Looking back at Tennessee's Heisman history and who with ties to state could win

The fact that the state of Tennessee has never produced a Heisman Trophy winner is surprising. The fact that three potential 2025 Heisman Trophy winners have Tennessee ties is also surprising.

After several close calls, this could finally be the year someone with direct Tennessee ties wins the Heisman Trophy.

The three players offering hope for a Heisman are all quarterbacks — Vanderbilt football's Diego Pavia, Texas A&M's Marcel Reed, who is from Nashville, and Alabama's Ty Simpson, from Martin.

Tennessee has had Heisman Trophy candidates in the past

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The first Heisman Trophy, which is awarded to the nation's most outstanding college football player based on a points system from a ballot of media members and former winners, went to Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger in 1935.

Sixteen years later, Tennessee halfback Hank Lauricella emerged as a Heisman candidate after averaging 7.9 yards per carry and helping the Vols go 10-0 in the regular season and earn a Sugar Bowl berth. Lauricella was a unanimous All-America but finished second in the Heisman voting to Princeton halfback Dick Kazmaier, who won in a landslide.

In 1956, another Tennessee player, tailback Johnny Majors, appeared for many to be a shoo-in for the Heisman. Operating in the single-wing offense, the versatile Majors ran, passed and kicked his way into the Heisman race after leading the Vols to a 10-0 regular season.

In a vote that remains controversial today, Majors finished runner-up in the Heisman race to Notre Dame's Paul Hornung, who became the first winner of the award on a losing team with the Fighting Irish finishing 2-8.

Majors became Tennessee's coach in 1977.

Four decades later, another Tennessee player finished as the Heisman runner-up when quarterback Heath Shuler lost out to Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward in 1993.

Ward winning over Shuler wasn't surprising, but the next Heisman candidate from Tennessee, who finished as the runner-up, raised eyebrows again. Vols quarterback Peyton Manning, who chose to forgo the NFL Draft and return for his final year of eligibility in 1997, lost to Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson, who became the first predominantly defensive player to win the award.

Diego Pavia, Ty Simpson, Marcel Reed have been part of Heisman talk

Pavia's performance has been one of the leading national stories throughout the 2025 season. He helped the Commodores climb as high as No. 11 in the US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 9 of the season.

It's hard to argue that any one player has been more important to their team in 2025 than Pavia has been to Vanderbilt.

Reed is familiar to Nashville high school sports fans. Reed was the first Black starting quarterback at Montgomery Bell Academy and the program's first four-year starting QB. He led the Big Red to state runner-up finishes in three of four years.

Reed hasn't looked back after unseating Texas A&M starting quarterback Conner Weigman in the 2024 season.

Simpson has enjoyed a remarkable season after Alabama stumbled out of the gate with a loss to Florida State in the 2025 opener. The son of longtime UT Martin football coach Jason Simpson has the Crimson Tide set to return to the College Football Playoff after missing out in 2024 when Jalen Milroe was the quarterback.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee's Heisman Trophy history and state's ties to this year's award