The Tennessee Fan Experience

When I was about 3 or 4 years old, I had an orange shirt with a number 16 on it. I remember being confused about what the orange shirt meant, because it wasn't like the rest of my shirts, meaning it didn't have Batman or Spiderman or Winnie the Pooh on it. However, my mother cleared up the confusion by telling me that number 16 was Peyton Manning, and that he was Tennessee's starting quarterback. So that's where my fandom began. Obviously, I had no idea about anything pertaining to football at that age, but I felt obligated (I know, it's weird for a 3 year old to feel obligated, but I did) to root for the Vols, because I was wearing the shirt of a guy that played for them. A few years later, when I was 5 years old, Tennessee won the national title. I don't remember much from that game because my mom let me watch about two and a half seconds of it before she sent me to bed. I still haven't forgiven her for that. Just kidding, honestly I’m pretty sure I passed out on the couch and she took me to bed about 5 minutes into the game.

As the years went on, and I began to gain a real understanding of the game, the wins became so sweet, and the losses were devastating. I haven’t cried after very many sporting events, but I remember bawling my eyes out when the heavily favored Vols, coming off of one of the biggest and most exciting victories in the history of the program (winning at #2 Florida to clinch the SEC East title while beating the Gators in Gainesville for the first time since 1971), lost to LSU in the SEC Championship game. I also remember being so excited I didn’t know what to do with myself 3 years later when Tennessee won on the road late at heavily favored and 3^rd ranked Georgia.

But I have so many memories like these, ones that end with heartbreaking defeat or overwhelming joy. That’s a perfect description of the fan experience. Every fan base goes through highs and lows. Unless you’re a fan of the Cubs. Then it’s just a lot of lows.

Then again, being a fan of Tennessee since 2008 has been about like rooting for the Cubs. You know it’s been a bad few years when the most memorable good thing that happened to the program was when they wore black jerseys against South Carolina.  I’ve been fooled many times since Fulmer was fired into thinking that things were starting to turn around, and that Tennessee might be on its way back to approaching the glory days of the 90s, when the Vols won 3 SEC titles, 1 national title, went 45-5 from 1995-1998, and were always a player at the national level.

The first time was when they hired Kiffin. I know every Vol fan now hates that guy more than they’d hate to have all their fingernails removed with pliers, but at the time, I loved him. And 99% of Tennessee fans felt the same way. I loved his swagger and his attitude. I loved how he went after Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, and I loved how fearless he was. He didn’t back down from anyone, and his mouth kept the Vols in the news. Well that, and the number of player arrests. But still, he was the man. He did commit a atrocious coaching blunder during that season during the game at #2 Alabama. After recovering and onside kick with the Vols trailing 12-10, he decided that instead of continuing to drive the ball down the field, they were just going to settle for a 44 yard field goal when Tennessee’s kicker, Daniel Lincoln, had an injured quadriceps and had already had one field goal blocked and had missed another. Why not try to get closer? Isn’t a 34 yarder better that one from 44 yards, particularly with an injured kicker? They had time! Terrence Cody got great penetration, Lincoln’s kick was low, and Cody easily blocked it. That game took 5 years off my life, I’m sure of it.

But he left almost as quickly as he came, ducking out of town much like how the Colts left Baltimore, at night. I was at a basketball game at the time, and I remember calling my dad and telling him the news, hoping that he’d be able to tell me that it wasn’t true. But it was. The reaction was crazy. His wife’s phone number was leaked publicly, the students rioted, and Kiffin was bashed all throughout the state of Tennessee. And he should’ve been. I still hate that guy.

Unfortunately, his decision to leave was disastrous for the program. The administration had to hire someone, because Kiffin left in January, and signing day was only a few weeks away. So they panicked and hired Derek Dooley, a nice guy who reminded Tennessee fans of what a dumpster fire looked like. But even he fooled me. At least for a brief time. I remember watching the Tennessee-Cincinnati game from 2011. Tyler Bray, Da’Rick Rogers, and Justin Hunter seemed to have such great chemistry on the offensive side of the ball. They were explosive and fun to watch. Sure, the Tennessee defense wasn’t very good, but I felt good about how the offense played. At least they’d be able to score points. But when they played Florida the next week, Justin Hunter tore his ACL during their first drive, and the Gators ended up pulling away and winning comfortably. The losses began to pile up after that. I remember being particularly upset after the Georgia game from that year, because the Bulldogs played so poorly and were still somehow able to win. The same thing happened when Kentucky ended Tennessee’s 26 game win streak over them, when they started a WIDE RECEIVER at quarterback, who only attempted 6 passes the whole game, completing only 4. Miraculously, they were able to outscore the Vols 10-7.

