by design | Jun 20, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly When the experts say football is a “team game,” they really mean it. It takes a “team” to win. That’s been true since the days of Pop Warner and Amos Alonzo Stagg. Tennessee coaches from the days of Bob Neyland on have preached and praised the concept...
by design | Jun 13, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Dr. J. C. (Jim) Tumblin knew Fountain City… and knew it well. That was the inescapable conclusion after Tumblin penned “Fountain City: People Who Made a Difference” in 2016. The book honored 56 people who have influenced the growth and development of...
by design | Jun 6, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly Over the years, it hasn’t mattered how players ended up at Tennessee to play football. It didn’t matter who they were or what their “credentials” were. Once players arrived in Knoxville, they still had to prove themselves. For those who did, there...
by design | May 31, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly The story came out of left field in late 2010 and early 2011. A man claimed to have poisoned two 130-year-old live oaks at “Toomer’s Corner” near the campus of Auburn University, to the point of coming clean on the “Paul Finebaum Show.” It was...
by design | May 23, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly I remember going to Chattanooga one day to meet with a bunch of guys who post on a chat board called Outermonvolia. It was a chance to see the faces behind the voices of the guys who proffer their opinions on anything to do with University of...
by design | May 16, 2022 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly If Crump Stadium in Memphis helped define the Tennessee football series with Mississippi and Mississippi State before the advent of Memphis Memorial Stadium, then the history of Stoll Field, the site of the Tennessee-Kentucky game every other year...