Up until the mid-1960s, Tennessee football stayed in the single-wing formation and barely utilized wide receivers. Then Doug Dickey came along and installed the T-formation, which Bill Battle followed up by adding elements of the veer. That produced some talented guys like Lester McClain and Larry Seivers.
However, when Johnny Majors arrived and added a vertical passing attack in the 1970s, he began a tradition of the Vols producing NFL receiver after NFL receiver, something that carried through the 1990s with Phillip Fulmer, David Cutcliffe and elite quarterbacks, turning the program into Wide Receiver U. From 1977 to 1999, Rocky Top had 25 receivers selected in the draft,
Production has dropped recently, but even into this century, the Vols have still produced top NFL talent at the position.