Tennessee Traditions
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The Vol Walk -- the football team's walk to Neyland Stadium -- begins 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff at the Torchbearer statue in Circle Park on Volunteer Drive. It continues down Peyton Manning Pass before turning left on Phillip Fulmer Way and into the stadium through Gate 21-A.
The Pride of the Southland Band makes its way the stadium beginning 1 hour and 40 minutes before kickoff.
The band marches up Volunteer Boulevard past Peyton Manning Pass and crosses the new Pedestrian Bridge before turning onto Middle Drive and then onto Phillip Fulmer Way, stopping to "Salute the Hill" before marching into the stadium through Gate 21-A.
When we score the POTS play "Down the Field" followed by "Rocky Top".
Legend of the Volunteer (PDF)
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One of the most beloved figures in the state, Smokey is famous for leading the Vols out of the giant "T" formed on Shields-Watkins Field by the Pride of the Southland Marching Band prior to each home game.
The University of Tennessee Pep Club held a contest in 1953 to select a coonhound, a breed native to the state, as the school's live mascot. Announcements of the contest in local newspapers read, "This can't be an ordinary hound. He must be a 'Houn' Dog' in the best sense of the word."
The late Rev. Bill Brooks entered his prize-winning bluetick coonhound, "Brooks' Blue Smokey," in the contest. At halftime of the Mississippi State game that season, the dogs were lined up on the old cheerleaders' ramp at Shields-Watkins Field. Each dog was introduced over the loudspeaker and the student body cheered for their favorite, with "Blue Smokey" being the last hound introduced. When his name was called, he barked. The students cheered and Smokey threw his head back and barked again. This kept going until the stadium was in an uproar and UT had found its mascot.
Rev. Brooks supplied UT with the line of canines until his death in 1986, when his wife, Mildred, took over the caretaking role. She did so until 1994, when her brother and sister-in-law, Earl and Martha Hudson of Knoxville, took over responsibility for Smokey VII and eventually Smokey VIII, Smokey IX—and now Smokey X—carrying on the banner of the Smokey lineage. Earl Hudson passed away in June of 2017. The Hudson's son and daughter-in-law, Charles and Cindy Hudson, now continue the family tradition of providing the University of Tennessee with its living mascot for future generations of Big Orange fans to enjoy.
Smokey II was dognapped by Kentucky students in 1955 and later survived a confrontation with the Baylor Bear at the 1957 Sugar Bowl. Smokey III compiled a 105-39-5 record and two SEC championships. Smokey VI, who suffered heat exhaustion in the 140-degree temperatures at the 1991 UCLA game, was listed on the Vols' injury report until he returned later in the season. Tennessee captured three SEC football championships during his eight-year tenure. Smokey VIII is the winningest Smokey, having compiled a record of 91-22 (.805), with two SEC titles and the 1998 national championship.
After the retirement of Smokey IX following the 2012 season, the newest Smokey returned the lineage of the mascot to the state of Tennessee. Born in Shelbyville, Smokey X made his debut in the fall of 2013.
In March of 2019, the bluetick coonhound was designated as the official state dog of Tennessee.
Since the 1964 season, Tennessee has entered the field at Neyland Stadium through a giant, human "T" formed by the Pride of the Southland Band.
It is routinely listed as one of the greatest entrances in all of sports. This great tradition was born from the minds of two of the greatest innovators that the University of Tennessee has ever had on campus. And every time the Tennessee Volunteers burst through the "T" made up of 300+ members of the Pride of the Southland Marching Band, the aura of excitement can be felt in the fall air.
In 1965, the two innovators, head football coach Doug Dickey and band director Dr. W. J. Julian, came together to create a unique entrance for the Volunteers.
In the four years since he had taken over the marching band program in 1961, Julian had also made sweeping changes to the program, including moving its oversight from the ROTC program to the College of Education. The band had grown to more than 140 members and had taken on a less militaristic look in its uniforms, but the marching precision that was originally born under the ROTC tradition remained. Julian introduced the legendary "Circle Drill" routine, one of the most difficult and unique marching band routines in the country.
For the 1965 season, Dickey moved the Volunteers from the east sideline, next to the home locker room in East Stadium Hall, to the west side, which allowed the team to enter the field through the giant "T" formation that he and Julian had drawn up. To say the formation caught on would be an understatement.
The route of the "T" shifted 90 degrees when Neyland Stadium's lower bowl was enclosed in 1980 and the team dressing room moved to the new addition in the north end zone, where the "T" began to originate. The team made the right-hand turn to the west sideline until the early 1990s, when an SEC rule change moved the home bench to the east sideline in front of the Tennessee student section. An adjustment to student seating was made in 2010, moving the Volunteers back to the west sideline for that season, and changing the route back to its current right turn.
Now, fans routinely arrive in their seats early to catch the Pride's pregame performance, capped by the moment that they have waited days, weeks, months or even years to see in person once again. And when the magic moment arrives and the Vols enter the field, an extraordinary feeling extends all across Vol Nation. From Neyland Stadium around the world, "It's Football Time in Tennessee!"
Tennessee's signature orange and white checkerboard end zones first appeared in 1964
The connection between the University of Tennessee and the now-familiar checkerboard pattern dates back to 1921 and the completion of iconic Ayers Hall on the UT campus. The building's clock tower, visible from field level at Neyland Stadium until the enclosure of the upper deck of the north end in 1996, is topped by the pattern in brick.
When he took over as head football coach in 1964, Doug Dickey introduced an orange and white checkerboard end zone design to the surface of Shields-Watkins Field. Many programs, Tennessee included, had used checkerboard patterns to decorate end zones dating to at least the 1930s, but the addition of the orange color was a new and unique tradition for Tennessee.
The checkerboard end zones remained until artificial turf was installed at the stadium in 1968, when technology could not produce the proper color for the orange. When Dickey returned as director of athletics in 1985, he looked for a way to restore the checkerboards and did just that when a new artificial surface was installed prior to the 1989 season.
Natural grass returned to Neyland Stadium for the 1994 season, and the Tennessee trademark remained. Since then, the pattern has become a Volunteer icon, appearing along the court apron at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center and on uniforms and facilities all over campus.
