How would you rank the greatest Coaches in Tennessee Football History?

How would you rank the greatest Coaches in Tennessee Football History?

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#1
V

Volosaurus rex

Doctorate in Volology
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#1
As we begin the sacred ninth month of the calendar year, it is almost time to put aside historical threads as we prepare for the week-to-week microanalysis of the upcoming season. I would like to propose for your consideration the following question, which, surprisingly, does not appear, based on archival searches, to have been the subject of previous threads: How would you rank the greatest Coaches in Tennessee Football History?

Personally, I believe that four men comprise the top tier of Tennessee coaches. They are, listed in chronological order, Robert Neyland, Doug Dickey, Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer. John Barnhill, Bowden Wyatt and Bill Battle earned “Honorable Mention” status, while all other head coaches either failed outright or served tenures too short to warrant further consideration. I understand that the Fulmer vs. Majors schism tends to promote, ahem, spirited debate, so let’s keep our remarks respectful. After all, each of the four nominees has been inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame as either a player or coach. They all deserve our respect and appreciation for their contributions to our football program and beloved university.

In order to keep this original post to manageable length, I will post statistical synopses for each of the nominees in separate, subsequent posts.
 
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#4
#4
Volosaurus rex said:
I understand that the Fulmer vs. Majors schism tends to promote, ahem, spirited debate, so let’s keep our remarks respectful. After all, each of the four nominees has been inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame as either a player or coach. They all deserve our respect and appreciation for their contributions to our football program and beloved university.
Click to expand...

Get ready to experience disappointment.
 
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#11
#11
I put Fulmer ahead of Majors because of the national championship and his overall record, but it was a tough call. Majors rebuilt the program from the ground up, but it took him over a decade to do so. Fulmer hit the ground running by inheriting a successful program with some of the best talent in the nation and took it to another level.
 
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#13
#13
jackaro said:
I put Fulmer ahead of Majors because of the national championship and his overall record, but it was a tough call. Majors rebuilt the program from the ground up, but it took him over a decade to do so. Fulmer hit the ground running by inheriting a successful program with some of the best talent in the nation and took it to another level.
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Run! It's a trap!
 
#14
#14
OK , I picked the wrong dot . Was watching espn and messed up . Neyland , Fulmer ,Majors.

Battle had his " Condredge " moments as well .
 
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#16
#16
Robert Neyland (1926-1934, 1936-1940, and 1946-1952).

Overall Record: 173–31–12 (.829 winning percentage). 106 of those victories were by shutout. Record for Neyland’s first seven years (1926-1932): 61-2-5. Conference Record: 103–17–10 (.831 winning pct.). Conference Championships: 7. Southern Conference championships: 2 (1927, 1932). Southeastern Conference championships: 5 (1938-1940, 1946, 1951). National Championships: 4 (1938, 1940, 1950 and 1951).

With respect to national championships claimed by Tennessee for the Neyland era, it should be noted that the Writers’ Poll (AP) did not exist prior to 1936 and the Coaches’ Poll was first published by the UPI in 1950. Prior to that, national championships were determined concurrently or retroactively by math-based services. The specific selectors that recognized Neyland-coached Tennessee teams as national champions for the following years are listed below:

1938: CFRA, Dunkel, Billingsley, CFI, Litkenhous, Boand, Houlgate, Poling, NSFR, Frye, Massy, Koger, McCarty, Libby, Maxwell, Sagarin, Howell.

1940: Dunkel, Williamson.

1950: National Championship Foundation, Billingsley, CFRA, Massy, Dunkel, DeVold, CFI, Frye, Fleming System, Howell, Maxwell, Sorensen.

1951: AP, UPI.

Bowl Record: 2-5.

Record vs. Alabama: 12-5-2 (2-1 vs. Wallace Wade and 6-3-1 vs. Frank Thomas. These men established Alabama’s reputation as a regional and national power. They were legitimately credited with four national championships [1925, 1926, 1930 and 1934], but Neyland held a decisive advantage of 8-4-1 over them during their tenures at Alabama).

Record vs. Florida: 6-0. Record vs. Bear Bryant (Kentucky): 5-0-2. Record vs. Wallace Wade (Duke): 7-3-2. Yes, Duke was a formidable foe under Wade’s direction, particularly from 1938-1941. Record vs. Vanderbilt: 16-3-2 (6-1-2 vs. Dan McGugin). Neyland was hired with the directive to “even the score with Vanderbilt.” He more than accomplished that task, setting in motion a program that, from 1926-2014, holds a commanding 72-12-3 lead in the series.

Top Ten Poll Finishes: 7. Top Five Poll Finishes: 5 (1938-1940, 1950-1951).

Miscellaneous Accomplishments: Neyland’s “1939 squad is notable for being the last college football team to go an entire regular season unscored upon, shutting out every opponent. . . [He posted] six undefeated seasons, nine undefeated regular seasons . . . and reeled off undefeated streaks of 33, 28, 23, 19, and 14 games” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Neyland) .

From 1926-1952, the years that bracketed Neyland's career, Tennessee was the winningest program in the country, both in terms of absolute wins and winning percentage (I-A Winning Percentage 1926-1952).

Inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956.
 
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#17
#17
Serious question . How many of the folks voting in this poll actually are old enough to have watched/listened to Holloway play ?
 
#19
#19
beachbums624 said:
Serious question . How many of the folks voting in this poll actually are old enough to have watched/listened to Holloway play ?
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I didn't vote in any poll, but I was 5 his senior year. I don't remember him playing. The first Tennessee QB I can remember is Jimmy Streater.
 
#21
#21
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
I didn't vote in any poll, but I was 5 his senior year. I don't remember him playing. The first Tennessee QB I can remember is Jimmy Streater.
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Oh I was just 11 , was not a " call out " or anything . Just saying there have been some great Tennessee teams , that get less than the utmost respect .

But I do remember those games . Thanks John Ward .
 
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