TENNESSEE VOLS FOOTBALL: Wyatt is one of four 'special' people in Hall of Fame

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Bowden Wyatt will always have an asterisk tagged to his name.

Not the Lance Armstrong type.

Of the 1,371 enshrined members in the College Football Hall of Fame (including the Goodyear Blimp), Wyatt, along with Tennessee’s Bobby Dodd, is one of four to be selected as both a player and coach. 

The high school fullback from Kingston, Tenn., transitioned to end under legendary coach Robert “The General” Neyland for his three seasons at UT (1936–1938). Starting every game of his college career, Wyatt captained the 1938 squad and earned First-Team All-America honors. In that year, UT went 11-0, and the team’s defense racked six shutouts. Overall, Tennessee outscored its opponents 283-16.

In 1938, Wyatt and the Volunteers snuffed Oklahoma 17-0 in the Orange Bowl, the school’s first official bowl game appearance. Wyatt straddled the D line and kicked a field goal in that Tennessee win.

Following school, Wyatt began his coaching career as an assistant at Mississippi State (1939–1941). Like many men of the era, Wyatt diverted from his sports path and served during World War II, reaching the rank of lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. Wyatt returned to Mississippi State as an assistant for one year (1946) after his discharge.

In 1947, Wyatt became head coach at University of Wyoming, where he led the school to its first conference championship, first bowl game, first national ranking and first two football All-Americans, Eddie Talboom and Dewey McConnell. He later helmed Arkansas’ team for two years, where his team won a Southwest Conference championship. 

Wyatt returned to Tennessee as head football coach (1955–1962), notching multiple titles in the 1956 season: SEC champion, a No. 2 national ranking, SEC Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year. 

On Nov. 7, 1959, Tennessee snapped No. 1 LSU’s 18-game win streak with a 14-13 nail biter. Across his college head coaching career, Wyatt was 99-56-5, with a 2-2 bowl record.

Wyatt died Jan. 21, 1969, at 51. 

In 1972, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player, in addition to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. In 1994, Wyatt was inducted into the Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1997, he entered the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach.

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