That happened because of the booster and the AD wanting the youngest HC in college football, even tho Majors practically begged for the job when Dickey left. how different would UT have been to have hired an HC that had done well and knew the South. Poor job by Woodruff. But then again as great as Neyland was as a coach as an AD he was not good.
Neyland was AD from 1936-1962 except for War years. Only 1 hire Bowden Wyatt (failure)
Wyatt Interim AD between Neyland and Woodruff. Two hires Ray Mears and Chuck Rowe. Wildly successful.
Woodruff AD from 1963-1985. 2 hires Battle and Majors (1 failure, 1 Success)
Dickey AD from 1985-2002. 1 hire Fulmer (success)
Hamilton AD from 2003-2011. 2 hires BOTH failures
Hart AD from 2011-2017. 1 hire (failure)
Currie AD from 2017- ? . ??????
fyp
HOUSE OF NEYLAND: BOWDEN WYATT WINS 1ST GAME
..."Wyatt's 1st UT team finished 6-3-1, but in 1956 went undefeated, won an SEC championship & played in the Sugar Bowl. Wyatt was also SEC & National Coach of the Year.
One of the greatest victories of Wyatt's coaching career was the win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta in 1956 over former UT great, Bobby Dodd. Going into the game Tech was ranked #2 & UT #3 in the nation.
In 1957, the record was 8-3 with a win in the Gator Bowl.
One of the few coaches to win championships in 3 conferences, Bowden Wyatt posted an overall record of 99-56-5 (0.62%). He is also one of the few to win election to the HALL of FAME as both a coach & player."...
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A little Athletic Director History
Calm job for new athletics director - Knox TN Today
Bowdwn Wyatt also served as the interim Athletic Director after Neyland died and before Bob Woodruff.
Wyatt hired and supported Ray Mears, who elevated Vols basketball to prominence.
Wyatt hired Chuck Rowe as Track & Field coach and gave him a new track and scholarship support, only "a few" SEC and national championships came out of that.
So one could say that Bowden Wyatt was more of a success as an Athletic Director than as a football coach because these two hires expanded the course of Tennessee Volunteer athletics in ways that were supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
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Bowden and my dad were childhood friends, the same age, and played high school football together. Both were alcoholics and it ruined their lives. Before kids under 14 could visit patients at Presbyterian, I would sit in the Ft. Sanders Presbyterian Hospital waiting room while dad would go up to visit when Bowden would get secondary illnesses like pneumonia from the alcoholism. Dad took a few more years on the bottle, then quit alcohol and tobacco...after all the damage was done.
If it weren't for alcohol, and Bowden wanting to continue a few more years with Neyland's Single Wing when college ball started in on the T and throwing a little more (That being why Spurrier went to Florida) he'd of been a good'un.
But he let the bottle wag his tail, like throwing a sports writer in the pool during the 1963 SEC coaches meeting.
UT's administration had already had one coach succumb to the bottle and consequential secondary health issues and embarass Tennessee in the national news when Johnny Majors
had to be replaced.