He is one of two college football coaches to have won national titles in two non-consecutive tenures at the same school, along with Frank Leahy of the University of Notre Dame.

Sports Illustrated named Neyland as the defensive coordinator of its all-century college football team in its "Best of the 20th Century" edition.

In 1938 and 1939, Neyland's Vols set NCAA records when they shut out 17 straight regular season opponents for 71 consecutive shutout quarters.

Born in Greenville, Texas, Neyland attended Burleson Junior College in his home town for a year.

[3] He transferred to Texas A&M University for a year before receiving an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York from Congressman Sam Rayburn.

At West Point, Neyland starred as a lineman in football and a pitcher in baseball, throwing the program's first no-hitter and was the academy boxing champion three consecutive years.

He was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers and served in France during World War I.

After the war, he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a graduate degree in engineering before to returning to West Point as aide-de-camp to Superintendent Douglas MacArthur.

[6] Wanting to continue coaching, Captain Neyland was appointed Professor of Military Science at the University of Tennessee (UT) in 1925.

Banks, Neyland was named head coach and athletic director by school president Nathan W. Dougherty in 1926.

[14] In fall 1942, Neyland was appointed as head coach of an Eastern All-Army team that took on National Football League clubs to raise money for the Army Emergency Relief fund.

[15] The Eastern All-Army played three games, defeating the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers,[16][17] but lost to the defending NFL champion Chicago Bears.

[19] In World War II, Neyland served in the China-Burma-India Theater, supervising the transportation of material 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.

[24] Shortly before his death, Neyland drew up plans for a major expansion and renovation to the Vols' home stadium, Shields–Watkins Field.