3-3-2 (1-1-2 SIAA)
The opposite of Derek Dooley, you could potentially put Gilbert Kelly below him. However, not having a losing season with Tennessee football has to count for something, and it’s enough for him to be up here on this list, even if he doesn’t have anything worth celebrating on his resume during his one year with the program.
Kelly took over for a team that had enjoyed four straight winning seasons since returning from the lost years back in 1896, the one exception being 1898, when they didn’t play due to the Spanish-American War. This program was finally starting to generate interest.
On the heels of a 3-2-1 season, Kelly’s team opened the year with an 8-0 win over King, which hails from Bristol. They tied the Clemson Tigers after that. However, then they lost three straight, to the Nashville Garnet and Blue, Kentucky University Pioneers (now Transylvania University) and Vanderbilt to fall to 1-3-1.
Beating the Georgetown Tigers of Georgetown College in Kentucky along with Kentucky State College was a decent way to close the season, and they played Alabama for the first time ever in 1901. The two tied 6-6. Kelly came to UT from the Princeton Tigers, the premiere team of college football at the time.