History of Tennessee Volunteers football
Soon after the Athletic Association's decision, W. B. Stokely, a UT senior who transferred from Wake Forest University, persuaded a group of students to form a team in the fall of 1894.
Even though the institution chose not to be represented officially on the gridiron in 1894, Stokely and his unofficial team kept football interest alive during this period when almost certainly it otherwise would have been allowed to lapse completely.
Tennessee played on Waite Field during these days, on the southeast corner of 15th street and Cumberland avenue, where the Walters Life Science Building now stands.
The 1902 team scored on rival Vanderbilt for the first time, and also featured halfback Tootsie Douglas, who booted a 109-yard punt (the field length was 110 yards in those days) in a blizzard, against John Heisman's Clemson Tigers.
The team included All-Southerns end Goat Carroll, tackle Farmer Kelly, guard Mush Kerr and fullback Rus Lindsay.
Longtime Georgia Tech football coach Bobby Dodd led Tennessee at quarterback to back-to-back unbeaten seasons with identical 9–0–1 records his sophomore and junior years in 1928 and 1929.
During Dodd's tenure, the Vols went 33 games without a loss until an 18–6 setback against national champion Alabama in 1930, which ranks as the longest unbeaten streak in UT history.
After the 1932 season, Tennessee joined the newly formed Southeastern Conference, setting the stage for decades of new and now storied rivalries with such teams like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt.
It caused Neyland to say of Fred Crawford, the first first-team All-American from the state of North Carolina: "He gave the finest exhibition of tackle play I have ever seen.
The Vols were without the services of tailback George Cafego, who would finish fourth in the Heisman voting and be the top pick in the NFL draft, due to a knee injury.
That team earned a national title from two minor polls, and received the school's first bid to the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to Boston College.
The 1950 season included what would prove to be the highest profile matchup between the South's two biggest coaching legends: General Neyland and Paul "Bear" Bryant, then at Kentucky.
In the final minutes of a legendary defensive struggle, UT was backed up just ahead of their own goal line, but star tailback and future head coach Johnny Majors took a direct snap and booted a roughly 70-yard punt deep into Yellow Jacket territory to seal the win.
This move was in part prompted by the fact that the single wing was by then a relatively rare offense and top high school players did not necessarily want to play in it.
The team lost only one game, regrouped after losing the services of Heisman trophy contending quarterback Tony Robinson for the season, and won their first conference title since 1969.
The Big Orange earned a trip to the 1986 Sugar Bowl, where they defeated the heavily favored and 2nd-ranked Miami Hurricanes, coached by Jimmy Johnson, 35–7.
The 2001 team beat then head coach Steve Spurrier and Florida in the Swamp 34–32, moving them up to #2 in most polls and giving them a shot at the BCS title game in the Rose Bowl vs Miami.
The Vols' defense did considerably better than expected with help from seniors Xavier Mitchell, Antonio Reynolds, and Jerod Mayo, and also from freshman Eric Berry.
[22][23] On November 3, 2008, under pressure, head coach Phillip Fulmer announced that he would be stepping down from his position at the end of the season after a winning total of 152 games at his alma mater.
Jim Chaney was also announced as the Vols' new offensive coordinator replacing Dave Clawson, who took the head coaching job at Bowling Green.
[33] Expectations for the Vols entering 2010 were relatively low in part because of having a third head coach in two years, a young and lacking offensive line, and an unresolved QB issue just weeks before the season began.
After Tennessee was soundly beaten by South Carolina 38–24, Dooley named true freshman QB Tyler Bray as starter for the next game against Memphis.
The aftermath of UT's bowl loss to UNC resulted in the NCAA applying the same rule as the NFL when it comes to too many players on the field as time expires.
[37] In his inaugural season at UT, Jones stressed the importance of rebuilding the football program itself, as well as the culture at Tennessee, and providing much-needed coaching stability for the Vols.
[40] The Vols then finished the regular season strong, starting when Joshua Dobbs replaced the injured Justin Worley as QB and led the team back from a 14-point deficit at South Carolina with roughly 5 minutes left in regulation.
The first half was terrible for Tennessee as the offense struggled to move the ball effectively and Florida had no trouble finding the end zone.
The Vols and Aggies stayed locked up after the first OT, but Joshua Dobbs threw a bad interception in the second to seal the deal for Texas A&M.
Opening with wins against old rival Georgia Tech and Indiana St., Tennessee returned to Gainesville seemingly with momentum against the Gators and hoping to erase the embarrassing choke from two years prior.
Two weeks later, following an uninspired 17–13 win over winless UMass, the Vols were shut out at Neyland Stadium for the first time in 23 years with an embarrassing 41–0 loss to the surging (and eventual playoff bound) Georgia Bulldogs.
[55] Though the allegations were regarded as hearsay in court testimony, writers questioned Currie's decision to bring Schiano's background to the school in light of the university's recent Title IX lawsuit settlements the year prior.
