by design | Mar 2, 2026 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Writing assignments often appear as if by magic. That’s been the case in my writing career over the years. You’ll likely recognize many, if not all, of the names mentioned in this column. One memorable contest came in November 1971, when a...
by design | Feb 23, 2026 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Tennessee and Notre Dame squared off at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind., on Nov. 3, 2001, as a crowd of 80,795 watched on a picture perfect November day. It was one of those afternoons the South Bend Chamber of Commerce would like to...
by design | Feb 16, 2026 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly The year was 1969, and the venue was Neyland Stadium/Shields-Watkins Field. The game matched Tennessee and Vanderbilt in the season finale. Tennessee won 40-27, with the Vols annexing a second SEC title in the past three years. Losses to Mississippi...
by design | Feb 9, 2026 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly It wasn’t too long ago, in the late 1980s, actually, that Alabama and Auburn were squabbling over the venue of the “Iron Bowl.” Finally, Auburn drew a line in the sand. Auburn would play its “home games” in Auburn, a seemingly reasonable...
by design | Feb 2, 2026 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly The month of August 1992 and the days beyond had a significant impact on the history of the Vol football program. One journalist described the campaign as “part strange and miserable.” Head trainer Tim Kerin, a prime John Majors confidante since the...
by design | Jan 19, 2026 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Sometime in mid-2010, Glenn Thackston of the Vol Network called, looking for copy for a video highlighting “The Greatest Plays” from 1997 through 2009. With that in mind, we examined the top plays of that era, the plays that help get the memory banks...
