Disney: Mickey Mouse Era (1928-1937)
Tennessee: Robert Neyland’s first stint (1926-1934)
The start of the Mickey Mouse era is what we all really remember as the takeoff of the Walt Disney Company. And that also holds true for Robert Neyland with Tennessee football. After all, Shields Watkins Field is now Neyland Stadium, and Mickey Mouse is the Disney logo.
So it makes sense that the two would be part of similar eras. After getting cheated out of “Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit” because of a legal loophole that didn’t allow Disney to own it, he had to create another character when the Oswald character moved to a different company. That character was Mickey Mouse.
Meanwhile, when Banks left in 1925, Robert Neyland was hired to “beat Vanderbilt.” As Mickey Mouse took off for Disney, so did Neyland for the Vols. He lost to Vanderbilt his first year, tied Vanderbilt his second year, and then began a period of UT dominance over the Commodores.
Meanwhile, from 1926 to 1932, he reeled off five seasons with no losses and one tie, and he won Southern Conference Championships in 1927 and 1932. These were the golden years for the Vols, as Gene McEver brought the program to a national level in 1927, and Bobby Dodd, Herman Hickman and Beattie Feathers continued it as All-Americans in the early 1930s.
A big reason this is similar to the Mickey Mouse era is that with the exception of his final two years, Neyland’s first stint predates the SEC. It all predates the AP Poll and the expansion of bowl games. That’s similar to how the Mickey Mouse era predates full-length animated films.
Two winning seasons his first two years in the SEC, though, show Neyland was doing. We could also consider the 1935 season in here under WH Britton, but that was a losing year and was a transition season after Neyland’s first stint.