KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee football is rich in tradition and Vols Wire will explore the history of the program by examining each head coach’s tenure at UT.
This installment will focus on 1911-15 when Z.G. Clevenger coached the Vols.
Clevenger, a native of Muncie, Indiana, came to Tennessee after coaching three seasons at Nebraska Wesleyan.
At Tennessee, he coached football, basketball and baseball. On the gridiron, he posted a record of 26-15-2 with the Vols.
He was the first UT coach to beat in-state rival Vanderbilt and was also the first Vols’ head man to win a conference championship, guiding Tennessee to a 9-0 record and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association title in 1914.
The Indiana University graduate and halfback for the Hoosiers later went on to coach baseball, football and basketball at Kansas State. He was Indiana’s basketball and baseball coach, where he also served as athletic director, before coming to Knoxville.
Clevenger, who went on to become athletic director at Kansas State and Missouri before returning to Indiana, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968, two years before his death.