Born 122 years ago today. 173-31-12 (Including a 5 year hiatus in his prime to serve in WWII) at UT. 112 of his victories came via shutout. In 1938 and 1939, Neyland's Vols set NCAA records when they shut out 17 straight opponents for 71 consecutive shutout quarters. His '39 squad is the last NCAA team in history to hold every regular season opponent scoreless. [youtube]2npWUiMUIgY[/youtube]
112 shut out games? OK, that is insane. I remember seeing the plaque in the Alumni Gym showing the record of the 1939 team, but damn, that is a lot of shut outs. As a UT fan, I see others get more praise and our team get shit on (and I know his is not rational, but just seems how most people feel about their teams), and so it always seems to me that Neyland is not a house hold name like Rockne, Bryant, Paterno, Saba...Saba..ugh cannot say it, etc. I wonder how the outside world views him vs the other giants of College Football?
It makes me extremely angry to hear fans say how great a coach Fulmer is and they have no idea about Robert Reese Neyland. It pisses me off to no end that whiny [itch bay] [ddiapos] was able to grace the sidelines that Neyland did.
His teams were machines on offensive. I still ues his blocking scheme. They'd run the same play about four hundred times in a week