3. 1955
Harvey Robinson
Number of NFL Draft picks: 6
- Darris McCord, DE (Detroit Lions: Round 3, Pick 36)
- Ed Nickla, LB (Chicago Bears: Round 10, Pick 167)
- Pat Oleksiak, B (Detroit Lions: Round 18, Pick 216)
- Jimmy Wade, B (Philadelphia Eagles: Round 20, Pick 238)
- Joel Kinley, G (Chicago Bears: Round 27, Pick 323)
- Lamar Leachman, C (Cleveland Browns: Round 30, Pick 360)
He was not the most successful head coach of Tennessee football. Harvey Robinson was hired as Robert Neyland’s successor and fired two years later after going 6-4-1 and 4-6 in two seasons. However, he still had a loaded draft class even after he was fired, largely due to players Neyland recruited and coached up before he took over.
The headliner of this class is Darris McCord, who as an All-American in 1954. McCord had a 13-year career with the Detroit Lions and reached a Pro Bowl and won an NFL Championship in 1957. Now, to be fair, he’s technically the only player on here who had any noteworthy NFL career. But in terms of numbers and then McCord’s success, this belongs at No. 3.
However, Ed Nickla technically was part of this draft class. He was taken by the Chicago Bears. The glitch is he spent the next four years in the Air Force and returned to finish his final two years with the Maryland Terrapins, so whether or not he belongs on this list is worthy of dispute. With only one year in the pros, he didn’t make much difference anyway.