Tennessee football: Ranking all 25 full-time head coaches in Vols history
1910. player. Pick Analysis. 7th head coach. Lex Stone. 23. 839. Scouting Report
3-5-1 (1-4 SIAA)
Sticking with the early 20th century before Tennessee football took off, Lex Stone was another one-year failure with the Vols. To be fair, he also took over a program that was coming off a horrendous season, as they had gone 1-6-2 the year before. That’s one bit of defense.
Coming to Rocky Top from the Sewanee Tigers, where he played as a tackle in 1906 and 1907 and beat the Vols his first year, Stone was one of the best players of the time and remains one of the best in Sewanee history. Heading east to take over Rocky Top was moving towards a downgrade of a program at the time, which is crazy to think about now.
Anyway, Stone never got going. He lost 17-2 his first game to Centre College, then Central, and he continued to struggle with all key rivals, losing to Vanderbilt and the Kentucky Wildcats (then Kentucky State College) along with the Mississippi A&M Aggies (now Mississippi State Bulldogs).
Another factor working in Stone’s favor this year, though, is the fact that the Vols’ schedule was loaded. Central went undefeated that year. Mississippi A&M and Kentucky State College both went 7-2. The Georgia Bulldogs, who also beat them, went 6-2-1. Even the Chattanooga Mocs, who they tied, were 5-2-1.