With their recent success in the NFL, Tennessee football has developed a reputation as Punter U. Here are the five best when they played for the Volunteers.
Field position matters. Tennessee football has made it a crucial part of its success over the years, and even as the game expands into a more high-scoring affair, the ability to pin opponents deep is something that should never be taken for granted.
In hard-fought, defensive-focused SEC games, the ability to flip the field is an even bigger deal. As a result, being able to find a good punter who can consistently do that gives a team a huge advantage in close matchups.
Some of the most notable wins in Tennessee football history came specifically because of a punting advantage. That advantage on Rocky Top goes back in history, and it doesn’t just include one elite family of punters.
What other players could we be talking about? Well, in this post, we’ll lay it out. This is going to be our analysis of the greatest punters in UT history, and we can actually say up front that a majority of them aren’t in the Colquitt family. In fact, a couple of Colquitts surprisingly didn’t make the list.
To be fair, they didn’t make it because of how deep this list runs. The Vols have been churning out elite punters the way they used to churn out elite wide receivers. It’s been a huge bonus for them dating back to their 1998 national championship season.
Although place kicking is more important, punters are usually better athletes, and the Vols have found much more consistent success when it comes to punting. They are able to lure in lots of talent in that area, and it goes back to even the pre-Colquitt days.
How far back do they go? What did these guys bring to the program? Let’s go ahead and break down this elite list here. We should note up front that this is an analysis of their college years, not their pro years. These are Tennessee football’s five greatest punters of all time.