While the 2026 college football season is just right around the corner, it’s not exactly here quite yet. There’s sort of a calm before the storm feeling in the air with training camps revving up across the nation in August.
To fill the void, ESPN has gone through a massive undertaking by ranking the best college football players in history at each jersey number. Each selection also features a few honorable mentions, too.
Tennessee lands three on the list, with two of the players coming in back-to-back selections. ESPN names Tennessee defensive end Doug Atkins as the best player at the No. 91 jersey number, and Tennessee defensive end Reggie White as the best player at the No. 92 jersey number. Tennessee linebacker Steve Kiner also landed a spot on the list for the No. 57 jersey number.
Atkins’ Tennessee legacy is astounding. He’s a First Team All-American, a national champion, a College Football Hall of Fame selection, and was the SEC Player of the Quarter Century selection. The Humboldt, TN, native played for the Vols from 1950 to 1952.
“Tennessee recruited Atkins for basketball but wisely moved the 6-foot-8 giant to football, where he dominated along the defensive line for coach Robert Neyland,” ESPN writes. “Opponents couldn’t throw over or around Atkins or run away from him, as he led a Vols defense that recorded 14 shutouts from 1950 to 1952. Atkins intercepted passes in each season, returning one for a touchdown in 1952, and also blocked a punt and returned it to the end zone in 1951, when Tennessee won the national title.”
Directly below Atkins is Reggie White, who was fittingly named the Minister of Defense during his playing days. White is an SEC Player of the Year, a Lombardi Award finalist, a unanimous All-American, and a College Football Hall of Fame member.
“The eventual NFL all-time sacks leader began flattening quarterbacks at Tennessee,” ESPN writes.” White finished with 100 tackles that fall and earned SEC Player of the Year honors, recording three sacks against LSU, two against Alabama and four against The Citadel, which remained as a team record until 2013. He was a Lombardi Award finalist that year, after recording seven sacks in 1982 and a team-high eight in 1981, when he also racked up 95 total tackles.”
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Tennessee linebacker Steve Kiner also lands on the list for the No. 57 jersey number. Playing for UT from 1967 to 1969, Kiner was a two-time All-American, an SEC Defensive Player of the Year selection, and a College Football Hall of Fame member.
“Despite playing most of the season with a broken wrist, Dickey led a 1968 Vols defense that set a Tennessee record by allowing 93 rushing yards per game,” ESPN writes. “After his stellar game against Alabama, Bear Bryant called him the SEC’s best linebacker since Lee Roy Jordan. He led the team in tackles his junior and senior years and added nine career interceptions as the Vols won SEC titles in 1967 and 1969. He was inducted into the CFB Hall of Fame in 1999.”
There are some Tennessee players who aren’t on the list that fans may have been expecting or hoping to see.
Here’s a look at every Volunteer who received an honorable mention for their jersey number, but didn’t make the final selection:
- Honorable Mention: #14 – DB Eric Berry (Winner: BYU QB Ty Detmer)
- Honorable Mention: #16 – QB Peyton Manning (Winner: Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence)
- Honorable Mention: #38 – OL John Michels (Winner: South Carolina RB George Rogers)
- Honorable Mention: #45 – HB Johnny Majors (Winner: Ohio State RB Archie Griffin)
- Honorable Mention: #65 – DL Steve DeLong (Winner: Morgan State LB Willie Lanier)
- Honorable Mention: #98 – DT John Henderson (Winner: Michigan QB/HB Tom Harmon)
