Tennessee football enters 2022 similar to how they entered a legendary 1956 season

Consider these factors: A second-year head coach, a potential Heisman candidate in the backfield and a winning season the year before. These are all the factors in play for Tennessee football entering the 2022 season, and that’s an encouraging sign for the Vols.

At least to begin the year, the Vols have a lot of signs similar to 1956. That year, they went 10-0 in the regular season, winning the SEC Championship and having a case for the national championship. To be fair, they didn’t win it, and they lost their bowl game, but it was still a legendary season at UT.

What stands out about that year is Tennessee football had its first Heisman runner-up. Future legendary head coach Johnny Majors finished second in the voting to Paul Hornung, and yes, that was just as controversial as Peyton Manning’s loss to Charles Woodson in 1997. Hornung’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish were 2-8.

Syracuse running back Jim Brown had a case over Hornung too, and it should have come down to Brown and Majors. It was ironic that team success wasn’t a factor when it came to Hornung beating out Majors that year but the Michigan Wolverines’ success over the Vols in 1997 is how Woodson beat out Manning.

Anyway, this year, Hendon Hooker is drawing Heisman eyeballs in his gradate senior season the same way Majors did in 1956. Whether or not he lives up to it remains to be seen, but only Manning, Majors and Heath Shuler have ever been in the Heisman race at UT.

Meanwhile, similar to Josh Heupel, Bowden Wyatt was coming off an inaugural winning season in which he finished the year. He had 6-3-1 season the year before, taking over for Harvey Robinson, who had been appointed as Robert Neyland’s direct successor.

Robinson had a final year similar to Jeremy Pruitt’s final year at UT when it comes to on the field. The 1954 Vols went 4-6 after going 6-4-1 in 1953. Like 2020, things didn’t start off horribly for them in 1954, as they had gotten to 4-2.

However, they lost their final four games, and Neyland fired Robinson. Wyatt, like Josh Heupel in 2021, injected new life into the program in 1955. After an 0-2 start, he won four straight and had six straight unbeaten games. Similar to Heupel, he made it clear he was building something at Tennessee football.

If you want one more similarity between the two, it’s the rankings. The Coaches Poll and AP Poll have excluded the Vols entering Heupel’s second season. UT was No. 12 in the Preseason AP Poll in 1955, but they dropped out in Week 1 before even playing a game.

Taking all this into account, Tennessee football’s 2022 campaign draws tons of similarities to 1956. No other second year for a head coach at UT started out more similar in the poll era. Neyland came onto the scene before the polls and SEC began.

John Robinson, Bill Battle and Phillip Fulmer had top 10 teams their first season and inherited successful programs. Doug Dickey, Johnny Majors, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt had losing records their first year. Lane Kiffin never had a second year.

These things alone would make 1956 similar to 2022, but when you add in the rankings and the hype behind Hooker, the similarities are off the charts. Does it mean the same level of success is coming to Rocky Top? Probably not, but it’s nice to dream.