After that game, I was done with Dooley. I was tired of losing every big game. I was tired of having games like 13 men on the field, the LSU game from the year before. I was tired of getting our throat stomped on in every second half, as teams pulled away. Plus, it came out after the Kentucky game that many of the older players on the team were disgusted with the younger guys, because they felt that the young guys on the roster didn’t take the game seriously, that those guys had checked out, and that they didn’t care about the season anymore. Never mind that a bowl game appearance was at stake, as well as the 26 game win streak over the Wildcats that so many great Vols from years past had fought to preserve. Dooley had lost the players that he had recruited to come to Knoxville. Those players were no longer buying in. Since that was the case, I was ready to cut our losses and move on to someone else, a different person that had the right skill set to run a program like Tennessee. It was time to get those orange pants out of there.

But the administration gave him one more year. And he fooled me again. When the Vols dominated NC State in Atlanta on the opening weekend of the season, I shrugged my shoulders and bought in one more time. They were ranked going into the Florida game, and College Gameday broadcasted live from Knoxville during that week. Everything was building for a Vol resurgence. And for the first 40 minutes of the contest against the Gators, that was the case. Tennessee led 20-13 about halfway through the 3^rd quarter, but then, Florida’s Trey Burton dashed for an 80 yard touchdown, the Vols self destructed, and the Gator’s ran off 24 unanswered points to win easily 37-20. At that point, I knew Dooley was done. I couldn’t see any way that he would be able to turn it around. Obviously they had more games left on the schedule, but I didn’t see them beating Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, LSU, or Arkansas; Dooley would’ve had to win against one of them to stay. And of course, he didn’t. So after another season losing every big game, the school finally let him go.

I must admit, I was a little down on the Tennessee program. The glory days seemed miles away. I knew that no matter who they hired, it was going to take years and years to get back to being a player on the national level every year. The real problem with Dooley wasn’t the losing; it was the way they lost. They never seemed to get better, and every game turned out the same way, with the opponent pulling away and blowing the Vols out in the second half. As they looked for a new head coach, it became disheartening to hear that a few guys from lesser programs or lesser jobs turned the Vols down. When I heard Butch Jones’s name mentioned as a potential replacement, I was disappointed. Butch Jones? The guy from Cincinnati, who coached one of the few teams that Derek Dooley actually beat? No, we can’t hire that guy. Honestly, I wanted Charlie Strong. I liked the way Louisville played, he had SEC ties, and he had connections in the Miami area, which would’ve really helped the recruiting. But he turned the Vols down. After that, Butch Jones became the front runner, and ultimately, he was hired. I tried to hide my feelings, because I felt like Tennessee had swung and missed, and were forced to settle for him. However, I didn’t whine or complain about the hiring, because he deserved my support, and I needed to give him a chance to turn the program around.

Slowly though, he began to win me over. I liked all the things I heard coming out of Knoxville during the off season. I liked how Butch seemed to be in control of the program, how he was directing things, and how he was recruiting. As the season started, I loved his fire, intensity, and passion on the sidelines, which was a nice change of pace from Dooley’s stoic and Jim Caldwell-esque demeanor there. They lost a heartbreaker to Georgia, but they didn’t fold their tents and get blown out in the second half like all of Dooley’s teams. And finally, after years and years and so many games against good teams that ended with losses, they got that huge win against a ranked opponent when they won at home against South Carolina. I remember telling my dad that I was so happy because I felt like, for the first time in years, we actually had someone who was fit to and had the right skill set to run a program of the caliber and size of Tennessee. It felt like they were starting to build a few things that would get the program back to where it should’ve been.

 So now we are here, in 2014. Tennessee plays at #4 Oklahoma this weekend, in primetime. It’s going to be an extremely tough game. Tennessee is so young on both sides of the ball, and with all the young guys they play, it’ll be easy for them to get rattled, particularly if things don’t go well early and they have an early turnover or give up a quick touchdown. They may get blown out. It’s entirely possible. It happened at Oregon last year. Or they might play well, catch a few breaks, and win. Because we have Butch. It’s not because he’s won so many big games, or because he has superpowers, or because he paid off the football gods; more so, I just feel like they have a chance this weekend because he’s the right coach, and I’ve hopped on the bandwagon. He’s gotten me to believe that Tennessee can win any game on the schedule. He’s convinced me he’s the guy that’s going to turn us around a drag the Vols out of the abyss they’ve been wandering in since 2008. Even if they don’t win this Saturday, I’ll still be a believer. It will take a lot for me to flip. But I’ve been fooled before. We’ll see what happens this Saturday.