The great Tennessee Vols football teams of the late 1930s under General Robert Neyland were filled with fantastic players, and one of the best was Ike Peel. A native of Dyersburg, Tennessee, Peel was a football star in high school, where he won West Tennessee all-star honors three straight years. He enrolled at UT in 1938. In 1939, perhaps the greatest year in Volunteer football history, the team went undefeated and unscored on, and Peel played both offense and defense. During the Alabama game that year, he made three blocks on a Johnny Butler run, one of the most famous Tennessee plays of all-time. In 1940 another undefeated Vol team went to the Sugar Bowl. During his senior year in 1941, Peel played under Coach John Barnhill, Neyland having been called into service. The Volunteers went 8-2 that year, and Peel won the Jacobs Award honoring the outstanding blocker in the country. Upon graduating, he served as backfield coach for Barnhill. Peel then went into the infantry during 1943-1945 before returning to coaching at UT in 1945 under Barnhill and Neyland. He also coached Vol baseball for five years, as well as leading the wrestling team to an undefeated season. Ike Peel returned to Dyersburg in 1953, where he remains today, a living legend and a key player in the proud history of the University of Tennessee.
