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Tennessee football: Vols top five seasons following draft with under three picks

By Caleb Calhoun

1 Jan 1990: Running back James Rouse of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs down the field during the Cotton Bowl against the Tennessee Volunteers in Dallas, Texas. Tennessee won the game 31-27. Mandatory Credit: Joe Patronite /Allsport
1 Jan 1990: Running back James Rouse of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs down the field during the Cotton Bowl against the Tennessee Volunteers in Dallas, Texas. Tennessee won the game 31-27. Mandatory Credit: Joe Patronite /Allsport /
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Photo by Joe Patronite /Allsport
Photo by Joe Patronite /Allsport /

5. 1989: 11-1 (6-1)

SEC Championship; W Cotton Bowl; No. 5 AP and Coaches

Number of 1989 NFL Draft picks: 2

  • Keith DeLong, LB (San Francisco 49ers: Round 1; Pick 28)
  • Jeff Francis, QB (Los Angeles Raiders: Round 6; Pick 140)

It was the first year of Tennessee football’s most successful run in the modern era, where they would make 16 straight bowl appearances, finish in the top 25 for 13 straight years and win four SEC Championships and a national championship. But the year before was disastrous. Johnny Majors was in his 12th season on Rocky Top, and the Vols started things off 0-6.

UT was young at the time, and once they started to gel and the schedule got easier, they improved, finishing the year on a five-game winning streak. With such youth and a losing record, it was evident that they would have few players drafted. Keith DeLong and Jeff Francis spent five and four years respectively in the pros, all as backups with the teams that drafted them.

So there was no real pro productivity from that class. However, the next two drafts would be loaded with UT players, including Charles McRae, Antone Davis and Alvin Harper all going in the first round in 1990. As they got more experience, UT took off in 1989, beating the No. 6 ranked UCLA Bruins on the road and the No. 4 ranked Auburn Tigers at home en route to a 4-0 start.

The Vols’ only loss that year was at the Alabama Crimson Tide, which happened a week after they dismissed their start running back, Reggie Cobb. They would share the SEC title that year with Alabama and Auburn. Majors’ team then beat the Arkansas Razorbacks 31-27 in the Cotton Bowl, and Andy Kelly emerged as the quarterback to carry the program into the 1990s.

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