by design | Aug 25, 2025 | Columnist, Mattingly
‘They’re going to catch you’ By Tom Mattingly The day was Oct. 22, 1977, in the year John Majors came marching home as head football coach at the University of Tennessee. The series grew in intensity in 1969, with a 14-13 Florida win in the Gator Bowl. The...
by design | Aug 18, 2025 | Columnist, Mattingly
‘Get a quarterback’ By Tom Mattingly When Tennessee was building a new press box in 1962, Gen. Bob Neyland laid down a challenge to media covering the Vols. “We’re going to build the best press box in the country,” he said. “We hope it will improve the writing...
by design | Aug 11, 2025 | Columnist, Mattingly
The times they were a-changin’ in college football By Tom Mattingly It’s hard to believe that decisions made in the 1960s by coaches and players could have such far-reaching impacts. There had been a fallow period in Tennessee football from 1958 to 1963, when the...
by design | Aug 4, 2025 | Columnist, Mattingly
‘Why, Tell Me, Why?’ By Tom Mattingly Someone asked why Tennessee fans had always made such a big deal about the football team wearing white jerseys for road games. It was definitely a big deal in those uncertain times in 1971 when the whole white jersey...
by design | Jul 28, 2025 | Columnist, Mattingly
‘A Life-Changing Experience’ By Tom Mattingly Cooper Manning’s son, Arch, had his coming-out party as starting quarterback at Texas at SEC Media Days in mid-July. That elicited significant memories of an association with the Manning family, particularly...
by design | Jul 21, 2025 | Columnist, Mattingly
‘The Minister of Defense’ By Tom Mattingly You may not remember it, but there was once a 9-3 Tennessee team that was not ranked by the Associated Press (A. P.) during the entire season. It’s all right there in black agate type in the “Tennessee Volunteers...
