All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football’s five previous bowls with first-year coaches

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee sophomore quarterback Heath Shuler (21) pick up some of his 31 yards rushing on 6 carries against Boston College Jan. 1, 1993. Shuler was 18 of 23 passing for 245 yards and two touchdowns to win the MVP honors as the Vols won 38-23 in the Hall of Fame Bowl game in Tampa, Fla.Ut Bowl History
Tennessee sophomore quarterback Heath Shuler (21) pick up some of his 31 yards rushing on 6 carries against Boston College Jan. 1, 1993. Shuler was 18 of 23 passing for 245 yards and two touchdowns to win the MVP honors as the Vols won 38-23 in the Hall of Fame Bowl game in Tampa, Fla.Ut Bowl History /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky. on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.Kns Tennessee Kentucky Football
Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky. on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.Kns Tennessee Kentucky Football /

Josh Heupel is in rare company. Tennessee football has played in 53 bowl games under 11 different head coaches. When the Vols and Purdue Boilermakers face off in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30, he’ll not only be the 12th head coach to lead them into a postseason game. He’ll be the sixth to do so in just his first year on the job.

Yes, only five UT head coaches have led the Vols to a bowl game in their first year, and only four did it with winning records. We should note that only three did it without an asterisk, an asterisk we’ll get to in this post, which will look back at UT’s bowl games with first-year head coaches.

What’s most impressive about Heupel is that he’s the first head coach to take over a UT program that had a losing season the year before and lead it to a bowl game his first year on the job. It’s been over a decade since a first-year head coach led the Vols to any postseason. Let’s look at the five bowls Tennessee football took part in with first-year head coaches.

Orange Bowl. 839. Miami, Fla.. 2404. Burdine Stadium. -0. Wednesday, Jan. 1, 1947. 8

5. Robert Neyland -1946: 9-2 (5-0); SEC Champions; No. 7 AP

This is the asterisk. Robert Neyland technically wasn’t in his first year with the Vols. He was actually in his 15th year. However, it was the first year of his third stint, and he had been away for six years due to World War II before taking back over in 1946, so you have to give him some credit for maintaining this level of success.

John Barnhill had succeeded Neyland and guided the Vols through four successful years (there was no team in 1943 due to the war), going 32-5-2, securing four top 20 finishes and making two bowl games. However, directly before Barnhill, Neyland went 31-2 from 1938 to 1940 with three straight undefeated regular seasons and three straight SEC Championships.

Immediately upon Neyland’s return, Tennessee football had a 9-1 regular season highlighted by two top 10 wins over the Alabama Crimson Tide and eventual Southern Conference Champion North Carolina Tar Heels. UT won the SEC but lost the Orange Bowl, which had future president Dwight Eisenhower in attendance, thanks to a first-quarter touchdown and safety by Rice.

Home/Vols Football