1. Robert Reese Neyland was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general.
24 Facts About Robert Neyland
1. 2.
Robert Neyland served three stints as the head football coach at the University of Tennessee from 1926 to 1934,1936 to 1940, and 1946 to 1952.
3.
Robert Neyland 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.
4.
Robert Neyland is often referred to as one of the best, if not the best, defensive football coaches ever.
5.
In 1938 and 1939, Robert Neyland's Vols set NCAA records when they shut out 17 straight regular season opponents for 71 consecutive shutout quarters.
6.
Robert Neyland is credited with being the first coach to utilize sideline telephones and game film to study opponents.
7.
Robert Neyland's teams were some of the first to wear lightweight pads and tearaway jerseys.
8.
Robert Neyland is famous for creating the seven "Game Maxims" of football that many coaches, on all levels, still use.
9.
Robert Neyland was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1956.
10.
On November 12,2010, a 9-foot, nearly 1,500-pound bronze statue of General Robert Neyland was unveiled between gates 15A and 17 at Robert Neyland Stadium.
11.
Since Robert Neyland is portrayed in the kneeling position rather than standing, the statue is 9 feet tall.
12.
At West Point, Robert 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.
13.
Robert Neyland 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 for a graduate degree in engineering before to returning to West Point as aide-de-camp to Superintendent Douglas MacArthur.
14.
Robert Neyland coached the team for nine years before the Army called him to active duty for one year in Panama.
15.
Robert Neyland completed another undefeated regular season in 1940 before falling in the Sugar Bowl to Boston College.
16.
Robert Neyland was recalled to military service again in 1941.
17.
In fall 1942, Robert 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.
18.
In World War II, Robert 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.
19.
Robert Neyland retired from military service a second time, in 1946, with the rank of brigadier general, and again returned to the Vols as coach through 1952.
20.
Robert Neyland was vindicated as he ended his career with a flourish.
21.
Robert Neyland remained as athletic director at the university until his death in New Orleans on March 28,1962.
22.
On July 16,1923, Robert Neyland married Ada "Peggy" Fitch of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
23.
In late 1961, Robert Neyland began working on a plan for supporters of UT athletic teams to show their interest in UT's academic programs by offering scholarships to attract outstanding student scholars to the university.
24.
General Robert Neyland himself was an outstanding scholar, as well as an athlete during his college days at West Point.