Tennessee football: Vols top 30 players since 1998 national championship

Tennessee football has been Punter U throughout this century. It has been the home of the elite Colquitt Family for decades now. The most recent Colquitt punter, though, was Britton Colquitt, who started during Phillip Fulmer’s final four years on Rocky Top.

Although that was Fulmer’s worst four-year run with two losing seasons and one that got him fired, he still managed an SEC East championship in 2007 and back-to-back Top 25 finishes when David Cutcliffe was there. A big reason for that was Colquitt.

After a rough freshman season, Colquitt blew up as a sophomore. That year in 2006, he averaged nearly 45 yards a punt and hailed a 64-yarder at one point. It was enough for him to achieve First-Team All-SEC.

In 2007, he had a drop-off, averaging just 41.6 yards per punt, but that was largely due to the high-powered offense on Rocky Top that often moved the ball at will. As a result, he usually had a shorter field to punt the ball. But he still managed to make All-SEC again.

One thing that knocks Colquitt down here, though, is what happened in 2008. He was suspended the first five games of that season because he crashed a car while under the influence and then fled the scene of an accident. It was an embarrassing moment that should have probably kept him completely off this list.

When he came back, though, he averaged over 43 yards a punt through seven games. He even managed to boot one 71 yards against the South Carolina Gamecocks. So in Evan Berry fashion, it’s safe to say that Britton is not his older brother. But he produced enough for the Vols to get on this list as a special teams player.