Tennessee football: Ranking 10 Vols coaches from other Power Five schools

The man who initially built Tennessee football into a national power and reset expectations for the program belongs at No. 3 on this list. Before there was the SEC, before there were All-Americans, and before there were bowl games, Zora G. Clevenger was leading UT. Heck, when he took over, Neyland Stadium hadn’t been built yet, and orange wasn’t the school color.

Clevenger came to Rocky Top with a Nebraska connection, just like his successor John R. Bender. He had coached Nebraska Wesleyan for three years to a 2-8-3 record. So he was grossly underqualified for this job. Before that, he played for the Indiana Hoosiers from 1900 to 1903.

In 1911, Clevenger took over for Lex Stone, who had gone 3-5-1 the year before. Expectations for the program were low. But Clevenger, after a 3-4-2 season, began to turn things around. He went 4-4 in 1912 and 6-3 in 1913, their first winning season in 1908. That year, the Vols lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores, whom they had still never beaten, by one point.

Then 1914 came, and the fruits of Clevenger’s labor had been revealed. The Vols had their first undefeated season in school history, going 9-0. They won the SIAA title, their first conference championship. And they beat Vanderbilt for the first time in school history. He stumbled to 4-4 his final year in 1915, but Clevenger’s success with that year really elevates him in UT lore.