Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker’s Heisman Trophy campaign will take a brief respite this weekend as the Vols enjoy a bye. Therefore, Hooker will remain a bona fide candidate until the Vols play LSU next weekend.

Being in the Heisman Trophy conversation is quite an achievement. The Vols haven’t had that since 1997 when Peyton Manning was the front runner throughout the season until Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson won the award. Before that, former Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler finished second in the Heisman race in 1993.

Looking for the last serious Heisman Trophy candidate at Tennessee? You have to go way back to Johnny Majors in 1956. Majors lost the award to Paul Hornung. There’s a strong argument to be made that the Vols should have two Heisman Trophy award winners in their history.

Heisman Curse?

Manning should have won the award in 1997. Woodson won the award that year, in part, because ESPN was determined to make their Heisman Trophy ceremony a must-see event. The all-powerful network pushed most every player one can imagine in the Big Ten to make a one-horse race into a competition. Why? ESPN held the broadcast rights to The Heisman Trophy ceremony and thought that a wire-to-wire winner like Manning lacked drama. 

ESPN tried to drum up interest by promoting one Big Ten player after another. Woodson finally stuck after a fantastic performance against Ohio State. He was a great player, but never should have won the Heisman Trophy over Manning.

The same could be said for Majors, who was the SEC player of the year in 1956 and was one of the best punters and return specialists in the nation, leading the Vols to a 10-1 record. That wasn’t enough to overcome the Notre Dame mystique. Fighting Irish quarterback Paul Hornung won the award despite Notre Dame’s rather pitiful record, which was 2-8 that season. He is still the only player to win college football’s most coveted award with a losing record.

Manning lost the Heisman Trophy because his campaign was too boring. Majors lost the Heisman because he didn’t play for Notre Dame. Shuler was simply beaten out by Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward. There was no political back story behind that Heisman race. UT’s history with the Heisman would indicate that Hooker has no shot to win the award. Some recent conversations with Heisman voters make me wonder if that’s really the case.

The media cost Manning and Majors their respective Heismans. ESPN undermined Manning, intentionally or not, and voters didn’t do their due diligence in the Hornung-Majors race. That’s understandable. The internet would have been considered witch craft at the time. Things have changed.

The media may actually give Hooker a realistic shot to win the award this year. Currently, Hooker has the fourth best odds to win The Heisman Trophy according to most sports books. He trails Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young and Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams.

Stroud is Hooker’s toughest competition. Hooker will put up incredible numbers as long as he is healthy this season. Stroud will do the same and play in more meaningful games and perhaps win the national championship. That’s always a criteria for some voters and, unless the Vols are the surprise team of the decade and win a conference championship and make the college football playoffs, it will work against Hooker this season.

Young has already won a Heisman Trophy so he could be faced with the same dilemma that Manning had to endure. For different reasons, it would just be boring to give Young another Heisman Trophy. Only one player in the history of college football has won the Heisman Trophy twice: Ohio State running back Archie Griffin. It’s really difficult to say how Heisman voters will view Young, but if he wins a national championship and plays like he has, he’ll likely win the award.

Vegas Odds

Bookmakers think Hooker is a better candidate than Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, who has a 25-1 chance of winning the Heisman, according to odds provided by the Action Network. Hooker’s odds are 16-1. Williams is 6-1. Young is 5-1 and Stroud comes in at almost even money to win the award.

I mention Bennett because he could easily win the Heisman Trophy if he continues to play the way he has and Georgia dominates this season, as they might. Bennett would be the classic “career” award winner. Don’t forget that Bennett is also a great story. Fair or not, that’s a factor. He was a former walk-on, who transferred, then came back, then held off more talented players to nab a national title last season. That’s a pretty good story. Hooker can almost match it.

Hooker transferred from Virginia Tech before becoming a household name in college football. He wasn’t even UT’s starter before the 2021 season. Now, he is a realistic candidate to win the award. As long as the Vols don’t collapse and Hooker stays healthy, he’ll likely be in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He’ll have better numbers than Bennett and has as good of a back story as any contender in the running.

Hooker also had some preseason hype. It’s incredibly difficult to come out of nowhere and win the Heisman Trophy. Hooker was a known name before the season. That matters.

I can’t tell you what every voter in the nation thinks about Hooker and where they would stack him in their Heisman voting. However, I can cite four voters that all have him in their top three currently.

Heisman Poll

John Adams of the Knoxville News Sentinel told Off The Hook Sports that he would have Hooker in his top trio, but not at the top of his list. Adams said he would have Hooker second, behind Stroud. Longtime columnist Ron Higgins, who is now with Tiger Details, said he would vote Hooker first on his ballot, followed by Stroud and Young. Sports Animal talkshow host Jimmy Hyams’ top three is Stroud, Young and Hooker.

My Heisman vote would currently go to Hooker over Stroud because I believe Hooker is doing more with less. Ohio State is one of the most talented teams in the nation. Tennessee is not. Hooker has one of the most talented group of receivers in the country. Stroud’s crew of pass catchers is better.

So can Hooker actually win the Heisman Trophy? Absolutely, but he’ll need some developments to occur that he can’t control to open up the door of opportunity. Will Hooker at least be in New York City for the induction ceremony in December if things continue to play out as they have? Certainly. He’ll have the statistics to crash the party.

All of this is fun to talk about in September. However, the Heisman Trophy is never won in the first month of the season. Jalen Hurts is proof of that. Hurts was considered a lock to win the Heisman after lighting up the Big 12 at Oklahoma in September 2019. However, there was a young man named Joe Burrow at LSU that ended up winning the award after quarterbacking the Tigers to a national championship.

There’s a notion that a Tennessee player just can’t win the Heisman Trophy after what happened to Manning and Majors. I don’t believe that, but I also don’t believe Hooker can win the award on his own. He’ll need help, but is he a realistic candidate? No question.