Hank Lauricella number 27, and General Robert Neyland watch Tennessee from the sidelines after Lauricella set up the classical first score with an electrifying 75-yard gallop to the Texas five-yard line. Tennessee wins in this classic Cotton Bowl by beating Texas 20-14 in 1951.
Nathan Dougherty, considered by many to be the founding father of UT Athletics. Nathan Dougherty, an associate professor of Civil Engineering, was named interim chairman of the University's Athletics Council in 1917 and held this "temporary" position for the next 39 years. During this time, he designed Shields-Watkins Field, helped create the Southeastern Conference, and hired a football coach whose own name would become synonymous with UT football--Robert Reese Neyland.
Robert Reese Neyland (February 17, 1892 - March 28, 1962 in Knox County, Tennessee) was an American football coach and also served the U.S. Army, reaching the rank of Brigadier General. He is one of the few college football head coaches to have non-consecutive tenure at the same school.
Born in Greenville, Texas Neyland was appointed to West Point by Congressman Sam Rayburn, graduating in 1916. One of the greatest athletes of his day, he was a star football lineman, baseball pitcher, and national collegiate boxing champion. He was commissioned as an officer in the Corps of Engineers and served in France during World War I. After the war he served as an aide to Douglas MacArthur, who was then superintendent at West Point, and became an assistant football coach for the Black Knights of the Hudson.
Wanting to continue coaching, Captain Neyland was appointed Professor of Military Science at the University of Tennessee. After one season as an assistant to head coach M. B. Banks, Neyland was named football head coach and Athletic director by President Nathan W. Dougherty in 1926. He coached the team for nine years before the Army called him to active duty for one year in Panama. Upon returning to Tennessee from the Panama Canal Zone he retired from the military in favor of coaching.
He coached unbeaten Volunteer teams in 1938 and 1939, before being recalled to military service again in 1941. In World War II Neyland served in the China-Burma-India Theater, supervising the transportation of materiel through monsoons and across the Himalayas to the troops commanded by General "Vinegar" Joe Stillwell. During his military career he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit and made a member of the Order of the British Empire. He retired from military service a second time, in 1946, with the rank of brigadier general, and again returned to the Volunteers as coach through 1952. He led them to an national championship in 1951. He then served as athletic director at the university until his death.
Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee is not only named after "The General", but was designed by him. His plans included all expansions that have brought the stadium to its modern size today.
He remains the all-time winningest coach in Volunteer history with 173 wins in 213 games, 7 Southeastern Conference championships, and 4 national championships. Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee is not only named for "The General", but was designed by him. His plans included all expansions that have brought the stadium to its modern size.
General Neyland was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (as a coach) in 1956.
Playing career and education
Neyland attended Burleson Junior College in his home town of Greenville, Texas for a year and then transferred to Texas A&M playing football a year before receiving an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he starred as a football lineman and baseball pitcher. The National League baseball New York Giants offered him a $3,500 contract, which he turned down. Instead, Neyland served briefly overseas in World War I, then returned returning to get his engineering degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then moving to West Point as aide-de-camp to Superintendent Douglas MacArthur.
Family
On July 16, 1923, Neyland married Ada "Peggy" Fitch (September 1, 1897 in Michigan - March 7, 1976) of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had met while she was visiting friends at the Academy. Ada was the daughter of Charles Lewis Fitch (July 24, 1845 in Michigan - ?) and Mary S. (June 1853 in New York - ?). They had two sons, Robert, Jr., born February 11, 1930, and Lewis, born December 6, 1933. Gen. Neyland was the son of lawyer Robert Reece Neyland, Sr. (October 1859 - ?) and Pauline Lewis (January 1861 - ?). His siblings were sister Carroll M. Neyland (January 1890 - ?) and brother Mayo W. Neyland (March 1896 - ?). Both Gen. Neyland and Ada are buried in Knoxville National Cemetery.
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IS IT NEE-land or NAY-land?
There has been continuing controversy over the pronunciation of the name N-E-Y-L-A-N-D. Here's the true story. Charles Brakebill, now UT's vice-president for development, was part of the Neyland Scholarship program when it was begun after Gen. Neyland's death.
That's when Brakebill said he learned a lesson about the Neyland name and how to pronounce it. He had apparently called the General's wife, Peggy, "Mrs. NAY-land." "She stood up and raised her knee and said 'Mr. Brakebill, first thing let's do is get my name straight.' She hit her knee about three times and said, 'It's NEE-land, just like my knee.' That stuck in my mind."
Robert Neyland Scholarship Fund
Several months prior to his death, General Neyland began working on a plan for supporters of UT athletic teams to show their interest in UT's academic programs by offering scholarships to attract outstanding student scholars to the University. General Neyland himself was an outstanding scholar, as well as an athlete during his college days at West Point. It was the General's dream that the University offer four-year academic merit scholarships to students who possessed outstanding academic and leadership qualities.
