National Championships won by Neyland and Members of the Neyland Coaching Tree

[Volosaurus rex]

The current “head coaches” thread got me to thinking about an intriguing trivia question, the answer to which I do not know: How many national championships were won by Neyland-coached teams, teams coached by former Neyland players and more extended members of the Neyland coaching tree? Before turning to available evidence, I will point out that this thread WILL NOT address arguments pertaining to the relative legitimacy of national championship claims in the pre-poll era. So, Bamawriter, kindly keep your derisive comments to yourself. Instead, this thread is intended to pay tribute to Neyland’s coaching legacy by means of reference to the great teams coached by him, his former players and other members of his coaching tree.

Off the top of my head, I come up with the following national championship teams:

Teams coached by General Neyland himself: 4 (1938, 1940, 1950, and 1951).

Teams coached directly by former Neyland players:

Bobby Dodd (Georgia Tech, 1952)
Murray Warmath (Minnesota, 1960)
Ken Donahue (member of the 1950 Tennessee team and defensive coordinator at Alabama from 1964-1984): 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979.

Teams coached by second-generation members of the Neyland Coaching Tree (i.e. men who played for former Neyland players):

Johnny Majors (member of the undefeated 1956 Tennessee team under the direction of Bowden Wyatt, who played on the undefeated 1938 Tennessee team): Pittsburgh, 1976.

Teams coached by members of the Frank Broyles Coaching Tree, a “major branch of the Bob Neyland coaching tree” (Broyles played at Georgia Tech under Bobby Dodd, who, of course, is a direct descendent of the Neyland Coaching Tree):

Frank Broyles (Arkansas, 1964)
Jimmy Johnson (Miami, 1987)
Barry Switzer (Oklahoma, 1974, 1984, and 1985)

Given how extensive the Neyland Coaching Tree was, I almost certainly have not accounted for all national championships won by its members, but this quick and dirty estimate accounts for 17 titles amassed by coaches within this fraternity. Please let me know of any others that I have omitted.

 

[Boca Vol]

I'm not sure why you're counting Donahue as he wasn't a head coach.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Boca Vol, I did not say nor would it be accurate to state that the Neyland coaching tree consisted solely of head coaches; George Cafego certainly was a Neyland disciple and ultimately proved to be one of the finest kicking coaches in college football history. Similarly, Donahue was a player for Neyland who also was quite instrumental in Bryant's success at Alabama.

 

[Boca Vol]

Boca Vol, I did not say nor would it be accurate to state that the Neyland coaching tree consisted solely of head coaches; George Cafego certainly was a Neyland disciple and ultimately proved to be one of the finest kicking coaches in college football history. Similarly, Donahue was a player for Neyland who also was quite instrumental in Bryant's success at Alabama.

You could add Chavis, Fulmer, and Cutcliffe as they fall under the Majors' tree. Cutcliffe both Bryant and Majors, I think.

 

[TrueOrange]

Wait...no disrespect to Neyland (and sorry, but this might come across as being that guy), but coaching trees pretty much just include coaches that have served with/under the coaches in question, not guys who played under him as a head coach and sometime later became coaches.

For example, since Lovie Smith served as an assistant coach under Tony Dungy, who served as an assistant coach under Marty Schottenheimer, Smith would fall under the Dungy coaching tree as well as the Schottenheimer coaching tree.

Likewise, Jim Harbaugh served as an assistant under Bill Callahan, who at one point was an assistant under Jon Gruden, who in turn had been an assistant under Paul Hackett, who himself was an assistant to Bill Walsh. So Jim Harbaugh could appear in a Callahan, Gruden, Hackett, or Walsh coaching tree.


On a similar note Tony Dungy wouldn't fit in Chuck Noll's coaching tree or Bill Walsh's tree because he played under them, nor would Jim Harbaugh fall under a Mike Ditka, Dave Wannstedt, Ted Marchibroda, Lindy Infante, Ted Marchibroda, or Mike Riley coaching tree.


Like the thread idea, just wanted to point that out.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Arguably, coaching trees can be defined as: (1) assistant coaches for a specific head coach who later went on to careers as head coaches elsewhere; (2) as players for a specific head coach who went on to careers in coaching; or (3) in some cases, where the duration and extent of the head coach's legacy is sufficiently great, a combination of both. The Neyland coaching tree legitimately includes both forms of "branches." For the sake of brevity, I didn't initially include coaches who played elsewhere but served as assistants to Neyland prior to procuring head coaching positions elsewhere.

