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 the 1917 and 1918 seasons when the University of Tennessee Athletic Council, chaired by Professor Nathan W. Dougherty, officially suspended the football program because many of UT’s varsity players were called for military service.
Tennessee’s head coach, John R. Bender, was also summoned to serve as a military instructor at Camp John Sevier in Greenville, S.C.
While the UT football program was on hiatus during wartime, two unofficial teams were formed by Army recruits and students. One team represented a training unit called the Fighting Mechanics. The other was Student Army Training Corps (SATC).
In 1917, the campus team went 0-3. The following year, the squad went 3-2, winning its final three games over Maryville, Milligan and Tennessee Military Institute after losses to Sewanee and Vanderbilt.