Nathan Doughtery, College Football Hall of Fame Cass of 1967

Nathan Washington Dougherty literally has left his name on the campus; the engineering building is named after him. His additional list of accolades includes being “an honor student in engineering, captain of three varsity athletic teams, one of the first Tennessee players to make the all-Southern football team, professor and later dean of the College of Engineering, chairman of the UT Athletic Council from 1917 to 1956, vice President of the [NCAA], and a member of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame.” He was regarded as the largest person in his class at UT, standing an imposing 6 foot 2 inches, and weighing 185 pounds. While these are not intimidating dimensions by today’s standards, keep in mind the average weight of a UT football player was merely 154 pounds. He avoided playing his freshman season, initially keeping all his focus on attaining his degree in engineering, saying he was “not too enthusiastic about [football]. But my size attracted the attention of those on the campus who were interested in the game, and the captain of the team… approached me with the suggestion that I go out for the team.” Though he skipped the gridiron for the textbooks in his first year, he came out as a sophomore and immediately was accepted as a player on the field. While the teams he played on were none too successful, acquiring a 16-16-5 record, Dougherty is the most senior member of the University of Tennessee enshrined in the hallowed halls.