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Tennessee football: Where 2020 ranks among worst teams in Vols history

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt gestures at his players at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020.Auburn Ut
Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt gestures at his players at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020.Auburn Ut /
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KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Worst teams pre-SEC

1892: 2-5

We could put 1891, their first season ever, on here, but Tennessee football only played one game that season, losing 24-0 to the Sewanee Tigers. Going 2-5 in 1892 with two losses to Sewanee and two losses to the Vanderbilt Commodores is enough to make this mention.

1893: 2-5

The Vols lost to Kentucky State College in the first ever matchup between UT and the Kentucky Wildcats. They also lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Trinity Blue and White, the Wake Forests Baptists and the North Carolina A&M Aggies. They beat the Maryville Scots and Asheville Athletics after that 0-5 start, but this year was bad enough for them to drop football until 1896.

1906: 1-6-2 (0-3-1)

After returning to football in 1896, UT joined the SIAA and went 4-0. They had six straight winning seasons from then to 1902 without playing in 1898 due to the Spanish American War. In 1899, J.A. Pierce became their first head coach. He was followed by Gilbert Kelly in 1901 and Hubert Fisher in 1902. When 1903 rolled around, though, Fisher went 4-5.

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That sparked four straight years of losing seasons under Fisher, Sax Crawford in 1904 and James DePree in 1905 and 1906. The 1906 team was the worst, as no other team was 3-5-1. UT started with a win over American Temperance but never won another game. They lost to Sewanee, Kentucky State College, the Clemson Tigers and then-Alabama Crimson White.

1909: 1-6-2 (0-5)

George Levene replaced DePree in 1907 and ended the first four-year run of losing seasons in school history, which wouldn’t be matched until 2010 to 2013. He appeared to turn the program around going 7-2 in 1907 and 7-2-1 in 1908. It all fell apart in 1909, though.

Rocky Top tied the Central Colonels in their opener. Then they lost six straight to UNC, Kentucky, the Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Vanderbilt and Alabama. Basically, they lost to all their rivalries. Then they tied the Chattanooga Mocs before beating the Transylvania Pioneers to finish 1-6-2. These 1906 and 1909 teams are probably the two worst overall in UT history.

1924: 3-5 (0-4)

After 1909, the Vols had Lex Stone for a year and then brought in Zora G. Clevenger, who gave them their real success, going 9-0 and winning the SIAA in 1914. Then John R. Bender won the SIAA in 1916 and navigated them before and after the World War I years. Big changes came in the 1920s, though, as M.B. Banks took over in 1921 and UT joined the Southern Conference in 1922.

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Still, after three straight winning seasons, Banks had his worst year in 1924. He started 0-3 but then lost to the Mississippi A&M Aggies (now Mississippi State Bulldogs), Georgia, Centre, Tulane Green Wave and Kentucky. This was the only SoCon UT team with a losing record, as he rebounded to go 5-2-1 in 1925, and Robert Neyland took over in 1926.

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