All for Tennessee
Fansided

Ranking all 6 Tennessee football head coaches who played for Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

ATHENS, GA - OCTOBER 9: Head coach Phillip Fulmer of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on during warmups before the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 9, 2004 in Athens, Georgia. Tennessee won 19-14. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA - OCTOBER 9: Head coach Phillip Fulmer of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on during warmups before the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 9, 2004 in Athens, Georgia. Tennessee won 19-14. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
Fan Day
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

Before Harvey Robinson followed Robert Neyland, John Barnhill was there to follow Neyland. And Barnhill deserves a ton of credit. He had to follow Neyland and guide Tennessee football through the height of World War II.

As a player, Barnhill played M.B. Banks’s final season as head coach, going 5-2-2, and then Neyland’s first two seasons, on teams that went 8-1 and 8-0-1, the latter of whom won the Southern Conference, which he was a captain on. He then was an assistant from 1931 to 1940, helping Neyland turn the Vols into a national program.

When Barnhill took over in 1941, Neyland had enjoyed three straight undefeated regular seasons, two SEC Championships, and what remains the most historic run in school history. But Barnhill held his own, going 8-2, 9-1-1, 7-1-1 and 8-1 with a Sugar Bowl win, a Rose Bowl appearance, two top 20 finishes and a top 10 finish in 1942.

Oh, and he had to deal with the cancellation of the 1943 team. He could be higher on this list with his overall record. The only reason we have him down here is because he never won any championships, and while he inherited a difficult situation, so did every other college football coach in the SEC at the time.

Home/Vols Football