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Tennessee football: Vols 10 most improved years after missing bowl game

By Caleb Calhoun

Andy Kelly #8, Quarterback for the University of Tennessee Volunteers runs the ball during the NCAA Southwest Conference Cotton Bowl Classic championship college football game against the University of Arkansas Razorbacks on 1 January 1990 at the Cotton Bowl Stadium, Dallas, Texas, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 31 - 27. (Photo by Joe Patronite/Allsport/Getty Images)
Andy Kelly #8, Quarterback for the University of Tennessee Volunteers runs the ball during the NCAA Southwest Conference Cotton Bowl Classic championship college football game against the University of Arkansas Razorbacks on 1 January 1990 at the Cotton Bowl Stadium, Dallas, Texas, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 31 - 27. (Photo by Joe Patronite/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images /

4. 2006 (9-4, 5-3)

2005 record: 5-6 (3-5)

The turnaround for Tennessee football in 2006 was many things. It was a blip on the radar of a program otherwise on a downhill slide. But at the same time, it was the revival of the career of a legendary offensive coordinator on Rocky Top.

For context, the Vols had missed a bowl game for the first time in 17 seasons in 2005. That was despite starting the year ranked No. 3. Phillip Fulmer was feeling serious heat, and Randy Sanders was forced to resign as offensive coordinator after grossly mismanaging the quarterback situation between Rick Clausen and Erik Ainge.

In the offseason, though, the Vols were able to lure back David Cutcliffe, their offensive coordinator in the 1990s whom Sanders replaced. He had been fired by the Ole Miss Rebels and stepped down from an assistant position with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, leaving him on the open market. And that made all the difference.

The Vols opened the season against the California Golden Bears, a Top 10 team, and immediately they made a statement by jumping out to a 35-0 lead and holding on to win 35-18. Ainge’s 291 yards and four touchdowns were more than he had in any game in 2005, as were the 35 points for the team.

This team rolled out to a 7-1 start, only losing by one to the eventual national champion Florida Gators. They didn’t finish strong with another heartbreaking loss to the LSU Tigers, a blowout loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks and a fluke Outback Bowl loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions gifted to them by a horrible Arian Foster fumble. But they still managed to finish 9-4 and in the Top 25. That was a major improvement over the 5-6 record the year before, so it has to make this list.

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