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Chris Gaines is SEC Football Legend 11/30/2005 Chris Gaines, one of the most prolific defensive players in Vanderbilt football history, will be honored at this weekend’s Southeastern Conference Football Championship Game as a Living Legend. Gaines played linebacker from 1984-87 and earned first team Kodak All-America by the nation’s football coaches in 1987 after setting a then SEC record with 214 tackles. He was Vanderbilt’s 1987 Athlete of the Year, the MVP of the Blue-Gray Game and the Tennessee Amateur Athlete of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Gaines will join 11 other “legends”, one from each league institution, at the conference’s Legends Dinner Friday in Atlanta. The 12 honorees are then introduced to the capacity crowd at the Georgia Dome prior to Saturday afternoon’s LSU-Georgia title game. Chris, who’s younger brother Brad also played at Vanderbilt, was academic all-SEC, first-team all-SEC and still holds several school records including his 37 tackles against Tulane. Gaines later set a single season tackling record for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. After retiring as a player, was Vanderbilt’s strength and conditioning coach before coaching linebackers for two years. He was voted the 1997 SEC Linebackers Coach of the Year when VU led the league in total defense. He now resides with his family in the Nashville area and is in private business. |
