Former Vol quarterback Ferguson attempting return to college football

One year ago, Riley Ferguson shocked Tennessee fans and left the program, after never playing a down for the Vols.

And though it never worked out for Ferguson at Tennessee, the former Vol might get a second chance to play at the college level.

Ferguson is currently enrolled at Coffeyville Junior College in Kansas, and has gotten looks from some FBS programs, including Arkansas State (who has offered Ferguson), Arkansas, Texas, and Florida.

“I’m looking at this as a second opportunity for me,” Ferguson told the Charlotte Observer earlier this week. “I’m trying to look at the positives and take advantage of everything.”

Ferguson was an All-America three-star pro style quarterback coming out of high school in Matthews, North Carolina, and committed to Tennessee in June of 2012 to former head coach Derek Dooley’s staff.

He stayed at Tennessee through the transition to Butch Jones, but after not getting any playing time his freshman season, and then falling behind in the quarterback battle before the 2014 season, Ferguson decided to leave the UT program.

“It wasn’t the right fit for me,” Ferguson said. “Or at least I felt that way then.

“I had committed to Coach Dooley and he got fired and Coach Jones came in. I didn’t know them like that. We had good relationships, but I used to wake up every day miserable and I got tired of feeling like that.”

In the year since then for Ferguson, football related matters haven’t worked out that well.

He wasn’t accepted into Charlotte, and then another opportunity at Florida A&M didn’t work out either.

But in March, he moved back into the college football scene when he enrolled at Coffeyville.

And now with a good performance during the 2015 season, Ferguson will get a chance to play college football again – possibly for a Power Five conference school – during the 2016 season.

“Sometimes, I look back and wished I would’ve stayed (at Tennessee) because I would’ve played this year and maybe last year, too,” Ferguson said. “I liked the school, but I was kind of immature about a lot of things when I was there.

“I hadn’t grown up yet.”

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