By Cody McClure

It is the second of July. Dos de Julio. Where is sports?

College baseball and softball have come to an end. And we’re far removed from basketball season.

Football is right around the corner, sort of. Give it a couple months.

In the meantime, feel free to read our stories here at fanrunradio.com.

Beginning with this — the top 10 greatest coaches in Tennessee sports history. That is, the University of Tennessee.

And before you even think about complaining, let me be clear. This is for team sports that matter to the general public.

That means no track and field. No swimming. No tennis. None of that.

Team sports. That matter to the general public. Football, basketball, baseball, softball.

I’m not including soccer, either. We’re focusing on the five major sports at Tennessee.

So here you go:

10. Rod Delmonico — Baseball (1990-2007)

Before the days of Tony Vitello, there was your dad’s Tennessee Baseball. And it was likely coached by Delmonico, who served at the helm for nearly two decades.

Delmonico’s UT teams from 1993-95 were legendary. Those boys won the SEC regular season AND tournament crowns consecutively in all three of those seasons.

The ‘95 season also included a College World Series appearance. The Vols made it back to the CWS in both 2001 and 2005 under Delmonico’s leadership, as well.

Delmonico was named Baseball America’s College Coach of the Year in 1995. He finished his coaching career with a 699-396 record.

9. Bruce Pearl — Men’s Basketball (2005-2011)

While his tenure at Tennessee was cut short due to a ridiculous situation where Pearl lied about a barbecue with Aaron Craft, his time at UT before that could simply be described as FUN.

So much fun. Pearl brought Tennessee hoops back from the dead and showed America how great it could truly be. Tennessee didn’t have to be just a football and women’s basketball school.

The Pearl era helped launch Vol Basketball into what it is today — a top program. Pearl’s teams led by Chris Lofton set that foundation.

Over six seasons, Pearl’s teams made the NCAA Tournament every year, including three Sweet Sixteens and one Elite Eight. Pearl was 145-61 at UT and has gone on to have incredible success at Auburn, making two Final Fours.

8. Ray Mears — Men’s Basketball (1962-1977)

Known for his trademark orange blazer, and for winning a lot, some consider Mears to be “the father of Tennessee Volunteers basketball.”

The guy even has a street named after him. That’s what winning the SEC three times can do for you. Pearl was great but he simply didn’t stay at UT long enough to rank ahead of Mears.

Mears’ career record of 399-135 still ranks among the top 15 all-time NCAA coaching records for those with a minimum of 10 seasons, per Wikipedia.

He was a 2-time SEC Coach of the Year in 1967 and 1977 and coached 12 All-Americans at UT — including Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld.

7. Rick Barnes — Men’s Basketball (2015-current)

Rounding out the trio of men’s hoops coaches and being the greatest of the three, Barnes has officially established Tennessee as a top power in college basketball.

Mears paved the road, Pearl fired up the engine, and Barnes is cruising down the highway looking cooler than ever. At 70 years old, the Vols’ beloved leader could arguably have his most talented team yet coming into this season.

He’s college basketball’s winningest active coach (when you remove all the cheaters) and has just made consecutive Elite Eights. The second weekend of the tournament has become the norm for Tennessee.

The Vols have made seven consecutive tourneys in seasons not cut short by COVID. They’ve also compiled at least 25 wins in each of the past four seasons. They keep getting better. Literally the only thing left for Barnes to do at Tennessee is to grab the program’s first Final Four. He made one of his own at Texas back in 2003.

6. Johnny Majors — Football (1977-1992)

The first national champion on the list, Majors is a true Tennessee legend. Born in Jack Daniels country in 1935, he grew up with orange blood. Majors played for the Vols from 1953-56 and went on to become a graduate assistant at UT which launched his coaching career.

He should have won the damn Heisman, too, when you consider that Paul Hornung won it on a 2-8 Notre Dame team. TWO AND EIGHT. THE ONLY TIME THE HEISMAN HAS EVER BEEN AWARDED TO A PLAYER ON A LOSING TEAM.

Majors went on to coach Pittsburgh to a natty with Tony Dorsett in 1976 before returning home. He served at the helm of the Vol Football program from 1977-1992, before ultimately being succeeded by Phillip Fulmer. Majors’ coaching resume at UT included three SEC titles — in 1985, 1989, and 1990 — as well as a pair of Sugar Bowl victories.

There aren’t a whole lot of names etched into the side of Neyland Stadium when you look up there, but Majors is one of them. Tennessee through and through.

5. The Weeklys — Softball (2002-present)

Loyalty and Longevity come to mind immediately when you think of Ralph and Karen Weekly. The Weeklys are simply synonymous with Vol Softball.

Though Ralph finally decided to hang it up a couple years ago after close to 20 seasons coaching alongside his wife, Karen still remains at the helm of a program that is fresh off a Women’s College World Series appearance.

That WCWS appearance was the NINTH one for Karen, by the way. The accolades are startling. Multiple SEC titles. Multiple Coach of the Year honors. The first SEC team to reach the WCWS and the first SEC team to reach No. 1 in the polls.

