Andrew J. Kozar joined the UT football team in 1948 and played as fullback on the 1951 championship team. In 1952 he was named fullback on the All-Southeastern Conference first team. He received the bachelor’s degree in 1953 and was drafted by the Chicago Bears. Before he could report to the Bears, he was called to active duty and served from 1953 to 1955. Upon completion of his army commitment, he returned to the Chicago Bears and participated in the 1955 preseason before being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, at which point he elected to end his football career for further academic study. He earned the master’s degree (1957) and the PhD (1961) from the University of Michigan. He taught at Michigan for a decade before returning to UT in 1966 as chairman of men’s physical education in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.
He introduced paddleball as a recreational pastime at UT, and in 1972 he won the master’s division of the National Paddleball Tournament. He served as executive assistant to President Edward Boling from 1975 to 1886 and then was appointed university professor and returned to the Department of Exercise Science, from which he retired in 2001. In 1973 Kozar was instrumental in obtaining for UT a collection of R. Tait McKenzie sculptures from the estate of Dr. Joseph B. Wolffe. In 1975 Kozar published R. Tait McKenzie: The Sculptor of Athletes. In 1978 the NCAA recognized him as one of its Silver Anniversary Top Five, a recognition of a select number of athletes who have fashioned distinguished careers in fields other than athletics during the past 25 years. Serving as executive assistant to UT President Edward J. Boling when named, Kozar was recognized as an authority in the field of physical education and health and in the field of sports sculpture.
He was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1979, the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2005, along with Hank Lauricella. In 2003 he published Football as a War Game: The Annotated Journals of General R. R. Neyland. Proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the Robert R. Neyland Athletic Endowment. In all, Kozer authored nine books and more than 50 articles.