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Tn Incredible Hulk Vol
This one is just for fun created by
Jerod from superherouniverse.com The University of Tennessee (also
known as UT), sometimes called the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
(UT Knoxville, or UTK) is the flagship institution of the statewide
land-grant University of Tennessee public university system in the
American state of Tennessee. The system is headquartered in Knoxville
and includes campuses in Memphis, Martin, Tullahoma, and Chattanooga.
Additionally, UT-Battelle, a partnership between the university and
the Battelle Memorial Institute, manages Oak Ridge National
Laboratory. Tennessee
Football The Tennessee
Volunteers football team, is the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK),
NCAA division I football team. The team is a member of the
Southeastern Conference. They play their home games at Neyland Stadium
in Knoxville, Tennessee. Their last national championship was in the
1998 college football season.
Currently, Phillip Fulmer is in his 17th year (2008) as head coach of
the Volunteers. On November 3, coach Fulmer announced that he will
retire from coaching at the end of the 2008 season after winning some
150 games at his alma mater
History
Early years
The program's first win would be recorded the following season. On
October 15, 1892 The football team defeated Maryville College in
Maryville, Tennessee by the score of 25-0. Tennessee would compete
their first 5 seasons without a coach. In 1899, J. A. Pierce became
the first head coach of the team. The team had several coaches with
short tenures until Zora G. Clevenger took over in 1911.
In 1921, Shields-Watkins field was built. The new home of the Vols was
named after William S. Shields and his wife Alice Watkins Shields, the
financial backers of the field. The field had bleachers that could
seat 3,200 and had been used for baseball the prior year.
In 1922, the team began to wear orange jerseys for the first time..
Neyland Comes to Tennessee
Robert Neyland took over as head coach in 1926. At the time, Neyland
was an Army Captain and an ROTC instructor at the school.
Interestingly, in the 1929 season at least, his two assistant coaches
(also ROTC instructors) out-ranked him. Former player Nathan Dougherty
who had then become Dean of the school's engineering program and
chairman of athletics made the standard clear: "Even the score with
Vanderbilt."
Neyland quickly surpassed the Nashville school which had been
dominating football in Tennessee. He also scored a surprise upset
victory over heavily favored Alabama in 1928. Neyland captured the
school's first Southern Conference title in 1927, on only his second
year on the job. In 1929, Gene McEver became the football program's
first ever All-America. He led the nation in scoring, and his 130
points still remains as the school record.
In the 1930s, Tennessee saw many more firsts. They played in the New
York City Charity Game on December 5, 1931, the program's first ever
bowl game. They scored a 13-0 victory over New York University, being
led by Herman Hickman. Hickman's performance in the game caught the
eye of Grantland Rice, and Hickman was added to Rice's All American
team. Hickman would later play professionally in New York, for
football's Brooklyn Dodgers. After the 1932 season, Tennessee joined
the Southeastern Conference, setting the stage for years of new
rivalries. Captain Neyland led the Vols to a 76-7-5 record from 1926
to 1934. After the 1934 season, Neyland was called into military
service at Panama. This period saw the Vols rattle off undefeated
streaks of 33, 28 and 14 games.
Neyland Returns
Tennessee struggled to a losing record during Neyland's time in
Panama. He returned to find a rebuilding project in 1936. In 1936 and
1937, the Vols won six games each season. However, in 1938, Neyland's
Vols began one of the more impressive streaks in NCAA football
history. The 1938 Tennessee Volunteers football team won the school's
first National Championship and earned a trip to the Orange Bowl, the
team's first major bowl. They outscored their opponents 283-16. The
1939 regular season was even more impressive. The 1939 team was the
last NCAA team ever to hold their opponents scoreless for an entire
regular season. Surprisingly, the Vols did not earn a national title
that year, but did earn a trip to the famed Rose Bowl. They lost that
game 14-0 to Southern California. The 1940 Vols put together a third
consecutive undefeated regular season. 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. After the 1940 season,
Neyland was again pressed into military service, this time for World
War II. His successor, John Barnhill did well in his absence, going
32-5-2 during the war years of 1941 to 1945. The Vols did not field a
team in 1943 due to the war. This was the last season that the Vols
missed.
Neyland's Final Years
After World War II, Neyland retired from the military. He returned to
Knoxville with the rank of General Officer and led the Vols to more
success. From 1946 to 1952, Neyland's Vols had a record of 54–17–4.
