“‘T’ is for Texas; ‘T’ is for Tennessee” could have been a song for George Tyree who was born at Dawson, Texas, in September 1905. He migrated to Tennessee after high school to attend Bethel College in Carroll County, where he was an outstanding, all-round athlete. It was in football, however, that he truly excelled. After college in 1928, Tyree plied his football skills as a coach at Fayette County High School in Somerville, Tennessee, where he remained until 1944. That year he shifted from West Tennessee to East Tennessee, becoming head coach at Tennessee High School in Bristol. After two years at Bristol, Tyree headed back west, taking the head coaching job at Union City High School in Union City, Tennessee, where he remained until 1951. He finished his athletic career at White Station High School in Memphis, giving good gridiron advice from 1951 to 1969 and retiring after more than forty years of coaching. Throughout the decades and dating back to his years as a player at Bethel, Tyree was known for his superior character, his community involvement, and his excellence applied to the task at hand.
