Tennessee football: Top 10 junior college Vols of all time

Speaking of difficult years like 1992, Cordarrelle Patterson was with Tennessee football for one year, and that was another difficult year, 2012. Derek Dooley was entering his third season on the job and was also on the hot seat. He decided to rework the offense with all the talent he had in that previous offseason and focus heavily on scoring at will, particularly with Tyler Bray’s arm.

Part of that meant letting Bray throw the ball all around the field, and with weapons like Mychal Rivera and Justin Hunter it made sense. Dooley completed this incredible offense, which Jim Chaney ran, by luring four-star Cordarrelle Patterson from Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kan. Patterson immediately became the Vols’ best offensive weapon.

We all know the 2021 story. UT had a historically great offense but went 5-7, as Dooley got fired, because of new defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri switching to a 3-4, creating a horrible defense. The 6’2″ 238-pound receiver was not at fault. He had 46 receptions for 778 yards, 25 carries for 308 yards and 10 total touchdowns, including a kick return and a punt return touchdown.

Patterson was a weapon all the way around and could not be stopped. He turned that success into what has now been a successful seven-year pro career and counting with four different teams, earning All-Pro six times as a return specialist, making three Pro Bowls and winning a Super Bowl. This one year alone was enough to put Patterson on the list. His production was incredible.