They won conference titles in 1946 and 1951, and National titles in
1950 and 1951. The 1951 team featured Hank Lauricella, that season's
Heisman Trophy runner up, and Doug Atkins, a future college football
and Pro Football Hall of Fame performer. Neyland retired due to poor
health in 1952, and took the position of athletic director. The Vols
would see spotty success for some 40 years after that, but it would be
the late 90's before the Tennessee program had similar winning
percentages.
Post Neyland
Harvey Robinson had the tough task of replacing General Neyland, and
only stuck around for two seasons. Following the 1954 season, Neyland
fired Robinson and replaced him with Bowden Wyatt who had seen success
at Wyoming and Arkansas. Neyland called the move "the hardest thing
I've ever had to do."
Neyland Stadium, named for Robert Neyland.
Wyatt, who had been a hall of fame player for Neyland, struggled at
Tennessee. He won more than 6 games only twice, in 1956 and 1957. The
1956 team did win an SEC Championship, going 10–1, but Wyatt's team
never returned to a bowl game after the 1957 season. Assistant James
McDonald took over for Wyatt in 1963, going 5–5.
Before the 1962 season, on March 28, 1962, General Neyland died in New
Orleans, Louisiana. Shields-Watkins Field was then presented with a
new name: Neyland Stadium. The stadium was dedicated at the 1962
Alabama game, and by that time had expanded to 52,227 seats.
Incidentally, Neyland had a hand in designing the expansion efforts
for the stadium while he was athletic director. His plans were so
forward looking that they were used for every expansion until 1996,
when the stadium was expanded to 102,544 seats.
Dickey and His Three Ts
Doug Dickey, who had been an assistant at Arkansas under Frank
Broyles, replaced McDonald in 1964. Dickey was entrusted with
rebuilding the program, and his six seasons at the school saw
considerable change. Dickey scrapped the single wing formation and
replaced it with the more modern T-Formation offense, in which the
quarterback takes the snap "under center." He also changed the helmets
of the Vols, removing the numbers from the side and replacing them
with a "T." His third change, like the change of the helmets, still
remains today. Dickey worked with the Pride of the Southland Marching
Band to create a unique pregame entrance for the football squad. The
band would open a block T with its base at the locker room tunnel. The
team would then run through the T to the sideline. The T was
reoriented in the 1980s when the locker room was moved behind the
north end zone, and the entrance remains a prized tradition of the
football program.
Dickey had some success in his six seasons as a Vol. He led Tennessee
to a 46–15–4 record and captured SEC titles in 1967 and 1969. The 1967
team was awarded the National Championship by Litkenhous polling.
Bill Battle
Following the 1969 season, Dickey left Tennessee to coach at his alma
mater, the University of Florida. He would later return to Tennessee
as the Athletic Director. Dickey was replaced by Bill Battle. Battle
was a 28 year old coach from Alabama, and was the youngest head coach
in the country at the time that he took over. Battle won at least 10
games in his first three seasons; however, he lost to Auburn in each
of those seasons. Therefore, he did not win a conference title, and
would not do so during his time as head coach.
Majors Moves Home
Johnny Majors won a National Championship at Pittsburgh in 1976, but
decided that the job at Tennessee was too good to pass up. Majors
replaced Battle in 1977, on the heels of two five loss seasons. Majors
would go on to lose his first game as head coach by a score of 27–17
to the University of California in Knoxville. Majors struggled his
first four seasons going 4–7, 5–5–1, 7–5, and 5–6. His teams saw mild
success in 1981, going to the Garden State Bowl and going 8–4; and in
1983 winning the Citrus Bowl and going 9–3.
Majors' 1985 Volunteer squad (9–1–2, 5–1) was one of the most revered
squads. The team won the first conference title since 1969 and earned
a trip to the 1986 Sugar Bowl, where they defeated heavily favored and
2nd ranked Miami Hurricanes, led by Jimmy Johnson, 35–7. The win kept
Miami from a national title and earned the scrappy '85 squad the
nickname: "Sugar Vols."
Majors later led the Vols to a resurgence following their losing
season in 1988. The 1988 Vols lost their first 6 games and went on to
finish with a 5–6 record. The Vols followed that effort with
back-to-back SEC titles in 1989 and 1990. The Vols played on a January
1 bowl game every season in the early 90's under Majors. However, in
the Fall of 1992, Majors suffered heart problems. He missed the early
part of the season. Interim coach Phillip Fulmer took over and scored
upsets over Georgia and Florida. Majors returned and lost three
straight conference games to Arkansas, Alabama, and South Carolina.
