During a recent appearance on The Ryen Russillo Podcast, Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman revealed that the University of Tennessee “probably would’ve been the best fit” for him coming out of high school.
Aikman began his collegiate career in 1984 at the University of Oklahoma and became the starting quarterback for the Sooners during the 1985 season. While Oklahoma did go on to win the national championship that season, Aikman’s time on the field came to an end after a broken ankle suffered in mid October as he gave up the starting role to Jamelle Holieway.
With Aikman’s spot as the starting quarterback looking less likely after the emergence of Holieway as a champion, Aikman took his talents to UCLA for three seasons while only being eligible to play in his final two. Aikman went on to win the 1988 Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback and finished third in the 1988 Heisman Award standings.
Aikman was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
Still, though, Aikman thinks back on his recruitment process all these years later and still sees a path to Tennessee that he could’ve taken.
“Looking back on it Tennessee probably would’ve been the best fit,” Aikman said on Russillo’s podcast. “Johnny Majors was the head coach there at the time. It would’ve been a great atmosphere. I didn’t know much about Tennessee football at that point in my life but it would’ve been amazing.”
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Aikman revealed that he did take visits to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, and Missouri during his recruitment process, but admitted that he wasn’t a highly-rated recruit at the time. While Tennessee probably would’ve been the best fit, Aikman says he wasn’t prepared to leave as far from home as a 17-year-old from Henryetta, Oklahoma.
Aikman’s collegiate career clearly didn’t suffer by not going to Tennessee – he is a college football Hall of Famer, after all – but the three-time Super Bowl champion does still see a path to Rocky Top that he could’ve taken.
Hypothetically, let’s say Troy Aikman did commit to Tennessee during the recruitment process prior to the 1984 season. Aikman would’ve competed in a room with junior quarterback Tony Robinson, junior quarterback Daryl Dickey, freshman quarterback Randy Sanders, freshman quarterback Greg Hargis, and freshman quarterback Jeff Francis. Perhaps one of the freshman quarterbacks wouldn’t have made it to Tennessee if Aikman had committed, but those were the pieces on Tennessee’s board nonetheless.
Tennessee ended the 1984 season with a 7-4-1 record and a sixth-place finish in the SEC. The Vols did take a big step forward in 1985, though, at the same time Aikman was stepping into his own starting role with Oklahoma. The Vols finished the 1985 season with a 9-1-2 record and a first-place SEC finish. Robinson led the Vols at quarterback until he suffered an ACL tear against Alabama, paving the way for Daryl Dickey to step up into the starting role for the remainder of the season. Dickey and the Volunteers tied Georgia Tech 6-6 after the Alabama game but racked up six straight wins to close the season including a 35-7 win over Miami in the Sugar Bowl.
The full clip from The Ryen Russillo Podcast can be found here.
“Looking back on it Tennessee probably would’ve been the best fit. Johnny Majors was the head coach there at the time. It would’ve been a great atmosphere. I didn’t know much about Tennessee football at that point in my life but it would’ve been amazing. “ – 3x Super Bowl… pic.twitter.com/0837HTWqEV
— Jordan Moore (@jordanmoore_21) July 24, 2024
