Robert Neyland Robert Reese Neyland ( pronounced KNEE - land ) , MBE ( February 17 , 1892 – March 28 , 1962 ) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army , reaching the rank of brigadier general . He served three stints as the head football coach as the University of Tennessee ( 1926 – 1934 , 1936 – 1940 , 1946 – 1952 ) . He is one of two college football coaches to have won national titles in two non - consecutive tenures at the same school , along with Frank Leahy . Neyland holds the record for most wins in Tennessee Volunteers history with 173 wins in 216 games , six undefeated seasons , nine undefeated regular seasons , seven conference championships , and four national championships . At Tennessee , he reeled off undefeated streaks of 33 , 28 , 23 , 19 , and 14 games . Neyland is often referred to as one of the best , if not the best , defensive football coaches ever . " Sports Illustrated " named Neyland as the defensive coordinator of its all - century college football team in its " Best of the 20th Century " edition . 112 of his victories came via shutout . In 1938 and 1939 , Neyland ' s Vols set NCAA records when they shut out 17 straight opponents for 71 consecutive shutout quarters . His ' 39 squad is the last NCAA team in history to hold every regular season opponent scoreless . Neyland was also an innovator . He is credited with being the first coach to utilize sideline telephones and game film to study opponents . His teams also were some of the first to wear lightweight pads and tearaway jerseys . Such measures increased his players ' elusiveness and exemplify Neyland ' s " speed over strength " philosophy . Neyland is also famous for creating the seven " Game Maxims " of football that many coaches , on all levels , still use . Tennessee players recite the maxims before every game in the locker room as a team . Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee is not only named for " The General " , but was designed by him . His plans formed the basis for all expansions that brought the stadium to its modern size with an over 100 , 000 seat capacity . Neyland was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1956 . On November 12 , 2010 , a 9 - foot , nearly 1 , 500 - pound bronze statue of General Neyland was unveiled between gates 15A and 17 at Neyland Stadium . The statue , which was commissioned by artist Blair Buswell , is twice life - size . Since Neyland is portrayed in the kneeling position rather than standing , the statue is nine feet tall ( a standing statue would have stood 12 feet tall ) . The statue weighs approximately 1 , 500 pounds , and the base is 57 " by 87 " and features the seven Game Maxims engraved into the precast . Early life . Born in Greenville , Texas , Neyland was appointed to West Point by Congressman Sam Rayburn , graduating in 1916 . One of the greatest athletes of his day , he was a star football lineman , baseball pitcher , and national collegiate boxing champion . He was commissioned as an officer in the Corps of Engineers and served in France during World War I . After the war he served as an aide to Douglas MacArthur , who was then superintendent at West Point , and became an assistant football coach for the Black Knights of the Hudson . Coaching career . Wanting to continue coaching , Captain Neyland was appointed Professor of Military Science at the University of Tennessee . After one season as an assistant to head coach M . B . Banks , Neyland was named head coach and athletic director by school president Nathan W . Dougherty in 1926 . He coached the team for nine years before the Army called him to active duty for one year in Panama . During that first nine - year stint with the Vols , Neyland had five undefeated seasons , all within a six - year period ( 1927 , 1928 , 1929 , 1931 , and 1932 ) . The Vols reeled off undefeated streaks of 33 and 28 straight games . Upon returning to Tennessee from the Panama Canal Zone , he returned to UT as head coach . Neyland ' s 1938 team went undefeated and was proclaimed national champion by several minor outlets . His 1939 squad is notable for being the last college football team to go an entire regular season unscored upon , shutting out every opponent . From November 5 , 1938 to December 9 , 1939 ; the Vols ran off 17 straight shutouts and 71 consecutive shutout quarters — records that have never been seriously threatened . Neyland completed another undefeated regular season in 1940 . He was recalled to military service again in 1941 . In World War II Neyland served in the China - Burma - India Theater , supervising the transportation of material through monsoons and across the