And did you know… Tennessee Softball hasn’t won fewer than 40 games in a season SINCE 2002? Wild. Ralph and Karen have amassed well over 1,000 wins in their co-head coaching career.

4. Tony Vitello — Baseball (2018-present)

As you will see, the top four is reserved for national champions at Tennessee. We’ve already noted some great coaches on the list. Much respect to them all. But legendary as they may be, they have not won national championships at UT.

Vitello has. And that’s why he’s already on my “Mount Rushmore,” if you will, of Tennessee coaches. Having only been the man in charge of Tennessee Baseball for eight seasons, Vitello has lifted the program to a new stratosphere. 341-131 so far in the Vitello era.

Before Tony Vols, not too many people actually cared about Tennessee Baseball. Sure, there were diehards. But now baseball truly has its OWN season on the calendar. We’re not talking spring football, we’re talking Vol Baseball. He’s changed an entire fan base for the better.

And the numbers and stats, of course, speak for themselves. The 2024 natty. Three College World Series appearances in four years. More wins than any other college baseball program this decade. The true standard as college baseball’s top program (although now LSU may be able to make a case again after winning two nattys in three years… let’s get that back next year, Tony) … We’ve still got more wins, though ;)

3. Phillip Fulmer — Football (1992-2008)

Deep into his coaching career at Tennessee, Fulmer held college football’s best winning percentage among active coaches. Things fell off a bit, notably in 2005 and 2008, but with the exception of those two seasons Fulmer’s teams did a whole lot of winning.

The 1998 national championship was certainly the crowning achievement for Fulmer, bringing the Vols their first unanimous title since 1951. Tennessee also happened to be the very first BCS national champion. The Vols were dominant in the heart of the 1990s, losing only five games from 1995 through ‘98 and winning at least 10 in all four of those same seasons.

Tennessee won back-to-back SEC championships in 1997 and ‘98 in addition to winning the conference’s eastern division in ‘97, ‘98, 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2007. Fulmer was a unanimous Coach of the Year award winner in ‘98 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012.

All in all, Fulmer compiled a 152-52 career record. He also happened to play for the Vols in the 1960s. Another guy with a street named after him, Fulmer is the second-winningest Tennessee football coach of all-time, behind only one other fella. Speaking of him…

2. General Robert Neyland — Football (1926-1952)

There are arguments to made within this list. Is Vitello too high? Why is Barnes ahead of Pearl and Mears? Why wasn’t soccer included? Why are the Weeklys ahead of Majors? Etc. etc. What simply can’t be argued is which two coaches belong in the top two. There are only two names at the very top. I suppose you could argue who deserves No. 1 vs. No. 2. But these are the only two coaches with statues.

General Neyland is *arguably* a 4-time national champion. Tennessee claims national titles in 1938, 1940, 1950, and 1951. Now, maybe his teams only won one or two of those unanimously, but things were different back then. Hell, the 1939 team didn’t win a natty and it was a team that didn’t even get scored on. For real. Shut out every team in the regular season. In fact… 112 of Neyland’s 173 victories at Tennessee were shutouts. He is — perhaps — the greatest defensive football coach who ever lived.

The General coached three stints with UT having left a couple of times to SERVE IN TWO WORLD WARS AND BECOME AN AMERICAN HERO. Seven conference championships. Nine undefeated regular seasons. Neyland created the “Seven Maxims of Football” which are still recited in the locker room to this day. He was the first coach ever to utilize sideline telephones. The first to study opponents on film. The first to have teams wear lightweight pads and tearaway jerseys.

The man who saw into the future and drew up all expansion plans for HIS stadium to increase to hold over 100,000 people well after his death. The man who taught Paul “Bear” Bryant everything he knew.

1. Pat Summitt — Women’s Basketball (1974-2012)

How do you top The General? There’s really only one coach who could. And she may be not only the greatest Tennessee coach of all time, but the greatest basketball coach of all time. The numbers, the stats, the championships… that all speaks for itself. You know the numbers: eight national titles, 18 Final Fours, 16 SEC Tournaments titles, 16 SEC regular season titles, and 1,098-208 career record.

That’s a win percentage over 84 percent, by the way. But more than all of that, Summitt pioneered the sport of basketball for women. All of your mothers, sisters, and daughters who play or have played the sport have Summitt to thank for putting it on the map. She didn’t create basketball, but before her existence, it was thought of simply as a man’s game.

Summitt won a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics as a player and returned to coach the Olympic team in 1984. That team won gold. In 38 seasons as the Lady Vols’ coach, she never missed the NCAA Tournament. Never a losing season. She was ranked as the No. 11 coach — regardless of sport — of all time by the Sporting News in their list of the 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time. She was the only woman on the list.

And perhaps her greatest award — the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Summitt received the highest civilian award of the United States in 2012. An honor that has only been bestowed upon a few hundred people EVER. Literally reserved for only the greatest Americans. Pat Summitt lived and died as a legend. Her impact on sports will last forever.

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