Despite what one might think of the legitimacy of the 1967 national championship claim, it arguably would fall under the criteria outlined above, as Dickey played for Bob Woodruff at Florida, who played for Neyland at Tennessee.

 

[UT Hill Man]

Wait...no disrespect to Neyland (and sorry, but this might come across as being that guy), but coaching trees pretty much just include coaches that have served with/under the coaches in question, not guys who played under him as a head coach and sometime later became coaches.

For example, since Lovie Smith served as an assistant coach under Tony Dungy, who served as an assistant coach under Marty Schottenheimer, Smith would fall under the Dungy coaching tree as well as the Schottenheimer coaching tree.

Likewise, Jim Harbaugh served as an assistant under Bill Callahan, who at one point was an assistant under Jon Gruden, who in turn had been an assistant under Paul Hackett, who himself was an assistant to Bill Walsh. So Jim Harbaugh could appear in a Callahan, Gruden, Hackett, or Walsh coaching tree.


On a similar note Tony Dungy wouldn't fit in Chuck Noll's coaching tree or Bill Walsh's tree because he played under them, nor would Jim Harbaugh fall under a Mike Ditka, Dave Wannstedt, Ted Marchibroda, Lindy Infante, Ted Marchibroda, or Mike Riley coaching tree.


Like the thread idea, just wanted to point that out.

Yeah, trees have hundreds of branches, and that's no lie.

 

[TrueOrange]

Arguably, coaching trees can be defined as: (1) assistant coaches for a specific head coach who later went on to careers as head coaches elsewhere; (2) as players for a specific head coach who went on to careers in coaching; or (3) in some cases, where the duration and extent of the head coach's legacy is sufficiently great, a combination of both. The Neyland coaching tree legitimately includes both forms of "branches." For the sake of brevity, I didn't initially include coaches who played elsewhere but served as assistants to Neyland prior to procuring head coaching positions elsewhere.

Despite what one might think of the legitimacy of the 1967 national championship claim, it arguably would fall under the criteria outlined above, as Dickey played for Bob Woodruff at Florida, who played for Neyland at Tennessee.

Sorry, but again - and no disrespect meant by it - I have to disagree.

The most common way to make the distinction is if a coach worked as an assistant on a particular head coach's staff for at least a season then that coach can be counted as being a branch on the head coach's coaching tree. Coaching trees can also show philosophical influence from one head coach to an assistant.

Coaching trees are common in the National Football League and most coaches in the NFL can trace their lineage back to a certain head coach for whom they previously worked as an assistant.

Again, don't get me wrong; I think it's a very interesting idea to discuss and relate every successful career that Robert Neyland had some influence upon, either directly or through degrees of separation...it's just that, at the same time, doing such is something else.

 

[TrueOrange]

Yeah, trees have hundreds of branches, and that's no lie.

Seriously. Heck, 31 of the 32 active NFL Head Coaches all fall within the coaching trees of Bill Walsh, Marty Schottenheimer, and Bill Parcells combined.


...of course that could very well also say something about how much the NFL likes to hire names it already knows / is familiar with

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Sorry, but again - and no disrespect meant by it - I have to disagree.





Again, don't get me wrong; I think it's a very interesting idea to discuss and relate every successful career that Robert Neyland had some influence upon, either directly or through degrees of separation...it's just that, at the same time, doing such is something else.

In that case, let's look at it this way. Regardless of the manner in which coaching trees are typically defined, something with which quite frankly I am not concerned elsewhere, Neyland's influence was so great that a host of his players went on to successful coaching careers, several of whom were successors as assistant and/or head coaches at UT. That constitutes a legitimate line of "descent" in its own right and then you have the more conventionally defined "progeny" of assistant coaches who served under Neyland. This respectful discussion of semantics is, however, a deviation from the original focus of the thread.

 

[cgbtn]

I believe Majors began his playing career playing for Neyland.

 

[cgbtn]

I believe Majors began his playing career playing for Neyland.

I'm wrong.