Oskie

The GREAT General Bob Neyland - HFC at Tennessee from the 1920's thru the early 50's. "OSKIE-WOW-WOW-WOW" (was the blood curdling cry)!

General Neyland's Maxims



Maxim No 1: The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Maxim No 2: Play for and make the breaks and when one comes your way - SCORE!
Maxim No 3: If at first the game - or the breaks - go against you, don't let up ... put on more steam.
Maxim No 4: Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Maxim No 5: Ball, oskie, cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle, for this is the winning edge.
Maxim No 6: Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Maxim No 7: Carry the fight to our opponents and leave it there for 60 minutes


What does Oskie Mean?

When a defense intercepts the ball, the interceptor hollers "OSKIE SCORE" thus alerting his teammates to turn and block because now "WE HAVE THE BALL" .

Neyland : The Gridiron General Amazon Books

General Robert Neyland's 7 Maxims of Football
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.

2. Play for and make the breaks and when one comes your way - SCORE.

3. If at first the game - or the breaks - go against you, don't let up... put on more steam.

4. Protect our kickers, our QB, our lead and our ball game.

5. Ball, oskie, cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle... for this is the WINNING EDGE.

6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.

7. Carry the fight to our opponent and keep it there for 60 minutes.

The year was 1951. Bob Neyland's Tennessee football team was ranked No. 1 going into the season and never looked back as they rolled to a 10-0 record and the consensus national championship.



General Robert R. Neyland led the Vols to the 1951 National Championship.
1951 Results
Consensus National Champions
10-1 (SEC Champions)
Opponent UT Opp
MISS. STATE 14 0
DUKE 26 0
CHATTANOOGA 42 13
Alabama 27 13
TENN. TECH 68 0
@n.Carolina 27 0
WASHINGTON & LEE 60 14
@ole Miss 46 21
@kentucky 28 0
VANDERBILT 35 27
SUGAR BOWL
Maryland 13 28
Dr. C. E. Brehm was president of the University. WROL radio (620 on your AM dial) advertised Groucho Marx, Gordon MacRae (where was Sheila?), Fibber McGhee and Molly and other staples of 1950s radio. You could find "Hold That Line" on WROL after every game with former Vol Bud Hubbell at the helm.

Edna Callaway was Business Manager of Athletics, Gus Manning was Director of Sports Publicity and Nathan W. Dougherty was Chairman of the Athletics Board.

Neyland's staff that season included Harvey Robinson (two years away from succeeding Neyland as head coach), Chan Caldwell, Ralph Chancey, Al Hust, Emmett Lowery, trainer Mickey O'Brien, head freshman coach Ike Peel, Hodges "Burr" West and L. B. "Farmer" Johnson.

Then there were the players, the names that have become a part of Vol lore, names that call back the memories of a great tradition that is still building.

Return with us now, back 50 years, to the players who made it possible:

Ralph Adams, Bill Addonizio, Frank Alexander, Doug Atkins, Bill "Moose" Barbish, Dan Butler, Billy "Bye-Bye" Blackstock, Don Bordinger, Frank "Boomer" Boring, Bobby Brengle, Ray Byrd, Earl Campbell, Ed Chelski, Bob Cloninger, Lawrence Crowson, Billy Jack Cunningham, Ted Daffer, Bob Davis, John "Tex" Davis, Dick Ernsberger, Bob Fisher, Mack Franklin, Bill Fulton, Hugh Garner, Jimmy Hahn, Jim Haslam, Gary Hermann, Francis Holohan, Jerry Hyde, Harold Hubbard, Bill Jasper, Tommy Jumper, Vince Kaseta, Ollie Keller, Joel Kinley, Vic Kolenik, Andy Kozar, Dan Laughlin, Hank Lauricella, Lamar Leachman, Stan Lis, Vernon Lyons, Joe Maiure, Ray Martin, Charles Meyer, John Michels, Gene Moeller, Ed Morgan, Jerry Morris, Colin Munro, Andy Myers, Bob Neyland, Jr., Ed Nickla, Bob Patterson, Martin Ray Paris, Harold "Herky" Payne, Bill Pearman, Gordon Polofsky, John Powell, Bert Rechichar, Roger Rotroff, Dan Sekanovich, Jay Sentell, Pat Shires, Charlie Stokes, Francis Trubits, Roger Vest, Jimmy Wade, Paul Walker, Wayne Watson, and Oaka Williams. These are the names that have been etched into Vol tradition, the young men, who, like so many others, who achieved great things in Orange and White.

The Vols had been 11-1 the preceding season with a Cotton Bowl win over Texas to cap the season. Hopes were high in Knoxville that 1951 was THE year.

It was. Led by future Hall of Famers Lauricella, Atkins, Michels and Gen. Neyland, who was inducted as a coach in 1956, the Vols disposed of Mississippi State, Duke, Chattanooga, Alabama, Tennessee Tech, North Carolina, Washington & Lee, Mississippi, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, putting 386 points on the boards to 166 for the opposition. The team played on 10 consecutive Saturdays starting Sept. 29. That was in the days before the barrage of open dates. The Oct. 19 game again was the first televised game in the SEC.

"The common thread that runs through the 1951 team is the love and respect -- combined with a healthy dose of fear -- the players express toward Gen. Neyland," Haywood Harris said.

A quick look at the record book shows the influence of this team on Tennessee history.

Running Gen. Neyland's single-wing offense to near-perfection, the team still holds single-game records for the most net yards rushing (513 versus Washington & Lee), highest rushing average per play (10.7 against Washington & Lee), and most touchdowns rushing (6 versus Washington & Lee) as well as single game punt return yardage (192 against Chattanooga).

Lauricella was an All-America tailback and runner-up in the Heisman Trophy race, with guard Ted Daffer and tackle Bill Pearman also being named All-Americas.

Michels and Atkins would earn All-America honors a year later. Atkins, safety Bert Rechichar, Daffer, Pearman, Michels and Lauricella were All-SEC selections. Rechichar was team captain.

Atkins and Rechichar went on to distinguished pro careers. Atkins is also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while Rechichar held the NFL record for the longest field goal (53 yards) before Tom Dempsey broke it in 1970.

Fast forward 50 years and the national championship team will be back in town for the Syracuse game Sept. 1 for their Golden Anniversary reunion.

Put together by team members Pat Shires and Gordon Polofsky, the players will be honored at a Friday night dinner with SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer as keynote speaker, a Saturday brunch on campus and at halftime of the Tennessee-Syracuse game.

Even with the passage of time, 53 team members, two coaches (Harold Johnson and Ike Peel) and manager Arthur Marks will attend. According to Shires, 10 team members out of more than 70 total are deceased.

"I think the 1951 team underscores the unique role a head coach plays in laying the foundation for the discipline required a of a great football team," Harris concluded. "As other national or SEC championship teams return to campus, I think we will find the same mystical bond between the players and their coaches -- Bowden Wyatt, Doug Dickey, Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer."

Most Vol fans were not even born when these guys did their thing on gridirons across the south, but their place in Vol history is secure. Such is the challenge and opportunity of tradition. Welcome back home, right where you belong, to the members of the 1951 team.

This website is dedicated to Shirley Inman Majors and the setter bird dog named "Oskie" he cherished while I was a young boy.
Oskie Robert Neyland's 7 Maxims of Football