KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee football is rich in tradition and Vols Wire will explore the program by examining each head coach’s tenure.
This installment will focus on 1941-45 when John Barnhill was the head coach of the Volunteers.
Barnhill was appointed on an interim basis when World War II called Robert Neyland away. He was an assistant under Neyland after playing at Tennessee.
Barnhill did so well with the Volunteers that upon Neyland’s final return to Knoxville, he left to become head coach at the University of Arkansas, where he was also the school’s athletic director.
He finished second in the Southeastern Conference in each of his three seasons. The war caused UT not to have a team in 1943.
Barnhill never won less than seven games on Rocky Top and was ranked in the Associated Press Top 20 in each of his campaigns as the head coach.
He went 1-1 in bowl games, coaching the Big Orange to a pair of New Year’s Day games, beating Tulsa in the Sugar Bowl following the 1942 season and losing to Southern California in the Rose Bowl after the 1944 campaign.
At Tennessee, where he was also athletic director in Neyland’s absence, Barnhill was a perfect 3-0 against Vanderbilt and 4-0 against Kentucky. He also had three victories against LSU.
With the Razorbacks, Barnhill won the Southwestern Conference championship in 1946.