KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- George Cafego, a former All-America tailback who coached Tennessee's kickers for 30 years, has retired from his volunteer post on the school's coaching staff.
'He has been a fantastic man for this school,' said coach Johnny Majors.
'I wish we could keep him forever. He has been a tremendous credit to the University of Tennessee, not just by his presence, but by his contributions.'
Cafego, 69, was a victim of the NCAA rule limiting staff size because, he said, he could no longer afford to be a coach without pay, which he has been since 1982.
'When they made me a volunteer coach it was just like they had fired me,' Cafego said. 'They couldn't pay me any money, I couldn't go on trips except at my own expense, I didn't go to the bowl games. They couldn't do anything for me legally.
'Money is the problem. No matter what you do, you've got to have money.'
Under NCAA rules, a football staff can have a head coach and nine assistants. Volunteer coaches are permitted, but cannot be paid by the school.
Majors said he will decide before the opening of spring practice Wednesday who will coach Tennessee's kickers next fall. He said he might take the job himself.
Cafego came to Tennessee as a freshman tailback in 1936 and was an All-America in 1938 and 1939. He was inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
After graduation, he played three years of professional football, served two years in the Army, and coached at Furman, Wyoming and Arkansas before returning to Tennessee as an assistant coach in 1955.
