Ten Tennessee football players have heard their names called in the most recent two NFL Drafts.
After five former Vols were selected in the 2021 Draft, five were taken a couple of weeks ago in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Therefore, just two years into the Josh Heupel era, Tennessee has had 10 players drafted.
Ten players isn’t just any number, it is a historical number when it comes to Tennessee football players getting drafted in the first two years of a coach’s tenure.
Heupel’s mark of 10 players getting drafted in his first two years on Rocky Top ties former Tennessee head coach Bill Battle as the most players to get drafted in a coach’s first two years in the common NFL Draft era (AFL-NFL merger).
#Vols football has had 10 players drafted in the first 2 years of the Josh Heupel era.
That is tied for the most players drafted 2 years into a coach's tenure in program history.
Heupel is tied w/ Bill Battle, who had 10 players drafted in '71 & '72 when the draft was 17 rds…
— Jack Foster (@jackfostermedia) May 4, 2023
More From RTI: Eye Popping Stats for Tennessee Football From 2023 NFL Draft
Quick History
Bill Battle began coaching at UT in the 1970 season, so the first two drafts of the Bill Battle era would be the 1971 and 1972 NFL Drafts. In those two drafts, ten Vols were selected.
However, it is imperative to remember that back in the early seventies, the NFL Draft was 17 rounds. It wasn’t until 1977 when the draft was reduced to 12 rounds, and then 1994 when the draft was reduced to seven rounds, which is the current amount.
Between Battle’s tenure as UT head coach (1970-1976) and Josh Heupel’s (2021-present), the University of Tennessee had six different head coaches, with only five having coached at least two years.
Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer came close to Heupel and Battle’s mark of 10, as Majors had eight players drafted in his first two years while Fulmer had seven.
If you were to count 1993 as Fulmer’s first year as head coach of Tennessee, as it was the first year in which Fulmer had an entire offseason as head coach, then Fulmer would have passed Heupel and Battle with 11 players drafted in the 1994 and 1995 NFL Drafts.
But, Fulmer was the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers for every game in the 1992 season, so I am counting that as his first season as head coach.
What the NFL Draft Representation Says About Heupel
It’s no secret Tennessee football is in the best place it’s been in over two decades.
The Vols are coming off an 11-2 season in which they won the Capital One Orange Bowl and were the number one seed in the inaugural 2022 College Football Playoff Rankings.
This stat regarding Tennessee’s encouraging representation in the past two NFL Drafts is another example of how Tennessee is on the right track under Josh Heupel.
More specifically, it is another example that Heupel is making waves of progress in such a short amount of time.
As I mentioned earlier, Heupel joined Battle in this stat, but Battle’s numbers are skewed given the extended rounds in the 1971 and 1972 NFL Drafts.
So, you could make a compelling argument that Heupel stands alone as Tennessee’s all-time best coach at getting players drafted in the first two years of a tenure.
Tennessee’s representation in the last two NFL Drafts will undoubtedly serve as a strong recruiting tool for Heupel moving forward, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Of the 10 players drafted in the last two years, six have been on the offensive side of the ball. Additionally, Heupel has already coached three third-round wide receivers in Velus Jones Jr., Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman, adding to Tennessee’s drafted wide receiver streak.
4⃣ straight years, 5⃣ WRs drafted.
The longest streak in the @SEC and tied for longest in the nation.#NFLDraft | #NFLVols pic.twitter.com/M7mfGeC63W
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) April 29, 2023
Tennessee’s 11-2 record in 2022 and the plethora of eye-popping statistics on Heupel’s offense clearly indicate Tennessee is on the right track. But, maybe more so than any other stat, Heupel’s ability to send players to the NFL will work wonders the most on the recruiting trail.
