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Tennessee football’s five worst seasons with third-year coach

By Caleb Calhoun

NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Derek Dooley of the University of Tennessee reacts to a call during a 41-18 loss against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium on November 17, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Derek Dooley of the University of Tennessee reacts to a call during a 41-18 loss against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium on November 17, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /
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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

1. player. Pick Analysis. 1909. 1-6-2 (0-5). George Levene. 839. Scouting Report

Yes, we go back to ancient history for this one. A notable failure of Derek Dooley and the first year of Butch Jones was Tennessee football going four straight seasons without a winning record for the first time in a century. The last time they did it, this was the season that kicked that off. And it was the first season a head coach ever entered his third year on the job with the Vols.

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George Levene’s failure was a shock, though. He had taken over for the Vols when they were on the heels of four straight losing seasons, which UT wouldn’t do until that Dooley/Jones period either. When he took over in 1907, though, he immediately turned things around, going 7-2-1 and 3-2 in the SIAA. He then went 7-2 and 3-2 in the SIAA the next year.

Both seasons, the Vols lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide, and after not playing them in 1907, they lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores in 1908 as they usually did back then. Still, there was reason to believe in Levene at this point after two successful season.

However, in 1909, it all came crashing down. Levene went 1-6-2 and 0-5 in the SIAA, matching the worst season in school history, which took place under James DePree in 1906, the year before he took over. Anyway, it started with a tie against Centre. Then the Vols lost six straight.

These losses included numerous rivals, including the North Carolina Tar Heels, who were rivals at the time, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Georgia Bulldogs, Kentucky State College (now the Kentucky Wildcats), Alabama and Vanderbilt. After tying the Chattanooga Mocs, they were 0-6-2. They did finish things off, though with an 11-0 win over the Transylvania Pioneers.

Next. 10 Vols coaches who inherited biggest mess. dark

Simply put, Tennessee football’s first season under a third-year head coach was a failure. The next year, Levene was replaced by Lex Stone, who went 3-5-1. However, Zora G. Clevenger arrived the next year, and that was the first time the Vols would start to see significant success.

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