Best Vols QB Ever

Last season the Tennessee Football magazine asked who is the best Vols quarterback of all time.The easy answer to the question was Peyton Manning.

However, others did get votes when the media was polled statewide.

Manning, a New Orleans, La. Native, holds many of Tennessee’s all-time passing records, including career wins (39), passing yards (11,201) and touchdown passes (90).

He is the only Vols’ quarterback to have his jersey number retired. No.16 was the No. 1 overall draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 1998.

In the past ten seasons, Manning has set NFL records, won MVP honors and led the Colts to a Super Bowl championship in 2007. Surely, he has cemented his place as a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Larry Fleming covered the Vols from the early 1970s until 1998 and was a Tennessee beat writer for 10 years. He said Manning “is a no brainer” for the best Vols field general of all-time.

"Manning’s knowledge and comprehension of the game was beyond belief for a college quarterback," Fleming said. "He raised the bar for preparation, including his legendary film study habits, to a level unseen at any level of football."

Fleming said the bottom line when assessing Manning’s career at Tennessee is he made everyone around him better. Much better.

Ron Bliss saw many Vols quarterbacks working for the Kingsport Times-News from 1973-1982 and again from 1983-2003. He now covers Tennessee for his website TriCitiesSports.com. He too labeled Manning as the best ever.

"Peyton always got a knock that he couldn't beat Florida, but one year he put up 37 points," Bliss said. "The only problem was his defense allowed 62 and he didn't play on defense."

Bliss has been a Hesiman Trophy voter since 1981 and said Manning should have won the award over Michigan's Charles Woodson.

“It was a travesty that he didn't," Bliss said. "He epitomized everything you'd want in a Heisman Trophy winner -- he has the stats, his team won the SEC title and played in what was considered the National Championship Game in the Orange Bowl."

Former Chattanooga Times Sports Editor Buck Johnson covered the Vols as a writer for more than 44 years. The first game he reported on was in 1959 against LSU. He too said Manning was the best choice, but pointed out that Johnny Majors played single-wing tailback in an offense that did not have a quarterback.

"Peyton was the greatest, no contest," Johnson said. "But what if Majors would have been a quarterback? He was the key man on the field."Majors was an All-American and Heisman trophy runner-up in 1956 as a triple-threat tailback on a team that was one of the last to use the single wing.

Johnson said the eras were different and Bobby Dodd would have been the best Tennessee quarterback of his era.

Dodd was an All-America quarterback at Tennessee, leading the Volunteers to a 27-1-2 record from 1928-30. He joins Manning as the only two quarterbacks in Tennessee history to be named first-team All-American.

Dodd went on to a legendary coaching career at Georgia Tech and is one of only three men to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.

But, while Manning is the most accomplished NFL quarterback to ever step foot on Shields-Watkins Field, other names come up when the question is asked of the best in Vols history.

In the mid-1960s when Doug Dickey took over as head coach and ditched the wing T for the T-formation offense.Dewey Warren, a.k.a. "The Swamp Rat" won 19 games in his three years on The Hill. Warren was the first UT quarterback to ever throw for more than 1,000 yards in a single season.

The start of the 1969 season saw Bobby Scott from the northwest Georgia mill town of Rossville take over under center. Scott threw for more than 3,371 yards and 32 touchdowns.

Nevertheless, he's remembered most due to a career record of 20-3 as a starter and he's second on the all-time winning percentage list for UT quarterbacks (.869). Scott had a long NFL career as a back-up to Archie Manning in New Orleans before finishing his career with New Jersey and Chicago in the USFL.

Former Tennessee All-American lineman Chip Kell played with Scott.

"He was a pretty good one," Kell said. "He wasn’t very flashy, but he was a good leader. He wasn’t Peyton Manning he just got it done.

Conredge Holloway was one of the most electrifying players to don an orange jersey in Knoxville.
Chattanooga Times Free Press writer Ward Gossett covered the Vols for more than 20 years and remembers Holloway as a tremendous athlete.

"He’s another of the great Tennessee quarterbacks who could run and pass with the best of them," Gossett said. "How good an athlete was he? He played shortstop on UT's baseball team."

Holloway was an All-SEC first team selection in 1973 and was named as the quarterback for Tennessee’s 100-year team in 1991.

Tallahassee, Florida’s Tony Robinson burst onto the scene in Knoxville in 1984 after former starter Alan Cockrell left UT to begin a pro baseball career.

Robinson threw for 3,332 yards and 23 touchdowns in his all-too-brief UT career, which ended with a devastating knee injury suffered during the 1985 Alabama game.

Popular Knoxville ESPN radio talk show host Tony Basilio said Tony Robinson was one of the best.

"He played at a time in Tennessee football where he brought the program out of the doldrums," Basilio said."

Rhea County’s Andy Kelly starred for the Vols in the late 1980s and early 1990’s and his name remains near the top of most of UT’s passing records.

