The Bear

#56
#56
I understand why the Bear is so praised, he's a legend. But I really don't understand why the General is never talked about even though he never lost to the Bear...
 
#57
#57
One contributing factor is that much of the General's career occurred during the pre-poll era, so there were no "consensus" national championships. Many of the earliest "national championships" were awarded retroactively or by individual statistical ranking services (e.g. Dunkel, Litkenhous). Neyland began his coaching career at Tennessee in 1926; the AP poll first convened in 1934 and functioned continuously after 1936. The UPI poll did not exist until 1950; Neyland retired from coaching in 1952.

Wallace Wade was a contemporary of Neyland's and coached at Alabama when Neyland first assumed the reins of our program. Even Bryant later described Wade as the man who put Alabama football on the map, but Wade is, arguably, even less recognized than Neyland. Most of the powers that dominated the college football landscape prior to Neyland and Wade planting the first seeds of Tennessee's and Alabama's greatness were from the Ivy League, Northeast, and Big Ten, as well as Notre Dame, of course. Although I can't find a source at the moment, no less an authority than Knute Rockne once described Neyland as the best college football coach in the country.
 
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#58
#58
Obsessedvol said:
I understand why the Bear is so praised, he's a legend. But I really don't understand why the General is never talked about even though he never lost to the Bear...
Click to expand...

Bear Bryant is praised for his work at Bama even though he's UK's winningest coach as well (I think). Yes, I know they made a movie about his aTm stint but before the movie, there weren't 20 people outside of College Station that knew that story.

Still, it's Bama for what he's known for. Neyland never coached against while Bryant coached at Bama.

As to why Neyland isn't talked about as much, it's simple. It's the era. Bryant's coaching era ended 30 years after Neyland's. Who remembers or cares about 30's & 40's?

I'm not saying Bryant was a better coach than Neyland, but Neyland's coaching career was ending while Bryant's was starting and Bryant's coincided with integration and expanded TV coverage.
 
#59
#59
The latter point is truly critical. Nationally televised broadcasts of college football games were just beginning as General Neyland was concluding his career. "The first national broadcast of a live college football game, which was also the first coast-to-coast live broadcast of any sports contest, was Duke at the University of Pittsburgh on September 29, 1951 on NBC. Bowl games were always outside the control of the NCAA, and the 1952 Rose Bowl at the end of that season was the first national telecast of a college bowl game, on NBC."

The following data more thoroughly encapsulates the early history of college football's entry to the television marketplace:

"The first televised college football game occurred during the "experimental" era of television's broadcasting history, when a game between Fordham University and Waynesburg College was broadcast on September 30, 1939. One month later, Kansas State's homecoming contest against the University of Nebraska was the first homecoming game to be broadcast on October 23, 1939. The following season, on October 5, 1940, what is described as the "first commercially televised game" between the University of Maryland and the University of Pennsylvania was broadcast by Philco. Fairly sporadic broadcasts continued throughout World War II.

By 1950, a small number of football schools, including Penn (ABC) and the University of Notre Dame (DuMont Television Network) had entered into individual contracts with networks to broadcast their games regionally. In fact, all of Penn's home games were broadcast on ABC during the 1950 season under a contract that paid Penn $150,000. However, prior to the 1951 season, the NCAA – alarmed by reports that indicated television decreased attendance at games – asserted control and prohibited live broadcasts of games. Although the NCAA successfully forced Penn and Notre Dame to break their contracts, the NCAA suffered withering attacks for its 1951 policy, faced threats of antitrust hearings and eventually caved in and lifted blackouts of certain sold-out games.

For the 1952 season, the NCAA relented somewhat, but limited telecasts to one nationally-broadcast game each week. The NCAA sold the exclusive rights to broadcast the weekly game to NBC for $1,144,000. The first game shown under this contract was Texas Christian University against the University of Kansas, on September 20, 1952. In 1953, the NCAA allowed NBC to add what it called "panorama" coverage of multiple regional broadcasts for certain weeks – shifting national viewers to the most interesting game during its telecast.

The NCAA believed that broadcasting one game a week would prevent further controversy while limiting any decrease in attendance. However, the Big Ten Conference was unhappy with the arrangement, and it pressured the NCAA to allow regional telecasts as well. Finally, in 1955 the NCAA revised its plan, keeping eight national games while permitting true regional telecasts during five specified weeks of the season. This was essentially the television plan that stayed in place until the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia filed suit against the NCAA in 1981, alleging antitrust violations" (College football on television - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

You will notice that Southern schools were not privy to these early regional television broadcast contracts. I have no idea when the first nationally televised game for Tennessee occurred.
 
#60
#60
Volosaurus rex said:
The latter point is truly critical. Nationally televised broadcasts of college football games were just beginning as General Neyland was concluding his career. "The first national broadcast of a live college football game, which was also the first coast-to-coast live broadcast of any sports contest, was Duke at the University of Pittsburgh on September 29, 1951 on NBC. Bowl games were always outside the control of the NCAA, and the 1952 Rose Bowl at the end of that season was the first national telecast of a college bowl game, on NBC."

The following data more thoroughly encapsulates the early history of college football's entry to the television marketplace:

"The first televised college football game occurred during the "experimental" era of television's broadcasting history, when a game between Fordham University and Waynesburg College was broadcast on September 30, 1939. One month later, Kansas State's homecoming contest against the University of Nebraska was the first homecoming game to be broadcast on October 23, 1939. The following season, on October 5, 1940, what is described as the "first commercially televised game" between the University of Maryland and the University of Pennsylvania was broadcast by Philco. Fairly sporadic broadcasts continued throughout World War II.

By 1950, a small number of football schools, including Penn (ABC) and the University of Notre Dame (DuMont Television Network) had entered into individual contracts with networks to broadcast their games regionally. In fact, all of Penn's home games were broadcast on ABC during the 1950 season under a contract that paid Penn $150,000. However, prior to the 1951 season, the NCAA – alarmed by reports that indicated television decreased attendance at games – asserted control and prohibited live broadcasts of games. Although the NCAA successfully forced Penn and Notre Dame to break their contracts, the NCAA suffered withering attacks for its 1951 policy, faced threats of antitrust hearings and eventually caved in and lifted blackouts of certain sold-out games.

For the 1952 season, the NCAA relented somewhat, but limited telecasts to one nationally-broadcast game each week. The NCAA sold the exclusive rights to broadcast the weekly game to NBC for $1,144,000. The first game shown under this contract was Texas Christian University against the University of Kansas, on September 20, 1952. In 1953, the NCAA allowed NBC to add what it called "panorama" coverage of multiple regional broadcasts for certain weeks – shifting national viewers to the most interesting game during its telecast.

The NCAA believed that broadcasting one game a week would prevent further controversy while limiting any decrease in attendance. However, the Big Ten Conference was unhappy with the arrangement, and it pressured the NCAA to allow regional telecasts as well. Finally, in 1955 the NCAA revised its plan, keeping eight national games while permitting true regional telecasts during five specified weeks of the season. This was essentially the television plan that stayed in place until the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia filed suit against the NCAA in 1981, alleging antitrust violations" (College football on television - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

You will notice that Southern schools were not privy to these early regional television broadcast contracts. I have no idea when the first nationally televised game for Tennessee occurred.
Click to expand...

I think technology is the main difference.
 
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