Strong Safety
1. Bill Bates, 1979-1982
One of the most underrated players of the Johnny Majors era, Bill Bates is famous for his 15-year NFL career as a strong safety with the Dallas Cowboys in which he won three Super Bowl championships. However, he was a star for Tennessee football on Rocky Top before that, and his talent proves that he would clearly be a starter for Johnny Majors’ all-time Vols team.
Bates had nine interceptions in four years with the Vols, including seven his final two years. He also had three sacks his freshman year and eight career tackles for a loss, four career forced fumbles, six career fumble recoveries and 255 tackles. Simply put, he did it all for the Vols and was a true strong safety. This was one of the easiest starters on the whole depth chart to name.
2. Tommy Sims, 1982-1985
Playing with Bates in 1982, Tommy Sims became a great safety in his own right. He had seven interceptions in four years on Rocky Top, and he also had 183 total tackles, five tackles for a loss, a fumble recovery and a pass broken up. Given those numbers, Sims is more of a free safety, but he could easily move over to strong safety to fill the needs on this all-time depth chart.
As a result, we have Sims behind Bates. As Sims saw more action, the Vols continued to get better. He helped UT get its first nine-win season under Majors in 1983 with three interceptions, and he was a force in a banged up secondary in 1985 as the Vols won their first SEC Championship under Majors. Even with just a one-year NFL career, Sims’ college play gets him a spot on this roster.