Tennessee Volunteers Football Wiki, Championships, Records, and More

Publish date: 2024-07-31

Tennessee Volunteers Football: The University of Tennessee is represented by its football team, the Tennessee Volunteers. They have been to bowl games 52 times and won 28 of them. They have won four Sugar Bowls, three Cotton Bowls, an Orange Bowl, a Peach Bowl, and a Fiesta Bowl, among others. In their history, they have won 16 conference titles and six national titles, including two from the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll in 1951 and 1998.

The Vols play at Neyland Stadium on the campus of the university in Knoxville. Tennessee has won 464 games there, which is more than any other college football team has won at its current home field. Also, with 102,455 seats, Neyland is the fifth largest stadium in the country and the second largest in the Southeastern Conference.

Championships

National Championships

YearCoachSelectorsRecordBowlOpponentResultFinal APFinal Coaches
1938Robert NeylandBerryman, Billingsley, Boand, Dunkel, College Football Researchers Association, Houlgate, Litkenhous, Poling, Sagarin, Sagarin (ELO-Chess)11–0OrangeOklahomaW 17–0No. 2
1940Dunkel, Williamson10–1SugarBoston CollegeL 13–19No. 4
1950Billingsley, DeVold, Dunkel, Football Research, National Championship Foundation, Sagarin (ELO-Chess)11–1CottonTexasW 20–14No. 4No. 3
1951Associated Press, Litkenhous, United Press International (coaches), Williamson10–1SugarMarylandL 13–28No. 1No. 1
1967Doug DickeyLitkenhous9–2OrangeOklahomaL 24–26No. 2No. 2
1998Phillip FulmerAssociated Press, BCS, FW, National Football Foundation, USA Today13–0Fiesta (BCS National Championship Game)Florida StateW 23–16No. 1No. 1

Conference Championships

YearConferenceCoachOverall recordConference record
1914SIAAZora G. Clevenger9–05–0
1927SoConRobert Neyland8–0–15–0–1
19329–0–17–0–1
1938SEC11–07–0
193910–16–0
194010–16–0
19469–25–0
195110–15–0
1956Bowden Wyatt10–16–0
1967Doug Dickey9–26–0
19699–25-1
1985Johnny Majors9–1–25–1
198911–16–1
19909–2–25–1–1
1997Phillip Fulmer11–27–1
199813–08–0

Division Championships

YearDivision ChampionshipOpponentResult
1997SEC EastAuburnW 30–29
1998Mississippi StateW 24–14
2001LSUL 20–31
2003N/A lost in a tiebreaker to Georgia
2004AuburnL 28–38
2007LSUL 14–21

Head coaches

Since its first game in 1891, Tennessee has had 24 head coaches. Robert Neyland has coached for the most years and won the most games. He has 173 wins in 21 years (spread out over three stints). John Barnhill has won .846 percent of the games he has coached, which is more than anyone else who has coached more than one game. With a .306 winning percentage, James DePree has the worst record of all coaches who have run more than one game. Neyland, Wyatt, Dickey, Majors, and Fulmer have all been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. They are five of the 23 head coaches who have led the Volunteers.

Bowl games

SeasonCoachBowlOpponentResult
2004Phillip FulmerCotton Bowl ClassicTexas A&MW 38–7
2006Phillip FulmerOutback BowlPenn StateL 10–20
2007Phillip FulmerOutback BowlWisconsinW 21–17
2009Lane KiffinChick-fil-A BowlVirginia TechL 14–37
2010Derek DooleyMusic City BowlNorth CarolinaL 27–30 2OT
2014Butch JonesTaxSlayer BowlIowaW 45–28
2015Butch JonesOutback BowlNorthwesternW 45–6
2016Butch JonesMusic City BowlNebraskaW 38–24
2019Jeremy PruittGator BowlIndianaW 23–22
2021Josh HeupelMusic City BowlPurdueL 45–48

Rivalries

The Alabama Crimson Tide, the Florida Gators, and the Vanderbilt Commodores are the Vols’ three main rivals. Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee have also been rivals for a long time and for a long time. Since 1992, when the SEC made the Eastern Division, the Tennessee Vols and the Georgia Bulldogs have become more and more of a rivalry. None of their games have trophies, but from 1925 to 1999, Kentucky and Tennessee played for a trophy called the Beer Barrel. From 1985 to 2010, Tennessee won 26 straight games against Kentucky. On November 26, 2011, Kentucky beat Tennessee 10–7 in Lexington, putting an end to the streak. Before Georgia Tech left the SEC, the Volunteers’ biggest rivals were the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Auburn Tigers, and Ole Miss. Realignment forced them to drop Auburn and Ole Miss from their schedule.

All-time record

As of 2017, Tennessee is ranked thirteenth by the percentage of wins and ninth by the number of wins. The best score ever is 830–375–53, which is.682. The Vols have a record of 464–127–17 at Neyland Stadium (.777).

The University Athletic Association keeps the official records for the UT football season. They have won 13 conference titles and six national titles over the course of their history. Their last national title came in 1998 when they played college football.

The Vols play at Neyland Stadium, where Tennessee has won 464 games, the most of any college football team in the country at its current home field. Also, with 102,455 seats, Neyland is the fifth largest stadium in the United States.

Retired Players

No.PlayerPositionTenureRetired
91Doug AtkinsDE–19522005
16Peyton ManningQB1995–19972005
92Reggie WhiteDE1980–19832005
62Clyde FusonFB19422006
49Rudy KlarerG1941–19422006
32Billy NowlingFB1940–19422006
61Willis TuckerFB1939–19402006
45Johnny MajorsHB1954–19562012

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