case his historical significance. Robert Reese Neyland III was born in Greenville in 1892 and lived in Hunt County through his high school years, graduating from Greenville High School in 1909 at the age of 17, according to the document from the board of economic development.
Neyland attended Burleson Junior College for one year before transferring to Texas A & M and later being appointed to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1912. During that time, Neyland showed his abilities in sports such as football and baseball.
A plaque at the Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum states that Neyland was dubbed“ the greatest all-around athlete in the history of the Point,” during his time at West Point from 1912 to 1916.
Additionally, the plaque said Neyland won 20 consecutive games pitching for Army, was a starter on the Cadets’ 1914 national championship football team and was the USMA’ s heavyweight boxing champion his final three years at West Point.
After studying engineering at West Point, Neyland served as a captain in World War I, serving as an engineering instructor and student officer at various army schools in France and on the Mexico-Texas border and eventually graduating with a degree in engineering from MIT in 1921. He was also promoted to the rank of major temporarily during his time in the war.
The Greenville native continued to serve after the war and eventually re-earned the rank of major in 1926. It was also during this time that Neyland returned to his love of sport as an assistant football coach, accepting an ROTC position at the University of Tennessee while also serving as an assistant to the district engineer for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in Chattanooga.
Neyland started as an assistant to head coach M. B. Banks before Banks became ill and Neyland took over the job with a win over Georgia, the first of a historic run.
The coach’ s first stint with Tennessee lasted from 1926 to 1934, before he was stationed in Panama for a year in 1935. Neyland was offered a lucrative $ 12,000 contract as well as a lifetime guarantee as coach to return in 1936, which he did and served as coach until 1941 when he was recalled to army duty during World War II.
During this time, Neyland passed through the ranks of lieutenant colonel and colonel before earning his final ranking of brigadier general in November of 1944. During the war, Neyland served in Dallas, China and India.
Neyland also coached an Eastern Army team against NFL teams to raise money for the Army Emergency Relief Fund, beating teams like the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Neyland returned to coaching for his final stint with the Volunteers from 1946 to 1952. His record as a coach during that stretch was 54-17-6 to add to his all time
record of 173-31-12. The plaque at the Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum added that during his three coaching stints with the Volunteers, Neyland’ s teams amassed six undefeated seasons, seven conference championships and four national championships.
After his death in 1962, the University of Tennessee changed the official name of their football stadium to Neyland Stadium to leave a permanent marker of his impact on the school and the game.
10 GREENVILLE LIFE