Mike WilsonKnoxville News Sentinel
Steve Early could picture the picture.
The Vol Network general manager knew Johnny Majors was in the forefront of the old color image. The legendary Tennessee football coach was kneeling on the field at Neyland Stadium with a football in his hand. Majors wore a V-neck sweater with “Tennessee” arched in orange across the front.
He merely had to locate the picture — and he did so with an assist from Vol Network executive director Glenn Thackston. They found it in the early pages of the 1985 media guide.
“It was exactly like I remembered,” Early said.
So were the words in the background above Majors' head that had sparked Early's fervent search for the picture: He needed proof of the “Home of the Vols” lettering adorning the front of the Neyland Stadium press box.
That picture etched in Early's mind and found in the Vol Network offices catalyzed the return of the lettering to Neyland Stadium as a centerpiece of Tennessee’s landmark deal with Pilot for branding rights at the home of Vols football.
“I had always thought ‘Home of the Vols’ should make a return at some point at the right time,” Early said. “It just came to me.”
How ‘Home of the Vols’ entered the Tennessee, Pilot deal thanks to Steve Early
Early is a stickler for Tennessee tradition.
He is from Knoxville and graduated from West High School then UT. He was hired at Vol Network in 1991 and has been the general manager since 2004. All things Vols are ingrained in Early, especially the history.
“He understands it so well because at his core he is a Tennessee fan and he loves the Vols and everything about Neyland Stadium,” said Alicia Longworth, UT's executive associate athletics director of external operations.
Tennessee, Vol Network and Pilot started discussing the branding right deals a year before its announcement on Aug. 13.
The groups sought to thread the needle of honoring tradition while modernizing, a a staple sentiment for athletic director Danny White and his administration. That principle speaks to Early at his core.
He had an idea quickly.
“Anything that can acknowledge the true spirit of Tennessee is a big win," Early said.
The “Home of the Vols” script was installed on the old press box facing, which was built on the west side of Neyland Stadium in 1962. That press box came down in 1987 and a new one was built. The words were not re-added to the facade.
Early mentioned the orange letters that once graced the stadium in discussions for branding concepts. There was immediate interestthat Longworth labeled the “light bulb” moment. But there needed to be an example or proof of the past edition.
That set off the search for a picture. Not many pictures of the former press box facing exist. Early knew he could find one. He had the mental picture that he turned into the evidence needed. Thackston nailed the media guide the picture would be in and they found it in less than a minute of searching the pages.
Early took a cellphone picture and sent it to Longworth. The photo sealed it as the fitting option.
“Sometimes, you know when things work,” said Ryan Alpert, Tennessee’s deputy athletics director of championship resources and chief revenue officer. “I think everybody in the room was like, 'There it is. That is perfect.' "
Why ‘Home of the Vols’ was perfect for Tennessee and Pilot deal
Tennessee leadership latched onto the return of the “Home of the Vols” phrase. So did Pilot’s new leadership, which aligned with UT seamlessly throughout the yearlong process in the balance of tradition with modern touches.
Renaming Neyland Stadium was never on anyone’s mind. Adding tasteful branding was the mission as part of the deal that will initially be for up to 20 years and includes undisclosed financial terms.
"We have a very, very decorated and historic past at Tennessee,” Alpert said. “We don’t want to shy away from that. We don’t want to change that. We want to embrace the past. We also want to find ways to honor it and modernize for the future.”
All parties wanted to represent Pilot somewhere other than the field and inside the bowl not on the outside of the stadium. Using the ribbon board in some capacity was one idea. But since White arrived in January 2021, the possibility of adding something on the face of the east skyboxes had been broached repeatedly.
That location made sense for the overall structure and aesthetic. The language mattered likewise. Putting “Pilot welcomes you” before “Home of the Vols” was a thought.
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They settled on a final version featuring matching Pilot logos on each side of the skyboxes with “Home of the Vols” standing alone. The middle has tradition and history. It is flanked by the pair of Pilot logos. All the elements have modern touches with LED lights.
The history is at the forefront.
“You’ve got one chance to get it right,” Early said. “Everybody wanted that to look appropriate, prominent but also nostalgic.”
It is still Neyland Stadium. It is preserved by Pilot, which Alpert declared “the perfect partner” through the process.
“They understand what the University of Tennessee means to east Tennessee and to Knoxville, Longworth said.
The lettering was put up in early August by the same company that did the VOLS letters on the southeast and southwest corners of the stadium. The Pilot logos were added following the announcement as the culmination of many months of work.
It was made possible by one dedicated search for a 39-year-old picture of Johnny Majors.
Mike Wilsoncovers University of Tennessee athletics.Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.comand follow him on Twitter@ByMikeWilson.If you enjoy Mike’s coverage,consider adigital subscriptionthat will allow you access to all of it.
