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Tennessee football: Ranking Vols 5 previous seasons after no NFL Draft picks

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 5: The Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey runs through the end zone after a score against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 5, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 5: The Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey runs through the end zone after a score against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 5, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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1. 1938: 11-0 (7-0)

National Title; SEC Title; W Orange Bowl (17-0 vs. Oklahoma)

Final ranking: No. 2 (AP)

Yes, we go all the way back to the peak of Tennessee football for this one. Two years before this season, the first NFL Draft ever occurred, and Gene Rose became the first former Vol to be selected in the draft. He was taken by the New York Giants.

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In 1937, UT had gone 4-5 in W.H. Britton’s only season as head coach on Rocky Top. Following that draft, Robert Neyland would return for his second stint with the Vols. However, he went 6-2-2 in 1936 and then 6-3-1 in 1937.

So there were questions if Neyland still had it given the competitive nature of the newly formed SEC. That showed with the 1938 NFL Draft, in which no Vols were taken. It was the first draft UT did not have any players taken. Even Britton’s 4-5 team saw one player taken.

However, what was clear was that Neyland was building a perennial powerhouse on the backs of lots of young talent that would usher UT into the national age of college football. The 1938 squad would have all of the known All-Americans of the late 1930s on it.

That included the veterans like Bowden Wyatt, but it also included the young guns who were now able to play, including George Cafego, Abe Shires, Ed Molinski, Bob Suffridge and Bob Foxx. These names, specifically Wyatt, Cafego and Suffridge, are among the most legendary in school history.

And the result of that talent was the best run the school ever had. It started with 1938, in which they went 11-0 and won their first bowl game ever, beating the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl to share the national championship with the TCU Horned Frogs.

The 1938 season built off of the final two games in 1937 to launch what would be a 33-game regular season winning streak and a 23-game winning streak overall. It also launched a 19-game winning streak in which they shut out every opponent, one that was a 21-game regular season streak. And it was the beginning of three straight SEC titles and two national titles in three years.

Next. Tee Martin's 10 greatest games with Vols. dark

Simply put, 1938 ushered in an era of legendary dominance for Tennessee football. And it was on the heels of no players being selected in the NFL Draft. The Vols would go 11-0, 10-1 and 10-1 over the next three years, and only after Neyland left for his second stint would they fall off slightly. But they were established with their success during this time period.

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