Tennessee football: Top 10 junior college Vols of all time

This probably wasn’t that shocking to anybody, although Dale Carter had a case. Leonard Little, who was originally from North Carolina, is easily Tennessee football’s most recognizable junior college player ever.

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After one year at Coffeyville Community College in Coffeyville, Kan., Little joined the Vols in 1995. He arrived with freshman Al Wilson just as Peyton Manning was hitting his stride and as John Chavis was getting hired as defensive coordinator. Things were coming into place for the Vols to have their best run of the modern era.

As a hybrid defensive end and linebacker, Little became an insanely great playmaker. He had 11 sacks in 1995 and then eight and a half in each of the next two years for 28 in his college career. In addition to those 11 sacks as a sophomore, he also had 25 tackles for a loss.

Little should have earned All-American honors that year, but he didn’t. Instead he had to wait until his senior year to earn such recognition, when he and Manning were captains on the team that won the SEC Championship. Along with his three sacks, Little had 53 total tackles for a loss in his career along with eight forced fumbles, 182 total tackles and 10 passes broken up.

Simply put, Little was a star for Tennessee football. He then had a successful 12-year NFL career, all with the St. Louis Rams, in which he won a Super Bowl championship in 1999-2000 and reached a Pro Bowl while also earning All-Pro honors in 2003-2004. His college production alone, though, was legendary.