Vanderbilt University is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of New York shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million endowment despite having never been to the South. Vanderbilt hoped that his gift and the greater work of the university would help to heal the sectional wounds inflicted by the Civil War.
William Wallace Wade was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama from 1923 to 1930 and at Duke University from 1931 to 1941 and again from 1946 to 1950, compiling a career college football record of 171–49–10. His tenure at Duke was interrupted by military service during World War II. Wade's Alabama Crimson Tide football teams of 1925, 1926, and 1930 have been recognized as national champions, while his 1938 Duke team had an unscored upon regular season, giving up its only points in the final minute of the 1939 Rose Bowl. Wade won a total of ten Southern Conference football titles, four with Alabama and six with the Duke Blue Devils. He coached in five Rose Bowls including the 1942 game, which was relocated from Pasadena, California to Durham, North Carolina after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Gerard Paul DiNardo is a former American football player and coach. He played college football as a guard for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish where he was selected as an All-American in 1974. DiNardo served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University (1991–1994), Louisiana State University (1995–1999), and Indiana University (2002–2004), compiling a career college football record of 59–76–1. In 2001, he was the head coach of the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the XFL.
Buford Garfield "Baby" Ray was an American football player who played eleven seasons in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers from 1938 to 1948.
Stephen Charles Sloan is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of Alabama from 1962 to 1965 and then played for two seasons in the National Football League with the Atlanta Falcons (1966–1967). Sloan served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University (1973–1974), Texas Tech University (1975–1977), the University of Mississippi (1978–1982), and Duke University (1983–1986), compiling a career record of 68–86–3. He also served as the athletic director at the University of Alabama, the University of North Texas, University of Central Florida, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga before his retirement in 2006. In 2000, Sloan was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
Daniel Earle McGugin was an American football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from 1919 to 1934, compiling a record of 197–55–19. He is the winningest head coach in the history of the university. McGugin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951 as part of its inaugural class. He was the brother-in-law of University of Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost.
Lester Watson Brown is a retired American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at Tennessee Technological University, a position he held from 2007 to 2015. Previously, Brown served as the head coach at Austin Peay State University (1979–1980), the University of Cincinnati (1983), Rice University (1984–1985), Vanderbilt University (1986–1990), and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (1995–2006). He was also the athletic director at Rice from 1984 to 1985 and at UAB from 2002 to 2005. Brown played college football as a quarterback at Vanderbilt. He is the older brother of Mack Brown, the former head football coach at the University of Texas at Austin.
Rodney Douglas Dowhower is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Stanford University in 1979 and at Vanderbilt University from 1995 to 1996, compiling a career college football record of 9–23–1. Dowhower was also the coach of the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts in 1985 and 1986, where he tallied a record of 5–24. He was fired after losing 13 straight games to begin the 1986 season.
J. Ray Morrison was an American football and baseball player and a coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University, Vanderbilt University, Temple University (1940–1948), and Austin College (1949–1952), compiling a career college football record of 155–130–34. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954.
John Cullom "Red" Floyd was an American football and basketball player and coach. He played football at Vanderbilt University with such greats as Irby "Rabbit" Curry and Josh Cody, captaining the 1920 Vanderbilt Commodores football team. He served as the head football coach at Middle Tennessee State University, Auburn University (1929), and The Citadel in South Carolina (1930–1931), compiling a career college football record of 39–21–4. Floyd was also the head basketball coach at Vanderbilt University from 1927 to 1929 and at Middle Tennessee from 1935 to 1939, tallying a career college basketball mark of 22–53.
Lewis Woolford Hardage was an American college football player and college football and baseball coach. Hardage was an All-Southern halfback every year he played: 1908, 1909, 1911, and 1912—the first two for Mike Donahue's Auburn Tigers of Auburn University and the latter two for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. Fuzzy Woodruff labeled him the South's "fastest back of the 1910-1920 decade".
George Wallace MacIntyre was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tennessee at Martin from 1975 to 1977 and at Vanderbilt University from 1979 to 1985, compiling a career college football record of 43–66–1. At Vanderbilt in 1982, he won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.
Oliver Carmichael served as the third chancellor of Vanderbilt University from 1937 to 1946. He also served as the President of the University of Alabama from 1953 to 1957.
The 1890 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1890 college football season. The team's head coach and team captain was Elliott H. Jones, who served his first season in that capacity. In its inaugural season of play, Vandy played only one game, in Nashville, Tennessee, against Nashville Peabody Normal School.
The 1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1908 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The team's head coach was Dan McGugin, who served his fifth season in that capacity. Members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the Commodores played eight home games in Nashville, Tennessee and finished the season with a record of 7–2–1 and 3–0–1 in SIAA.
The 1933 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 1933 college football season. The 1933 season was Dan McGugin's 29th year as head coach. 1933 was the first year of the SEC Vanderbilt was a founding member of the conference.
The 2017 NC State Wolfpack football team represented North Carolina State University during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolfpack played their home games at Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina and competed in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by fifth-year head coach Dave Doeren. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Atlantic Division. They received a bid to the Sun Bowl where they defeated Arizona State.
The Georgia Tech–Vanderbilt football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Vanderbilt Commodores. Both universities are founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
