Gen. Robert R. Neyland 06.Qxd
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2006 GUIDE GEN. ROBERT R. NEYLAND Gen. Robert R. Neyland General Robert Reese Neyland Trophy Honorees Feb. 17, 1892 - March 28, 1962 The history and tradition of Tennessee football began under the In 1967, the Knoxville Quarterback Club, tutelage of Gen. Robert Reese Neyland, a member of the College seeking a way to honor Gen. Neyland’s memo- Football Hall of Fame. Neyland came to Tennessee as an ROTC ry, established the Robert R. Neyland Memorial instructor and backfield coach in 1925 and was named head foot- Trophy. This award is given annually by the ball coach in 1926. From that date, Tennessee was in the college Club to an outstanding man who has con- football business to stay. tributed greatly to intercollegiate athletics. The Neyland’s 1939 Vol team was the last to shut out each of its reg- first presentation in 1967 included the man ular season opponents. Over the course of his career, 112 of his 216 opponents failed to score against his Tennessee teams. Tennessee who hired Gen. Neyland in 1926 and his first still holds an NCAA record for holding opponents scoreless 71 con- All-America lineman, who later became head secutive quarters. coach at Yale. The permanent trophy is dis- Neyland’s teams won Southern Conference Championships in played in the Tennessee Hall of Fame Exhibit in 1927 and 1932, piling up undefeated streaks of 33 and 28 games the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center. along the way, and SEC Championships in 1938, 1939, 1940, 1946 and 1951. In addition Neyland-coached teams won four national 1967 - Nathan W. Dougherty, Tennessee championships. The Vols were consensus national champions in 1951, won the Dunkel, Litkenhous, Boand, 1967 - Herman Hickman, Yale Houlgate and Poling National Championships in 1938, the Dunkel and Williamson crowns in 1940 and the 1968 - Wallace Wade, Alabama DeVold and Dunkel crowns in 1950. 1969 - Bobby Dodd, Georgia Tech It was Gene McEver who kicked off the 1970 - John Barnhill, Arkansas GENERAL NEYLAND’S Neyland era with his 98-yard return of the open- ing kickoff in the 1928 Alabama game, a game 1971 - Jess Neely, Rice MAXIMS OF FOOTBALL 1972 - John Vaught, Mississippi the underdog Vols won 15-13. Each of his suc- ceeding eras would be highlighted by similar 1973 - Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma 1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win. big plays: Johnny Butler’s 56-yard run against 1974 - Fritz Crisler, Michigan 2. Play for and make the breaks and when one comes your Alabama in 1939 and Lauricella’s 75-yard run . 1975 - Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, California way - SCORE against Texas in the 1951 Cotton Bowl. 1976 - John McKay, Southern California 3. If at first the game - or the breaks - go against you, don’t Neyland’s 21-year record at Tennessee was 1977 - Darrell Royal, Texas let up...put on more steam. 173 wins, 31 losses and 12 ties. 1978 - Ralph “Shug” Jordan, Auburn 4. Protect our kickers, our QB, our lead and our ball game. Neyland, who came to Tennessee as an 5. Ball, oskie, cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang 1979 - Frank Broyles, Arkansas WINNING EDGE. Army captain and left as a brigadier general, tackle... for this is the 1980 - Bob Devaney, Nebraska brought one of the most efficient single-wing 6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are offenses in the country to go with an 1981 - Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame made. unyielding defense. He was brought to the 1982 - Bill Murray, Duke 7. Carry the fight to our opponent and keep it there for 60 head coaching position by Dean Nathan 1983 - Paul “Bear” Bryant, Alabama minutes. Dougherty with a simple injunction: “Do 1984 - Woody Hayes, Ohio State something about the series with 1985 - Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State Vanderbilt.” 1986 - Bob Woodruff, Tennessee After Neyland’s death in 1962, the University 1987 - Charles McClendon, Louisiana State established the Robert R. Neyland Scholarship, academic scholarships awarded to non-athletes, 1988 - LaVell Edwards, Brigham Young many of whom are National Merit Scholars. The endowment for these scholarships now exceeds $1.5 million and 124 students have been the beneficiary of the awards. 1989 - Vince Dooley, Georgia The thoroughfare behind the stadium’s South end, once called the river road, is now named Neyland Drive. 1990 - Bo Schembechler, Michigan More recently, the Vol football complex on campus was named for Neyland and Knoxville businessman B. Ray 1991 - Murray Warmath, Minnesota Thompson. 1992 - Bobby Bowden, Florida State 1993 - Grant Teaff, Baylor 1994 - Jerry Claiborne, Kentucky IS IT NEE-land or NAY-land? 1995 - Dan Devine, Notre Dame There has been continuing controversy over the pronunciation of the name N-E-Y-L-A-N-D. Here’s the true 1996 - Hayden Fry, Iowa story. Charles Brakebill, former UT Vice-President for Development, was a part of the Neyland Scholarship pro- 1997 - Terry Donahue, UCLA gram when it was begun after Gen. Neyland’s death. 1998 - Lou Holtz, Notre Dame That’s when Brakebill said he learned a lesson about the Neyland name and how to pronounce it. He had 1999 - Eddie Robinson, Grambling apparently called the General’s wife, Peg, “Mrs. NAY-land.” “She stood up and raised her knee and said ‘Mr. 2000 - Tom Osborne, Nebraska Brakebill, first thing let’s do is get my name straight.’ She hit her knee about three times and said, ‘It’s NEE- 2001 - Doug Dickey, Tennessee land, just like my knee.’ That stuck in my mind.” 2002 - Gene Stallings, Alabama 2003 - John Majors, Pittsburgh 2004 - John Gaglidardi, St. John’s (Minn.) 2005 - Barry Switzer, Oklahoma GEN. ROBERT R. NEYLAND 2006 - John Cooper, Ohio State UTSports.com.