The Alabama loss on the Third Saturday in October cut the deepest as
the Vols had lost seven in a row to the Crimson Tide. The
administration decided to make a change after the regular season.
Majors was forced to resign and Fulmer took over before the Hall of
Fame Bowl.
Fulmer
1994 saw a down turn in the record of the Vols, but events shaped the
bright future of the program. Starting quarterback Jerry Colquitt
suffered a season ending knee injury in the first series of the season
against UCLA. Backup Todd Helton suffered a similar fate early in the
fourth game of the year at Mississippi State requiring backups Brandon
Stewart and
Peyton Manning to take action. The following week freshman
quarterback Peyton Manning would take over the controls and not let go
until he departed to the NFL. Manning would be a 4-year starter for
the Vols, and he led them to an 8–4 record in 1994. The next season,
Manning led the Vols to a 41–14 win over Alabama, breaking the long
winless streak. The only loss of the 1995 season was a 62–37 loss to
Florida. The loss to the Gators was the 3rd in a row, and would prove
to be the major hurdle between the Vols and the National title.
The Vols would put together 11–1, 10–2, and 11–2 seasons in the final
three seasons with Manning as quarterback. Manning entered his senior
season as a solid favorite for the Heisman Trophy. The trophy would
eventually be awarded to Charles Woodson of Michigan, setting off an
uproar among the fans. Manning did lead the Vols to an SEC title in
1997, before losing his final game to eventual National Champion
Nebraska.
A Champion and a new era
National Championship.
After 3 seasons with high expectations, the Vols faced a new task.
Tennessee was expected to have a slight fall off after their
conference championship the previous season. They lost QB Peyton
Manning, WR's Marcus Nash and Andy McCullough, and LB Leonard Little
to the NFL. Manning was the first pick overall in the 1998 NFL Draft.
They were also coming off of a 42–17 loss to Nebraska in the Orange
Bowl, and were in the midst of a 5 game losing streak to their rivals
the Florida Gators.
However, the 1998 Tennessee Volunteers football team would prove to
exceed all expectation. Led by new quarterback Tee Martin, All
American linebacker Al Wilson, and Peerless Price, the Vols captured
another National title and would win the first ever BCS Title game
against Florida State. They finished the season 13–0, ending a
remarkable run of 45–5 in 4 years. Those four seasons, the Vols were
led by Fulmer, Offensive Coordinator David Cutcliffe and Defensive
Coordinator John Chavis. Cutcliffe took over at Ole Miss as a head
coach following the 1998 regular season.
Since 1998, the Vols have made three trips to the SEC Championship
Game: 2001, 2004, and 2007. 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. But they would lose to underdog #21 LSU in the SEC Championship
Game. In 2005, the team suffered its first losing season since 1988,
going 5–6, fielding a nationally-ranked defense but an anemic offense.
Cutcliffe returned to the Vols as offensive coordinator before the
2006 season, which reunited the successful group of Fulmer, Chavis and
Cutcliffe. Tennessee rebounded to go 9–3 in the 2006 regular season,
losing two heartbreakers at home to Florida and LSU. This earned a
spot in the 2007 Outback Bowl, where they lost to underdog Penn State,
20–10. The 2007 season was the first in team history in which the
Volunteers allowed 40 or more points in more than one game (3 times).
On January 11, 2008, it was announced that Dave Clawson had been hired
as the new offensive coordinator for the Vols by head coach Phillip
Fulmer. He replaced David Cutcliffe, who moved to Duke University as
head coach. Jonathan Crompton started at quarterback for the first
four games of the 2008 season and went 1–3, after which he was
replaced by sophomore Nick Stephens. BJ Coleman is the third
quarterback on the roster.
Traditions
Smokey
Smokey is the mascot of the University of Tennessee sports teams, both
men's and women's. There is a live blue tick hound mascot, Smokey IX,
which leads the Vols on the field for football games. There is also a
costumed mascot that appears at every Vols game, and has won several
mascot championships.
Smokey was selected as the mascot for Tennessee after a student poll
in 1953. A contest was held by the Pep Club that year. Their desire
was to select a coon hound that was native to Tennessee. At halftime
of the Mississippi State game that season, several hounds were
introduced for voting. "Blue Smokey" was the last, and howled loudly
when introduced. The students cheered and Smokey became the mascot.
