Mack Franklin, a Tennessee football captain and a member of the Volunteers’ 1951 national championship team, died on June 15 at the age of 93.
Franklin, who grew up in Madisonville, Tennessee, was a starting end for Tennessee in all three seasons he spent on the varsity squad. His place in Vols history was secured during the 1951 run, when Tennessee went 10-1 and claimed both the SEC and national titles under coach Robert Neyland.
He also earned All-SEC honors in 1952-53 and wore the captain’s label in 1953. By the time his college career ended, Franklin had also taken part in the Blue-Gray Game and the Senior Bowl.
After college, Franklin spent two years on active duty in the U.S. Army, with most of that time in Germany.
His career in education and coaching stretched from 1956 to 1968, with stops at Farragut, Oak Ridge and East Ridge. At East Ridge, he helped launch the wrestling program, and that team went on to win two state championships and 12 individual titles while he was there.
Franklin was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame in 2002, an honor that described him as "one of the fathers of wrestling in Tennessee." He later served as principal at McBrien Elementary and East Ridge High, assistant superintendent for Hamilton County and a member of the TSSAA Board of Control.
After retiring, Franklin became vice president and director of programs for STARS, or Students Taking a Right Stand, a drug education program used in school systems across the country.
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