Following Neyland's death, Dr. Andrew D. Holt, then UT president, announced that a nationwide campaign would be launched to raise a minimum of $100,000 to establish the Robert R. Neyland Scholarship Fund. In October 1962, at half-time of the UT vs. Alabama game, 165 women representing UT's sororities collected more than $10,000 in a 15-minute time period at Neyland Stadium to launch the effort. By the end of fall 1962, more than $65,000 had been committed to the Neyland Scholarship fund. In the spring of 1963, a decision was made that proceeds from the annual Orange and White spring football game would go to help build the Neyland Scholarship Fund.
The first Neyland Scholarships were awarded in 1963. The first two recipients were Melissa Ann Baker of Maryville, Tennessee (now Mrs. Ann Baker Furrow, a former member of the UT Board of Trustees) and Mr. Robert English Allen of Columbia, Tennessee. Neyland History page
Robert Neyland Photos
Photos Are By: Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tennessean, AP and the University Of Tennessee.
21 years, 4 National Championships, 7 SEC Championships
173
31
12
Total: 173-31-12
His total winning percentage record is: .829
National Champion Conference Champion Career Total Stats Regular Season Results
Source: Wikipedia 2009
Seven Maxims of Football
During the 1930s, Neyland began having his teams recite seven sentences that he felt summarized everything it took to win a game. These came to be known as "the Seven Maxims of Football," or "the Seven Game Maxims." To this day, Vol teams still recite them in the locker room before every game. Just click on banner below...
SUMMARY
By Gabe Correa - Smokey's Trail
April 30, 2009
"He was the Father of Modern Football"
Neyland: The Man and the Legend
Robert Neyland - Narrated by Lindsey Nelson, Video By James Boofer, Producer for WDEF News 12 in Chattanooga, Tennessee
"People think I'm the greatest damn coach in the world," said the great Bear Bryant, "but Neyland taught me everything I know."
The Bear coached against Bob Neyland's Tennessee teams seven times and never beat him. "I never beat him," he said, "but I learned a lot from playing him."
General Robert Neyland was the architect responisble for building the University of Tennessee football program. Hired in 1926 with the sole task to "beat Vanderbilt", General Neyland transformed the fledgling Tennessee football program into the winning organization rich with tradition that Vol fans enjoy today.
In 1969, football's centennial year, Neyland finished second only to Knute Rockne as the greatest college coach in a poll of coaches. He coached 21 seasons, all at the University of Tennessee, winning 173 games while losing only 31 and tying 12. His .829 winning percentage is fifth all-time.
In Neylands first 7 years, 1926-1932, he lost one game in 1926, one game in 1930 and had one tie each of the other 5 years for a cumulative record of 61-2-5 (93.4%). The 3 consecutive and 5 out of 6 undefeated seasons is unmatched in the history of any current SEC team.
Neyland's teams owned much of their success to defense. He once explained that an offense can score only three ways, while a defense can score in four ways, on an interception, a fumble, a blocked kick, or a kick return. He added, "The psychological shock of being scored on in any of those ways is so profound that a team so scored on rarely is able to rally for victory."
Before coming to coach at Tennessee, the Texas-born Neyland was a cadet studying engineering at West Point. During this time, Neyland was an all-around athlete who could rival Jim Thorpe. He played end on the 1914 and 1915 Army football teams (winning the National Championship in 1914), won twenty straight games pitching for the baseball team (defeating Navy four times), and won the heavyweight boxing title three years in a row. To this day, he is still considered to be the greatest athlete to ever come out of West Point. He would later return to West Point in 1921 as an assistant adjutant and assistant coach in football, baseball, and basketball. He also served as aide-de-camp to Academy Superintendent General Douglas MacArthur.
Although hired by the University of Tennessee in 1926, he was still in active duty with the military. The General earned his Army rank, first by being sent to the Mexican border, and then in France during World War I. Duty would call Neyland to interrupt his coaching career again in 1935 to serve in the Panama Canal. After a short retirement from the service, he was called to duty once more when World War II broke out. Neyland finished his military service with the rank of Brigadier General. He was awarded the Legion of Merit with two clusters and the Distinguished Service Medal from the United States, the Chinese Cloud and Banner, and the British Knight Commander.
After winning the National Championship in 1951, The General stepped down from the head coaching position and served as UT's Athletic Director until his death in 1962. As AD, he laid out plans for expanding Tennessee's football stadium, which would grow from 3,200 at the time Neyland came to UT to over 100,000 after it's final expansion in 2000. The stadium, now one of the largest in America, is named in his honor.
