Top 10 single seasons by Tennessee football players of all time
1964. Steve DeLong. 5. player. Pick Analysis. Middle Guard. 839. Scouting Report
Outland Trophy; All-American; All-SEC
Believe it or not, Steve DeLong is Tennessee football’s first player to ever win a national award. Playing for Doug Dickey’s first team on Rocky Top in 1964, he was a bright spot in what was clearly a rebuilding season, and in the process he did what even the best defensive players on Rocky Top before then were never able to do.
DeLong had the misfortune of playing for three coaches in three years during the seasons he was in Knoxville. As a result, he never got to enjoy a winning season. Bowden Wyatt had fallen behind the times, going 4-6 in 1962. Jim McDonald replaced him for a year and didn’t do any updates to the program, going 5-5 in 1963.
When Dickey arrived in 1964, he did all the changes, switching from the single-wing to the T-formation, installing the Power T on the helmets and beginning the tradition of the Vols running through the T. However, UT wasn’t ready for all the transitions in 1964, so they still stumbled to a 4-5-1 season even with a huge upset win over the No. 7 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
A two-time All-American in 1963 and 1964, DeLong played middle guard, which was the nose tackle in a 5-2 defense. He won the Outland Trophy in 1964, being named the nation’s best interior lineman. Although stats couldn’t be recorded at that time, DeLong earning this honor is easily enough to put him on this list.