Top 10 single seasons by Tennessee football players of all time

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

Very few people were great leaders on the level of John Henderson. After taking over for an injured Billy Ratliff in 1999, Henderson became a superstar for Tennessee football. He was a two-time All-American in the two full seasons he started, and playing alongside Albert Haynesworth in 2001, he anchored the greatest rush defense in arguably college football history.

However, 2000 was the year Henderson was the star. This was his first season expecting to become the full-time starter from the get-go, and he didn’t disappoint. As a defensive tackle, Henderson came away with 12 sacks, which remains fourth on the all-time single-season sacks record list and is beyond impressive for a defensive tackle.

Henderson drew double-teams on every play, and that freed up Will Overstreet on the end to look like a star himself. In addition to his 12 sacks, he had 71 tackles, 64 of which were solo, along with four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He also broke up two passes and had an incredible 21 tackles for a loss. So he was the perfect defensive lineman.

Part of what made Henderson so great was he was a physical freak, standing at 6’7″ 290 pounds while running a 4.7 40. His imposing presence made him unstoppable. When he won the Outland, he became beloved by Vol fans by announcing that he would stay for his senior season when he easily would have been a first-round draft pick. That stands out as well.