Tennessee football: Vols 10 best seasons coming off a losing record
1. 1989
11-1 (6-1); SEC Co-Champions; No. 5 AP and Coaches; W Cotton Bowl
1988 record: 5-6 (3-4)
The turnaround for this season was the turnaround to usher in an epic era for Tennessee football. Remember the 1981 turnaround year we talked about with Johnny Majors? Well, 1988 was where it all fell apart. The Vols got off to an 0-6 start and were set to miss their first bowl game since that 1980 year. Majors was back on the hot seat.
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However, rather than wilt, Majors’s team rebounded to win their final five games and finish 5-6. That set the stage for the 1989 season in which he would replace both his offensive and defensive coordinators. Phillip Fulmer would replace Walt Harris on the offensive side, as Harris would leave for Pacific. Doug Mathews would replace longtime defensive coaching legend Ken Donahue.
The results in the changes were almost immediate. After an ugly 17-14 win over the Colorado State Rams to start the year, the Vols remained unranked. But they raised eyebrows the next week with a dominating 24-6 win over the No. 6 ranked UCLA Bruins on the road to get to No. 17.
After that, they got into the top 25 and blew out the Duke Blue Devils. Then they got the highlight win of the year, thanks to Reggie Cobb, with a 21-14 victory over the No. 4 ranked Auburn Tigers. A win over the Georgia Bulldogs had this team at 5-0 and No. 6 in the nation.
The distractions from Cobb’s dismissal in the off-week resulted in a 47-30 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. But the Vols won the rest of their regular season games, and with Alabama losing to Auburn, they were able to capture a share of the SEC Title.
dark. Next. Projecting the Vols' 2019 2-deep depth chart
In the Cotton Bowl, Tennessee football beat the Southwest Champion Arkansas Razorbacks to finish the season 11-1 and No. 5 in the nation. It began a run of 16 straight years with a bowl appearance and 13 straight top 25 finishes, all of which included four SEC Championships and a national title. So this turnaround year was beyond significant.