Kelly was 24-5-2 as a starter, throwing for 6,397 yards and 36 touchdowns.

CSS play-by-play announcer and longtime Vols network radio voice, Randy Smith said, "Kelly's teammates called him the greatest leader they ever saw."

Blessed with one of the strongest arms ever at Tennessee, Bryson City, N.C. native Heath Shuler went 19-5 in two-plus years as a starter, throwing for 4,088 yards and 36 touchdowns in his career.

Runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1993, Shuler was the No. 3 overall pick by the Washington Redskins in the 1994 NFL Draft.

In 2006, he successfully defeated eight-term incumbent Charles H. Taylor for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

Gossett said Shuler leaving a year early for the NFL upset many Tennessee faithful.

"But Shuler put UT back on the national football map," Gossett said. "I remember him shattering the Plexiglas shield as ESPN cameras rolled. In addition, Heath came along, as recruiting news was becoming a major item, but before the days of Rivals.com.

Moreover, not to be forgotten is the man who had to fill the giant footsteps of Manning; But Martin surpassed all expectations when he took over as the Vols’ starter in 1998. He guided Tennessee to a perfect 13-0 season, an SEC championship and a 23-16 win over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl to capture the Vols’ first national championship since 1951," He went 9-3 the following year and remains to this day Tennessee’s all-time leader in career winning percentage (.880).

"Martin was a larger version of Holloway, able to create havoc for defenses with his running and throwing, and he won 22 of 25 games," Fleming said.

While the fortunes of future UT quarterbacks have yet to be written, there is one thing to be certain of – like those before them, the next generations of Vols’ quarterbacks have an incredible legacy of greatness to uphold. Tennessee fans will expect nothing less.

All-time Top Vols QBs
Peyton Manning _ He owns all-time records for career wins (39), passing yards (11,201) and touchdown passes (90). His Vols jersey was retired.
Bobby Dodd _ All-America quarterback, leading the Vols to a 27-1-2 record from 1928-30. Joins Manning as the only two quarterbacks in Tennessee history to be first-team All-American.
Heath Shuler _ 19-5 in two-plus years as a starter, throwing for 4,088 yards and 36 touchdowns in his career. Runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1993.
Andy Kelly _ Kelly was 24-5-2 as a starter, throwing for 6,397 yards and 36 touchdowns.
Tee Martin _ Guided Tennessee to a 13-0 season, an SEC championship and a national championship. Vols’ all-time leader in career winning percentage (.880).
Conredge Holloway _ An All-SEC first-team selection in 1973 and was named the quarterback for Tennessee¹s 100-year team in 1991.
Bobby Scott _ He threw for more than 3,371 yards and 32 touchdowns. Career record of 20-3 as a starter and is second on the all-time winning percentage list for quarterbacks (.869).
Tony Robinson _ He threw for 3,332 yards and 23 touchdowns in his all-too-brief UT career, which ended with a devastating knee injury suffered during the 1985 Alabama game.
Dewey Warren _ A.k.a. “The Swamp Rat,” won 19 games in his three years on The Hill. Warren was the first UT quarterback to throw for more than 1,000 yards in a single season.
Casey Clausen _ Completed 61 percent of his passes for 9, 707 yards and 75 touchdowns. Started 44 of 47 games and had a 14-1 record on the road with a 34-10 record overall.

Name Exp Att. Com. Pct. Yds TD's Record Pct.
Peyton Manning 1994-97 1,381 863 62.5 11,201 89 39-6 .867
Casey Clausen 2000-03 1,270 775 61.0 9,577 75 34-10 .773
Andy Kelly 1988-91 846 514 60.8 6,397 36 24-5-2 .790
Jeff Francis 1985-88 768 476 62.0 5,867 31 20-12-1 .621
Tee Martin 1996-99 588 326 55.4 4,592 32 22-3 .880
Heath Shuler 1991-93 513 316 61.6 4,088 36 19-5 .792
Alan Cockrell 1981-83 568 317 55.8 3,823 26 17-8-1 .673
Jimmy Streater 1976-79 467 241 51.6 3,433 17 13-12-2 .646
Bobby Scott 1968-70 498 236 47.4 3,371 32 20-3 .869
Dewey Warren 1965-67 440 258 58.6 3,357 27 19-6 .760
Tony Robinson 1982-85 411 253 61.6 3,332 23 10-5-1 .656
Conredge Holloway 1972-74 407 238 58.5 3,102 18 23-9-2 .705

Notes:
Peyton Manning is the only Tennessee quarterback on this list other than Bobby Dodd (1930) to be named All-American.
Manning is the only UT quarterback to be named All-SEC First Team twice (1995 and 1997) and the only UT quarterback to play in a Super Bowl.
Andy Kelly and Tee Martin are the only UT quarterbacks on this list to play on two SEC Championship teams. Kelly played on SEC Championship teams in 1989 and 1990, while Martin played on the 1997 and 1998 SEC Championship teams.
Martin is the only signal-caller on the list with a National Championship.