score by an opponent.

Others have done it too. Tennessee will likely hold the record as latest (1939) forever. Given how the game has changed.

There is no doubt that Tennessee will be the last team to do it. It will never happen again. Heck, there have only been two teams that have held opponents to less than 10 points per game in the past decade. No one will even sniff a clean sheet for an entire season.
 
Both were as good as anyone else that has done it to this point.

I think Neyland would be looked at different nationally had he coached 30+ years.

If you wear Crimson its Bryant. If you wear Orange its Neyland.
 
Last edited:
So, do you think he'd prefer Adidas or Nike? :p


For a West Point man like Neyland, I doubt if either one would have been sufficiently traditionalist for him. On the other hand, taking Wallace Wade's comments at face value, the General would have done whatever was necessary, within the boundaries of the rules, to maintain a competitive advantage. And that might tilt the arrow in the direction of the swoosh symbol.
 
I agree with that. It's also worth saying that if Jones turns UT completely around, it would be an even more significant sign of his coaching prowess than if he'd taken over a decent situation.

Spurrier gets praise not only for what he did at UF, but for dragging programs like Duke and USCe out of the cellar.


Spurrier did not drag South Carolina "out of the cellar." His immediate predecessor, Lou Holtz, accomplished that task. "USC won just a single game the year before Holtz's arrival and, subsequently, went 0–11 in his inaugural campaign. It didn't take long for Holtz to improve the Gamecocks' fortunes, however, as he engineered 8–4 and 9–3 records in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In addition, USC won consecutive Outback Bowls over Ohio State and produced the most successful two-year run in program history (at the time), going 17–7 overall and 10–6 in SEC play. The 2000 and 2001 campaigns also saw USC's return to the polls, as the Gamecocks turned in No. 19 and No. 13 rankings in the Final AP ballots for those years. After consecutive 5–7 finishes in 2002 and 2003 (in which the team was ranked in the Top 25 during both seasons), Holtz ended his USC tenure on a winning note with a 6–5 record in 2004 before retiring again. Holtz finished with a 33–37 overall record at South Carolina, going 33–26 after his first season" (South Carolina Gamecocks football - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Spurrier inherited a program that was on much firmer footing than the one that "Granny" assumed control of in 1999. To his credit, however, Spurrier took the Chicken Nation to unprecedented heights.
 
The freshmen who played in Year One of Whitworth's youth movement won two games and were shut out in half their games in Year Three. There would be no Year Four.


Until someone more thoroughly plumbs the depths of absolute failure, I will consider Bryant's immediate predecessor at Alabama as proof positive that Derek Dooley was not the worst coach of all-time in the SEC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Seven years is a lotta years for "just getting started." You'd a thunk that if ole Bear was all that and a pack of gum, too, he'd have figured out how to beat the old has-been General at least once in all those seven years.

Now to be fair Bryant did tie Neyland twice.

Many have said that a tie game is like kissing your sister. For a future Bama coach, kissing your sister is a win win situation ! Those two ties are probably what got him hired at Bama to begin with. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Fulmer never built a program like the General did.

Nobody built a program like Neyland did. Heck, he even designed the stadium so it could be expanded to the point in which it now sits.

If you are one of those whiners who continually attacks Fulmer (1st ballot HOF), use something else. No one today stacks up to what Neyland did. It was different era.
 
Last edited:
Nobody built a program like Neyland did. Heck, he even designed the stadium so it could be expanded to the point in which it now sits.

If you are one of those whiners who continually attacks Fulmer (1st ballot HOF), use something else. No one today stacks up to what Neyland did. It was different era.

There was a post on here: Neyland>Fulmer. That post received a LOL. Help me to remember where Fulmer coached after being fired from UT. Losing programs need a coach that had built a program. That was missing from Fulmer's resume.
 
Weakest argument against a HOF coach that I have ever seen. He was 58 yrs old and UT owed him $6,000,000. He didn't have to pursue any other jobs.

