General Neyland's Maxims

Though I was the first passenger on the Lane Train when Kiffin came to Tennessee, and- truth be told- I'm still hanging out on the back platform, I wasn't thrilled with his neglect of tradition (other than beating Florida, which he failed to do). Tennessee is just about the most traditional school in the nation, so snubbing them is like going to London and not seeing the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It's who we are, and that must be respected by our fearless leader.

Happily, Coach Dooley gets that. Rumor has it, he's re-implementing Neyland' maxims before each game.

Timeout for those that don't know our beloved Neyland (and that's Neyland like your knee; neigh is for horses). General Neyland is to Tennessee what the Bear is to Alabama, even if the Bear never beat Neyland on the field. He is our most revered coach, was an actual general, and lends him name to the third largest non-racing stadium in the world. One attribute that made him a great was his commitment to the maxims; follow them, he believed, and victory will follow you. Since his time, our players have repeated them together in the locker room before every game. Most years, they're played on the Jumbotron so the fans can join in as well. I really hope that comes back, because it's incredibly special to meditate on winning principles with 101,000 of your spirited friends.

Not to share with the world our secrets to success, but here are his famous maxims, near and dear to every Vol heart (text courtesy of volnation.com).

General Neyland's 7 Maxims

1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.

2. Play for and make the breaks and when one comes your way - SCORE.

3. If at first the game - or the breaks - go against you, don't let up... put on more steam.

4. Protect our kickers, our QB, our lead and our ball game.

5. Ball, oskie, cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle... for this is the WINNING EDGE.

6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.

7. Carry the fight to our opponent and keep it there for 60 minutes.