The most successful of the live dogs was Smokey VIII who saw a record
of 91–22, two SEC titles and 1 National Championship.
The "T"
The "T" appears two places in Vol tradition. Coach Doug Dickey added
the block letter T onto the side of the helmets in his first season in
1964. Johnny Majors modified the T to a more round look in 1977.
The Volunteers also run through another "T." This T is formed by the
Pride of the Southland marching band with its base at the entrance to
the Tennessee locker room in the North endzone. The team makes a left
turn inside the T and runs toward their bench on the east sideline.
When Coach Dickey brought this tradition to Tennessee in 1965, the
Vols locker room was underneath the West stands. The Vols would run
through that T and turn back to return to their sideline. The locker
room change was made in 1983.
Checkerboard End Zones
Tennessee first sported the famous checkerboard design in the mid
sixties. They brought the design back in 1989. This tradition was also
started by Dickey in 1964, and remained until artificial turf was
installed at Neyland Stadium.
The checkerboard was bordered in orange from 1989 until natural grass
replaced the artificial turf in 1994. The return of natural grass
brought with it the return of the green (or grass colored) border that
exists today.
Orange and White
The Orange and White colors worn by the football team were selected by
Charles Moore, a member of the very first football squad in 1891. They
were from the American Daisy which grew on The Hill, the home of most
of the classrooms at the university.
The Orange is distinct to the school, and has been offered by The Home
Depot for sale as a paint, licensed by the university. The home games
at Neyland Stadium have been described as a "Sea of Orange" due to the
large number of fans wearing the school color.
The color is Spot color PMS 151 as described by the university.[3]
Volunteer Navy
Around 200 or more boats usually park outside Neyland Stadium on the
Tennessee River before games. The fleet was started by former
Tennessee broadcaster George Mooney who parked his boat there first in
1962. Tennessee and the University of Washington are the only schools
with their football stadiums built next to major bodies of water.
Rocky Top
Rocky Top is not the official Tennessee fight song, but is the most
popular in use by the Pride of the Southland Marching Band. The Band
began playing the fight song during the 1970's after it became popular
as a Bluegrass tune by the Osborne Brothers. The fight song is widely
recognized as one of the most hated by opponents in collegiate sports.
Volunteers
The Volunteers (or Vols as it is commonly shortened to) derive that
nickname from the State of Tennessee's nickname. Tennessee is known as
the "Volunteer State," a nickname it earned during the War of 1812, in
which volunteer soldiers from Tennessee played a prominent role,
especially during the Battle of New Orleans.
All-Time Bowl Wins
1. Alabama - 32
2. USC - 31
3. Penn State - 27
4. Tennessee - 26
5. Oklahoma - 24 Hall of Fame
Players
* Gene McEver - Elected 1954
* Beattie Feathers - Elected 1955
* Herman Hickman - Elected 1959
* Bobby Dodd - Elected 1959 (Player) and 1993 (Coach)
* Bob Suffridge - Elected 1961
* Nathan Dougherty - Elected 1967
* George Cafego - Elected 1969
* Bowden Wyatt - Elected 1972 (Player) and 1997 (Coach)
* Hank Lauricella - Elected 1981
* Doug Atkins - Elected 1985
Also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Elected 1975)
* Johnny Majors - Elected 1987
* Bob Johnson - Elected 1989
* Ed Molinski - Elected 1990
* Steve DeLong - Elected 1993
* John Michels - Elected 1996
* Steve Kiner - Elected 1999
* Reggie White - Elected 2002
Also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Elected 2006)
* Frank Emanuel - Elected 2004
* Chip Kell - Elected 2006
Coaches
* Robert Neyland - Elected 1956
* Doug Dickey - Elected 2003
Retired numbers
* 16 - Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts and
Super Bowl XLI MVP.
* 32 - Bill Nowling, former fullback (1940-1942) who was killed in
World War II.
* 49 - Rudy Klarer, former guard (1941-1942) who was killed in World
War II.
* 61 - Willis Tucker, former fullback (1940) who was killed in World
War II.
* 62 - Clyde Fuson, former fullback (1942) who was killed in World War
II.
* 91 - Doug Atkins, former defensive end for the Chicago Bears,
Cleveland Browns, and New Orleans Saints, Member of the College
Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
* 92 - Reggie White, former defensive end for the Philadelphia
Eagles,Carolina Panthers, and Green Bay Packers, Member of the College
Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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