Himalayas to the troops commanded by General " Vinegar " Joe Stillwell . During his military career he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit and made a member of the Order of the British Empire . He retired from military service a second time , in 1946 , with the rank of brigadier general , and again returned to the Volunteers as coach through 1952 . After producing mediocre teams in the late forties , many thought that the General had lost his touch , as more teams moved toward the " T formation " and Neyland continued running the single wing . Neyland was vindicated , however , as he ended his career with a flourish . His 1950 team was crowned national champion by several minor outlets , while his 1951 team won the school ' s first undisputed national championship . He remained as athletic director at the university until his death . Shortly before his death , Neyland drew up plans for a major expansion and renovation to the Vols ' home stadium , Shields - Watkins Field . Reflecting the Vols ' rise to national prominence under his watch , Shields - Watkins Field ' s capacity had jumped from 3 , 200 seats to over 46 , 000 in the 38 years since his arrival in Knoxville . UT renamed the stadium Neyland Stadium in his honor before the 1962 season , and the plans he drew up were so far ahead of their time that they have been used as the basis for every major expansion since then . Playing career and education . Neyland attended Burleson Junior College in his home town of Greenville , Texas for a year and then transferred to Texas A & M playing football a year before receiving an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York , where he starred as a football lineman and ball $ 2 $ 3 pitcher and was the academy boxing champion . The National League baseball New York Giants offered him a $ 3 , 500 contract , which he turned down . Instead , Neyland served briefly overseas in World War I , then returned to get his engineering degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , then moving to West Point as aide - de - camp to Superintendent Douglas MacArthur . Family . On July 16 , 1923 , Neyland married Ada " Peggy " Fitch ( September 1 , 1897 – March 7 , 1976 ) of Grand Rapids , Michigan . They had met while she was visiting friends at the Academy . Ada was the daughter of Charles Lewis Fitch ( July 24 , 1845 – September 8 , 1930 ) and Mary S . ( June 1853 – ? ) . They had two sons , Robert , Jr . , born February 11 , 1930 , and Lewis , born December 6 , 1933 . Gen . Neyland was the son of lawyer Robert Reece Neyland , Sr . ( October 1859 – ? ) and Pauline Lewis ( January 1861 – ? ) . His siblings were sister Carroll M . Neyland ( January 1890 – ? ) and brother Mayo W . Neyland ( March 1896 – November 1969 ) . Both Gen . Neyland and Ada are buried in Knoxville National Cemetery . Neyland Scholarship . Several months prior to his death , Neyland began working on a plan for supporters of UT athletic teams to show their interest in UT ' s academic programs by offering scholarships to attract outstanding student scholars to the University . General Neyland himself was an outstanding scholar , as well as an athlete during his college days at West Point . It was the General ' s dream that the University offer four - year academic merit scholarships to students who possessed outstanding academic and leadership qualities . Following Neyland ' s death , Dr . Andrew D . Holt , then UT president , announced that a nationwide campaign would be launched to raise a minimum of $ 100 , 000 to establish the Robert R . Neyland Scholarship Fund . In October 1962 , at half - time of the UT vs . Alabama game , 165 women representing UT ' s sororities collected more than $ 10 , 000 in a 15 - minute time period at Neyland Stadium to launch the effort . By the end of fall 1962 , more than $ 65 , 000 had been committed to the Neyland Scholarship fund . In the spring of 1963 , a decision was made that proceeds from the annual Orange and White spring football game would go to help build the Neyland Scholarship Fund . The first Neyland Scholarships were awarded in 1963 . The first two recipients were Melissa Ann Baker of Maryville , Tennessee ( now Mrs . Ann Baker Furrow , a former member of the UT Board of Trustees ) and Mr . Robert English Allen of Columbia , Tennessee . Seven Maxims of Football . During the 1930s , Neyland began having his teams recite seven sentences that he felt summarized everything it took to win a game . These came to be known as " the Seven Maxims of Football , " or " the Seven Game Maxims . " To this day , Vol teams still recite them in the locker room before every game .