Three reasons Tennessee football won title in 1998 and not 1997

1. More talented starters overall

In addition to the six players we named, the Vols also lost future NFL Draft picks Andy McCullough and Corey Gaines, co-captain defensive tackle Bill Duff and safety Tori Noel. To replace those 10 guys, Phillip Fulmer largely turned to his 1997 recruiting class, the most talented in UT history with 17 members making NFL rosters. That resulted in an actual upgrade in 1998.

Sure, Manning to Tee Martin was a downgrade. Teague being replaced by Spencer Riley on the offensive line with Jarvis Reado becoming the only new starter was a slight downgrade there. Linebackers were also hit with the loss of Leonard Little. But those were the only clear drop-offs.

At receiver, Peerless Price replaced Marcus Nash. Cedrick Wilson replaced Andy McCullough. Nash and McCullough were out of the NFL after two years, clearly only benefitting from Manning, while Price and Wilson became regular starters. Wilson won a Super Bowl, and Price was a 1,200 yard receiver one year. So that position was an upgrade.

Neither Duff nor Brown, the two departures on the defensive line, started a game in the pros. Replacing them were Darwin Walker, who played in the pros for nine years, starting in six of them, and future NFL Pro Bowler and 12-year starter Shaun Ellis. This was a major upgrade.

In the secondary, Fair, Noel and Gaines were replaced by Steve Johnson, Fred White and Deon Grant. Only Fair was the better player in that matchup. White was an upgrade over Noel, and Grant, a future All-American and 12-year NFL starter, was clearly a major upgrade over Gaines.

Finally, what about Lewis at running back? Well, he actually didn’t start at the beginning of 1997 when UT lost at the Florida Gators, and he did start when the Vols beat Florida in 1998. So you could technically call that an upgrade, even with his season-ending injury.

Also, Lewis replaced Mark Levine, the initial starter in 1997, while Travis Henry, a future NFL Pro Bowler himself, replaced Lewis in 1998. Even if we call it a wash, six of the 11 starting spots replaced in 1998 were upgrades, and four were downgrade. So the talent was a net upgrade.