Top 10 single seasons by Tennessee football players of all time

SEC Defensive Player of the Year; All-American; All-SEC

Similar to Leonard Little, we are putting a year on here in which Eric Berry didn’t receive his highest level of recognition. That would come in 2009, when he won the Jim Thorpe Award and also earned All-American and All-SEC honors. However, he was robbed of the Thorpe in 2008 by Ohio State Buckeyes defensive back Malcolm Jenkins.

This was definitely Berry’s better season, and that’s why it’s the year he won SEC Defensive Player of the Year. To be fair, his stats dipped in 2009 because Monte Kiffin had him playing effectively at linebacker as a safety. In 2007, he had the best team success and was a Freshman All-American, helping the Vols win the SEC East.

However, in 2008, he was the one bright spot in a really tough year that saw Phillip Fulmer get fired as the Vols went 5-7. Berry had seven interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns, along with three sacks and eight and a half tackles for a loss. He also had 72 tackles and set a school record for 265 interception return yards. Simply put, he did it all that year.

If Berry had stayed in that system, he would have broken the NCAA record for interception return yards in 2009. What he did in 2008 was beyond remarkable, though, and it’s one of the greatest seasons by a defensive player in UT history. His tackles stats would have been elite for any linebacker or defensive lineman, and his pass-coverage stats were elite for a defensive back.