Neyland, "Bob" (Robert R. III)
Football
b. Feb. 17, 1892, Greenville, TX
d. March 28, 1962
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.
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."
A career Army officer, Neyland graduated from West Point in 1916 and served in Europe during World War I. He arrived at Tennessee in 1925 as an assistant football coach and ROTC instructor. He became head coach in 1926. During much of his career at the school, he was involved in work for the Tennessee Valley Authority as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers.
Success came quickly. His first team won 8 of 9 games and the next three were undefeated, though each was tied once. In 1930, his fifth season, Tennessee won 9 of 10 games. During that period, the school went 33 consecutive games without a loss. Neyland also produced unbeaten teams in 1938, 1939, 1940, and 1951, when Tennessee won the national championship.
Neyland missed the 1935 season because of Army duty and he served overseas during World War II. He retired after the 1952 season. Four of his players, Bobby Dodd, Murray Warmath, Bob Woodruff, and Bowden Wyatt, became Hall of Fame coaches.