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Tennessee football: Ranking all 10 Vols head coaches’ second NFL Draft classes

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images /

9. 2014

Butch Jones

Number of NFL Draft picks: 0

Similar to Robert Neyland, Butch Jones’ second draft class was shut out because of how young it was. Tennessee football lost lots of people from the 2013 team, so Jones had almost everybody back for 2015, which is why he was at least able to extend his career on Rocky Top with two straight nine-win seasons and top 25 finishes.

However, we have Jones’ class above Neyland’s on this list for one reason: A.J. Johnson. Back in 2014, Johnson’s season ended prematurely in November due to serious legal charges. He was later acquitted of those chargers in 2018 and then signed with the Denver Broncos. This past year, Johnson become a starter for them.

Had the charges not happened in 2014, though, it’s pretty clear that Johnson, who had already made back to back first-team All-SEC appearances, would’ve been a first-rounder. The guy still had over 100 tackles in 2014 and finished in the top 10 in the SEC with 101 overall despite not playing the final three games of the season.

Of course, anything that puts Jones near the bottom of a list will have Vol fans cheer, but the first two people on this list show that a second draft class is not reflective of a head coach’s success or competence at all. Honestly, it has more to do with the program they inherited than anything else. After all, almost everybody in a coach’s second draft class was recruited by the previous coach.

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