Tennessee football: Ranking all 25 full-time head coaches in Vols history

32-5-2 (15-3-1 SEC)

Everybody on here after John R. Bender is supposed to be a head coach who won a championship with Tennessee football. John Barnhill doesn’t fall into that category, but what he did do in guiding the Vols through World War II was so great that he still deserves this spot.

When Barnhill took over in 1941, he definitely inherited a great situation. UT had just finished what remains one of the greatest three-year runs in college football history, going undefeated for three straight regular seasons, winning three straight SEC Championships and capturing a national championship. Barnhill, a UT graduate, was an assistant on those teams.

However, with the U.S. gearing up to potentially enter the war despite not entering yet, Robert Neyland was called away for a second time, train up the military. That resulted in Barnhill taking over. At the time, the Vols seemed to be a program that could only be national under Neyland, as they went 4-5 the one year after his first stint under W.H. Britton in 1935.

All signs pointed to the same thing happening. Instead, Barnhill kept the success going. He didn’t replicate what Neyland did, but did go 8-2 with a top 20 finish in 1941, proving UT wasn’t going anywhere. A year later, the Vols went 9-1-1, finished in the top 10 and won their first Sugar Bowl ever, beating the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 14-7.

UT didn’t field a team in 1943 due to the war, but they came back and went 7-1-1 with another undefeated regular season, going to the Rose Bowl and again finishing in the top 15. Finally, the Vols went 8-1 in 1945 and finished in the top 15.

This success led Barnhill to be hired by the Arkansas Razorbacks when Neyland returned in 1946, but Neyland’s SEC Championship that year was based on what Barnhill maintained. Now, there were some drawbacks, as Barnhill never beat Alabama, but what he did for Tennessee football during this time was incredible.