Why the hatred for the 2nd best coach in UT history?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Weakest argument against a HOF coach that I have ever seen. He was 58 yrs old and UT owed him $6,000,000. He didn't have to pursue any other jobs.

Why the hatred for the 2nd best coach in UT history?

Don't hate him at all. Just not a believer that he was that good of a coach, I.e., 2001, 2005, 2008. his winning percentage in his first eight years compared to his last eight was dramatically different.
 
Tennessee's winning percentage from 2001-2008 was .667 (68-34) which was good for 21st best in the nation. During those 8 years, Tennessee played in 6 January bowls, finished the year in top 25 5 times, top 20 4 times, and top 5 once (#4 in 2001, one of the years you detested so much), and played in 3 SEC Championship Games. Vols finished 1st or 2nd in the SEC East 4 of those 8 years.

Yeah, I can see why you hate the guy so much.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
Tennessee's winning percentage from 2001-2008 was .667 (68-34) which was good for 21st best in the nation. During those 8 years, Tennessee played in 6 January bowls, finished the year in top 25 5 times, top 20 4 times, and top 5 once (#4 in 2001, one of the years you detested so much), and played in 3 SEC Championship Games. Vols finished 1st or 2nd in the SEC East 4 of those 8 years.

Yeah, I can see why you hate the guy so much.

It is all about your competition. What was his record against Spurrier, Meyer, Richt, and Saban? This program is now in the longest drought of winning SEC Championships since joining the SEC in 1933. That drought began with Fulmer. He was responsible for the first 9 years of our 16 year drought.

In comparison, his predecessor won SEC Championships in two of the last three years before Fulmer took over. It still took Fulmer 5 years before he won his first SEC Championship.
 
Last edited:
So much failure in this thread. Bamawriter being the dbag that he always is. Vol fans arguing with eachother about insignificant details...and morons dumping on Fulmer...who is a first ballot hall of fame coach that won about 4 games for every 1 that he lost and gave us a national championship. Smdh.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 people
It is all about your competition. What was his record against Spurrier, Meyer, Richt, and Saban? This program is now in the longest drought of winning SEC Championships since joining the SEC in 1933. That drought began with Fulmer. He was responsible for the first 9 years of our 16 year drought.

In comparison, his predecessor won SEC Championships in two of the last three years before Fulmer took over. It still took Fulmer 5 years before he won his first SEC Championship.

The irony is that you had to start counting that 16 year drought beginning the year after Fulmer brought home the National Championship crystal football. Something his predecessor never accomplished.

I'm not here to argue with you, you ask some interesting questions (I would like to see Fulmer's record against Meyer, Saban, and Richt ... we know he was abysmal vs Spurrier). I just found the irony amusing. "Here, let me just shove this national championship off to one side so I can start counting up how awful Phil Fulmer was. 1 ... 2 ..."

[for the record: I love both Majors and Fulmer, think both are awesome VFLs and beloved head coaches of the UT program]
 
Last edited:
Fulmer was 11-5 vs Alabama not including the tie that was thrown out because Alabama had been cheating.....again.
 
The irony is that you had to start counting that 16 year drought beginning the year after Fulmer brought home the National Championship crystal football. Something his predecessor never accomplished.

I'm not here to argue with you, you ask some interesting questions (I would like to see Fulmer's record against Meyer, Saban, and Richt ... we know he was abysmal vs Spurrier). I just found the irony amusing.

[for the record: I love both Majors and Fulmer, think both are awesome VFLs and beloved head coaches of the UT program]

Wait, he did beat Saban once in 2001 with Kelly Washington. He only played Meyer 3 times losing all 3 games and he might have beat Richt twice in eight years. Considering that, he just had better talent that the other teams he faced.

I think Fulmer was a good coach but do not see where he is in the same category as a Neyland, and that is my point.
 
Advertisement





Back
Top