10. Reggie White: 15 sacks in a season
1983
Derek Barnett shocked the world when he broke Reggie White’s Tennessee football career sacks record in just three years. Barnett got his 33rd sack, surpassing White’s 32-sack mark, in his final game on Rocky Top, UT’s 2016 Music City Bowl win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers. However, he did it over a consistent basis with 10, 10 and 13 sacks in three years.
White, meanwhile, had an insane senior season back in 1983. Numerous coaches, including the late Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer, noted that it was the most dominant single season they had ever seen from a defensive player. Somehow, playing defensive tackle, White turned into a sacks machine above all else en route to an All-American season.
As part of being that sacks machine, he finished the year with 15 sacks. This is a record that stands not because of the state of play at that time but just for how impressive it is. Garnering 15 sacks is an extremely tall task no matter what, and White set a nearly unbeatable record as a defensive tackle lining up in the middle! It’s unheard of.
Because of that, we had to put this on the list. This isn’t the most impossible record on here to break, but it’s certainly a tough one, and that’s particularly the case for defensive tackles in the age of the spread offense and other schemes that involve the quarterback getting rid of the ball quickly. Getting so many sacks was incredible no matter what, though.