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Robert Neyland

The West Point Engineer Who Built Tennessee Football

Robert Neyland cover

Robert Neyland

The West Point Engineer Who Built Tennessee Football

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Pre-order. Available Jul 09 2026
$32.40 RRP $36.00 Website price saving $3.60 (10%)

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Description

A celebration of coaching great Robert Neyland

Robert Neyland coached football for twenty-one seasons at the University of Tennessee and amassed a record of 173-31-12. He won seven conference titles and boasted full or partial claim to four national championships. His success resulted from his stern discipline and his ability to put together the most consistently dominant defenses in the first half of the 20th century.

The first biography in decades, Robert Neyland: The West Point Engineer Who Built Tennessee Football provides deep insight and first-hand accounts of Neyland's life and incredible career. Neyland was not your typical college football coach. He was a graduate of West Point and veteran of both world wars who rose to the rank of brigadier general while serving in the China, Burma, India Theater in World War II. During much of that time, he played a dual role as both army officer and football coach. Neyland shifted seamlessly between the two professions, using lessons learned in each to influence his leadership style in the other. As his players attested, Neyland ran his football program like the army.

Featuring interviews with the only living former players from the Neyland era, and including new insight from the Robert R. Neyland Family Papers, Robert Neyland will not only fascinate fans of University of Tennessee football, but sports and military historians, as well.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Blake Neyland
Acknowledgements
Introduction

Chapter 1 – Growing up in Texas: 1892-1912
Chapter 2 – West Point: 1912-1916
Chapter 3 – From West Point to West Point: 1916-1924
Chapter 4 – Becoming a Coach: 1925-1928
Chapter 5 – The Neyland System: 1929-1935
Chapter 6 – Army Duties: 1925-1936
Chapter 7 – Rebuilding the Neyland System: 1936-1938
Chapter 8 – SEC Dynasty: 1939-1940
Chapter 9 – The Nation Calls: 1941-1945
Chapter 10 – The General Returns: 1946-1948
Chapter 11 – Back on Top: 1949-1952
Chapter 12 – The Final Years: 1953-1962
Epilogue: The Neyland Legacy

Sources
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published Jul 09 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 272
ISBN 9798216201724
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 19 bw photos
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Timothy D. Johnson

Timothy D. Johnson is the Elizabeth Gentry Brown P…

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