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Tennessee football’s five longest NFL Draft first-round droughts

By Caleb Calhoun

Apr 25, 2019; Nashville, TN, USA; Detailed view of neon NFL shield logo during the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft in downtown Nashville. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 25, 2019; Nashville, TN, USA; Detailed view of neon NFL shield logo during the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft in downtown Nashville. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Vanderbilt head coach Bill Pace, left, and Tennessee head coach Bill Battle exchange greetings at the end of the hard fought game. The Sugar Bowl-bound Vols defeated the Commodores 24-6 before 33,850 at Dudley Field Nov. 28, 1970.
Vanderbilt head coach Bill Pace, left, and Tennessee head coach Bill Battle exchange greetings at the end of the hard fought game. The Sugar Bowl-bound Vols defeated the Commodores 24-6 before 33,850 at Dudley Field Nov. 28, 1970. /

3. 1971-1976

The back end of the Doug Dickey/Bill Battle years that saw Tennessee football slide into a bit of irrelevancy before Johnny Majors revitalized it became evident early on. Battle’s first team, 1970, went 11-1 and finished in the top five. However, the ensuing draft saw no first-rounders taken and that continued for quite some time.

It wasn’t clear that the Vols were sliding early on, as they went 10-2 and 10-2 over the next two years. Then they went 8-4 and 7-3-2, though, in Holloway’s final two years, and the slide became more clear. A 7-5 season the first year without Holloway showed how far this program had fallen, and the NFL Draft didn’t have to be the only bit of evidence.

Now, ironically, this drought is higher on the list because it was longer at six years instead of four. It’s ironic because this is the one run on the list where every season before each draft year finished with a winning record, even the disappointing 7-5 campaign.

There were some talented players taken in the draft from UT during this time as well, including Eddie Brown and Haskel Stanback. Also, the streak broke ironically after Battle was replaced by Majors on the heels of a 6-5 1976 season, when Stanley Morgan went in the first round in 1977.

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