SUPERLATIVES
Elected to College Football Hall of Fame (1956)
Won 4 National Championships (1951, 1950, 1940, 1938)
First to coach in all 4 major bowls (Orange, Rose, Sugar, Cotton)
Holds NCAA records for consecutive shutouts (17) and consecutive shutout quarters (71)
Lost only 1 home game in 21 years
Never coached a losing season
Never had a losing record to any team he faced more than once
Never lost to Bear Bryant
INNOVATIONS
The Quarterback position (as it is used today)
The balanced line Single Wing offense
In-depth scouting/recruiting reports
State-wide radio network
Press box spotters
Sideline telephones
Low-cut shoes
Lightweight pads
Tear-away jerseys
Gus Manning Remembers General Neyland
General Robert Neyland statue unveiled at Neyland Stadium
By Lydia X. McCoy
Nov. 12, 2010
When the University of Tennessee Vols reach the end of their traditional Vol Walk for today's homecoming game, they will be greeted for the first time by the man who put the program on the map - Brig. Gen. Robert Neyland.
On Friday, the University of Tennessee unveiled a statue of Neyland, who became the Vols' head coach in 1926 - a position he held for 21 seasons, in and around two interruptions for military service - and made the Vols the winningest team in the nation during his run. Helping to unveil the statue that was installed but remained covered since Wednesday evening, was Neyland's son, Robert Neyland Jr.
"The Neyland family is experiencing a lot of emotion at this time, including pride and joy. But most of all the strongest emotion is gratitude," Neyland said. He said the large statue, which is double life-sized, reminded him of when he and his brother, Lewis, misbehaved. "When we did, we incurred dad's discipline. Now as I look at that statue I think that when we did ... to us he was every bit as big," Neyland said.
Neyland, who was known for his discipline on and off the field, had nine undefeated teams in 21 seasons, took the Vols to seven bowl games, won seven Southern titles, one national championship and turned out more football proteges than any other coach. His record was 173 wins, 31 losses and 12 ties. When he retired in 1952, he became UT's athletic director, the position he still held at the time of his death in 1962.
Neyland's statue, which resides at the stadium that bears his name between gates 15A and 17, was constructed by artist Blair Buswell and depicts Neyland in a kneeling position. The statue stands 9 feet tall, weighs about 1,500 pounds, and features on its concrete base his famous seven game maxims engraved into the precast. Its cost was $385,000.
UT's athletic director Mike Hamilton said the detail Buswell put into the statue produced the right representation of Neyland. Of the $125 million spent on stadium renovations to date, he added, the statue was the cherry on the top of the project.
Bob Neyland Jr, son of Coach Robert Neyland is in the black suit with a orange tie far right, Gus Manning, UT Athletics Dept., and Hank Lauricella, former UT football player, unveil a statue depicting Robert Neyland, UT's winningest football coach and former athletic director, on Friday, Nov. 12, 2010. The statue, done by Utah artist Blair Buswell, is located between gates 15 and 17 at Neyland Stadium. [Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess]
"To me this was one of the most important pieces to recognize the man who's name is on the stadium, and to have it done in such a professional and beautiful way is inspiring to all of us," he said. Surrounding the statue as it was unveiled were some of Neyland's former players, including many from the 1951 championship team, students and other Vols fans. "I'm a little scared standing in front of him. I'm afraid he might jump out of it," said Jim Haslam, who played for Neyland, with a chuckle. "I tell you if General Neyland were still here today, I'd still be nervous. It's a wonderful replica of the man who is Tennesee football."
Hank Lauricella, who played for Neyland for four seasons and was a Heisman Trophy runner-up, said the statue is a good resemblence of Neyland. "It does the job. You know it's not him, but it's close enough that all you have to do is look at it and you say, 'That's him,'" he said. "It's thrilling to know that it's not going to be pictures anymore; it's going to be something for generations and generations. It's there for good now."
While the day centered around Neyland's accomplishments on the football field, Army Master Sgt. Mike Dougherty, UT's senior military instructor, was thinking about the general's service to his country. A 1916 graduate of West Point, Neyland served in France during World War I. Following the war, he served as an aide to Gen. Douglas MacArthur. After nine seasons coaching the Vols, Neyland was dispatched by the Army to the Panama Canal Zone in 1935.
A year later he retired from the Army and returned to Knoxville to coach the football team. In 1941, with the U.S. involved in World War II, Neyland was called back into service. He spent the war years in Norfolk, Va., Dallas, China and India, rising to the rank of brigadier general. He returned to the Vols in 1946. "He's one of us. He started off as an ROTC instructor, so anything dealing with Gen. Neyland is important to us because it's part our history, part of our lineage," Dougherty said.
Dougherty said he believes part of Neyland's success was because of his military background and that having a statue on campus personalizes the man for whom the stadium was named.
"I think the civilians, who don't have that military background, now they get an idea of who the individual is and what this is all about," he said. "If anything it'll drive them to learn a little bit more about what he was."
General Robert Neyland
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General Robert Neyland Speech
