By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- For the 100 years Tennessee Tech has fielded a varsity football team since 1922, there have been a tremendous wealth of exciting players, legendary moments and fantastic finishes. Among the cream of Tech's crop, there are student-athletes who went on to become award winners, professional players and even Hall of Famers.
To coincide with this week's Tech Football Alumni Reunion and Golf Classic, a team encompassing all 100 varsity seasons between 1922 and 2021 has been created to embody the success of the program in its first century.
The selection undertook several stages with an inaugural matrix of nearly 250 names taken across every roster in program history, taking into account several criteria, including Robert Hill Johnson award winners, Ohio Valley Conference champions, Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Famers, All-American honors, All-OVC awards, drafts into professional leagues as well as individual game, season and career records. Following the initial recommendation, the list was refined by a select alumni committee, whittling the candidates down to 100 names over the program's 100 years.
There's no question there are notable omissions, but to create a broad picture of the entire 100-year history to date and be equitable to every era of Golden Eagle football, it is difficult to get every legendary player in on a list of 100. However, we feel confident that the list presented is a tremendous representation of the program's first century.
Here is the Tennessee Tech Football All-Century Team:
COACHES:
Wilburn Tucker | Championships 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 | 70-66-5
P.V. "Putty" Overall | Championships 1952, 1953 | 97-95-18
Don Wade | Championships 1972, 1975 | 81-78-3
Watson Brown | Championship 2011 | 42-60-0
STUDENT-ATHLETES:
James Dearing Miller | B | 1920-25
Frank Adams | B | 1927-31
Albert Jobe | -- | 1927-30
David Williamson | -- | 1927-33
Joe Sills | E | 1927-31
Earl Carrier | E | 1929-34
Elwin "Wink" Midgett | QB | 1930-34
Malcolm "Mutt" Quillen | TB | 1930-33
Raymond "Bull" Brown | -- | 1933-37
Emmett Strickland | -- | 1933-36
Carl "Cotton" Barlow | E | 1936-39
Homer Hamdorff | -- | 1936-39
Creed McClure | G | 1937-39
Holmes Neal | T | 1937-39
L.C. Stubblefield | HB | 1938-42
Benton Bilbrey | FB | 1940-43
Ed Zegarske | HB | 1942, 1947-48
Charles Pangle | B | 1943-45
James "Red" Jarrell | E | 1944, 1946-49
L.D. "Speedy" Carden | E | 1946-50
Don Henderson | C | 1946-49
R.L. "Rabbit Legs" Highers | B | 1946-48
Flavious Smith | E | 1948-52
Bill Dupes | G | 1949-51
William C. Francis | C | 1949-52
Virgil Rains | G | 1949, 1952-54
Bill Branch | QB | 1949-52
Tom Fann | T | 1950-52
Leonard "Sonny" Allen | B | 1951-54
Ken Broyles | HB | 1951-53
James Gaylor | T | 1951, 1955-57
Eddie Scott | E | 1951-53
Jack Van Hooser | B | 1951-54
James Passons | T | 1953-54
Marshall "Stick" Taylor | E | 1953-56
John Moorhead | B | 1955-59
Ted Schwanger | B | 1955-56
Don Simonic | T | 1955-56
Tony Stone | G | 1955-59
Ken Wright | B | 1955-57
Gordon Mason | QB | 1957-61
W.J. Shumaker | B | 1957-59
Ray Thomas | T | 1957-60
Dave Baxter | T | 1958-61
Ken Fults | FB | 1958-61
Ralph McMillan | G | 1958-61
Lowell Smith | C | 1958-61
Ralph Broyles | HB | 1959-60
Tommy Hackler | E | 1959-60
Rudy Schmittou | B | 1959-62
Bob Borkowski | G | 1961-64
Jim Ragland | QB | 1961-63
Lonnie Warwick | LB | 1961-63
Bill Hull | DT | 1964-66
Larry Schreiber | RB | 1966-69
Jim Bishop | TE | 1967-71
J.R. Mulvihill | DB | 1967-69
Howard Cochran | G | 1969-72
John Fitzpatrick | DB | 1969-72
Jim Youngblood | LB | 1969-72
Mike Hennigan | LB | 1971-72
Elois Grooms | DE | 1972-75
Tony Plavich | DT | 1972-75
Joe Jachimowicz | DT | 1972-76
Howard Stidham | LB | 1972-75
Dana Winningham | LB | 1972-75
Ed Burns | OL | 1973-76
Murray Cunningham | K | 1973-76
Gary Perdue | QB | 1973-76
Johnny Tucker | DB | 1973-76
Cecil Fore | RB | 1975-78
Craig Rolle | WR | 1975-78
Steve Davis | P | 1976-79
Wayne Anderson | K | 1977-80
Billy Blaylock | DB | 1979-82
Jeff Daughtry | LB | 1981-84
Barry Wilmore | LB | 1982-85
Thomas Squires | LB | 1985-87
Ryan Weeks | K | 1986-89
Michael Penix | RB | 1992-95
Robert Taylor | DB | 1993-96
Branon Vaughn | DE | 1995-99
Wes Gallagher | OL | 1996-99
Josh Symonette | DB | 1996-99
Chad Evitts | LB | 1997-2000
Joey Bishop | C | 1998-2001
D.J. Bleisath | DL | 1998-2002
David Collett | K | 1998-2001
Grant Swallows | QB | 1998-2001
Frank Omiyale | OL | 2001-04
Larry Shipp | WR | 2004-07
Scott Schweitzer | OL | 2007-11
Tim Benford | WR | 2008-11
Marty Jones | DB | 2009-14
Tre Lamb | QB | 2009-12
Tra'Darius Goff | LB | 2011-15
Darian Stone | QB | 2011-14
Ladarius Vanlier | KR/PR | 2012-15
Chad Zinchini | P | 2012-15
Dontez Byrd | WR | 2016-17
