University of Tennessee Athletics
A Letter from John Currie: Aug. 21, 2017
August 21, 2017
Happy Eclipse Day, Big Orange Nation!
With eclipse fever gripping the nation and words like "totality" now in vogue, don't forget that we are now exactly two weeks away from the kickoff to the 2017 season and Volunteer Team 121's debut in Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. ET. With all that we have going on in Big Orange Country, I haven't been able to sit still long enough to finish this letter!
Last night, I was honored to join Chancellor Davenport in welcoming our extremely talented 6000+ member freshman class to Knoxville at the annual Torch ceremony and Rocky Top Rally at Thompson-Boling Arena. Following Chancellor Davenport's inspirational remarks, Coaches Holly Warlick, Alison Ojeda and Rob Patrick each took the stage to welcome our new Vols, followed by Coach Butch Jones. Coach Warlick led the crowd in an a cappella rendition of Rocky Top, and the class of 2021 roared with approval when Coach Jones challenged them to 100 percent attendance on Wednesday, which is the first day of classes for the fall semester!
Smokey and our Spirit Squads added great energy, and the Pride of the Southland Band sounded better than ever. Speaking of the Pride, as you may have seen me tweet from @John_Currie, I had a special opportunity to stop by band practice last Wednesday night. Dr. Don Ryder will put a 350-strong contingent on the field this fall, and I was inspired by their dedication and hard work as I walked amongst the formation while band members completed an incredible preseason regimen of 10 straight days during which they practiced 12 hours a day! Did you know that only about 16 percent of Pride members are music-related majors? The Pride of the Southland Band is an incredible cross section of the best and most dynamic students from across campus, forming lifelong friendships while doing so much to bring the Tennessee Family together!
Here are a few updates from around Big Orange Country:
SOCCER 2-0 AFTER WEEKEND ROAD WINS; HOME OPENER THURSDAY
Congratulations to goal-scorers Ariel Kupritz and Meghan Flynn, head coach Brian Pensky and Tennessee Soccer, which went unscored on in back-to-back shutout wins over Navy and George Mason this past weekend for our first 2-0 start since 2012. We invite you to be in Regal Stadium Thursday at 7 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET as Tennessee faces ETSU and College of Charleston, respectively.
VOLLEYBALL SET TO OPEN WITH TENNESSEE CLASSIC
Friday and Saturday, join us in air-conditioned Thompson-Boling Arena as our volleyball team opens its 2017 season hosting George Washington, Western Michigan and Wofford for The Tennessee Classic. Head coach Rob Patrick is entering his 21st year at UT and is our all-time winningest volleyball coach. In fact, he is just three wins shy of 400th career victory.
GEORGIA TECH, UGA GAMES SOLD OUT; LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN FOR HOME-OPENER
Tickets for our Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against Georgia Tech and our Sept. 30 home game against Georgia are sold out. Only a small number of single seats remain available for the Nov. 18 home game vs. LSU.
Sandwiched in the 12 days between our season-opener in Atlanta and the Sept. 16 kickoff in Gainesville (3:30 p.m. ET on CBS) is our 2017 home-opener vs. Indiana State Sept. 9 at 4 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. With the Vols coming off a short, five-day rest and practice week, we need Neyland Stadium to be loud and packed early as the team bursts through the "T" and we welcome the Big Orange back to Shields-Watkins Field. A limited number of tickets are still available.
CHANCELLOR DAVENPORT VISIT HIGHLIGHTS FIRST UTAD ALL-STAFF MEETING OF THE YEAR
One of the ways that we build communication and teamwork within the Tennessee department of athletics is by having a monthly all-staff meeting – never longer than 45 minutes – attended by our entire department (although recruiting is usually an excused absence for our coaches). With staff members and coaches spread throughout several buildings and so many overlapping sports schedules, it is important to take a moment each month for our staff to get together and discuss current events and ongoing department priorities. The August meeting is extra important and full of content as we seek to launch a new academic year hitting on all cylinders, while we remember that operating with integrity anchors everything we do!
At this past Wednesday's meeting, our first guest speaker was Chancellor Davenport, who spoke to our staff about her excitement for the coming year, as well as personally recognizing a number of Tennessee sports and coaches whose athletic and academic achievements highlighted last year. Chancellor Davenport did a great job of emphasizing the importance of Title IX and NCAA compliance and talked about the "It's on us" national mantra to end sexual assault and violence on campus while we also build a "consent culture" on campus. Additionally, if you missed the Chancellor's "Welcome Back" letter to campus last week, I encourage you to read it.
We also introduced newly hired campus Title IX Coordinator Ashley Blamey, who explained that Title IX is about equity of access and that it is the responsibility of all university employees to protect the rights and educational opportunities of every student on campus. A particularly insightful thought she shared with us was that people will meet expectations if they understand what those expectations are. I agree!
Our final guest speakers were Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Safety and UT Police Chief Troy Lane, who was joined by Cpl. Lindsey Miller from UTPD's Community Relations Unit, and UT Deputy General Counsel Brian Lapps. Chief Lane shared information about some of the safety programming and training offered by UTPD, and Brian Lapps then shared a brief message about how to report potential issues of fraud, waste and abuse.
The messages communicated by each of our guest speakers last Wednesday are extremely important. We expect every UTAD staff member and coach to take their responsibilities seriously, and exposing our staff to these important officials across our campus helps ensure we all understand the resources and safe avenues for mandatory reporting of each of the aforementioned issues. Accountability and integrity are hallmarks of a model intercollegiate athletics program. If problems arise, we will address them immediately—according to proper university protocol—and we will fix them.
Near the end of our meeting, we recognized 11 staffers who received service awards for five, 10 or 15 years of employment. And four individuals—IT specialist Eddie Howell, athletic trainer Chad Newman, women's golf coach Judi Pavon and media relations director Eric Trainer—earned rounds of applause for 20 years of service to Tennessee Athletics! I am grateful for the loyal service of all UTAD staff members who are working hard for our student-athletes and fans alike!
TWO LEADERS LOST WITH PASSING OF FLY, BROYLES
On Aug. 8, the University of Tennessee lost what President DiPietro appropriately referred to as a "devoted leader" with the passing of former UT President Eli Fly. A 1961 UT Knoxville graduate, he served the university system in various capacities for 40 years and left a lasting impression on our beloved institution.
And on Aug. 14 in Fayetteville, the Southeastern Conference and intercollegiate athletics as a whole said goodbye to one of its legendary and iconic figures as former Arkansas head football coach and athletic director Frank Broyles passed away. Coach Broyles had many ties to several Tennessee football playing and coaching greats; Johnny Majors and Doug Dickey both worked as assistants under Coach Broyles, who also had connections to VFLs Charlie Coffey, Bobby Dodd and many more.
One fond personal memory I have of Coach Broyles was when he personally toured several UTAD administrators and me through newly renovated Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in 2001. He was gifted with a wonderful attention to detail, and he was always incredibly gracious with his time.
Thank you to Coach Majors and his wife, Mary Lynn, for traveling to Arkansas this past weekend to represent Tennessee Athletics at Coach Broyles' services.
CUMBERLAND AVENUE STREETSCAPE PROJECT COMPLETED
Students arriving on campus for the start of classes will be thrilled to see that work on Cumberland Avenue, aka "The Strip," is completed after more than two years of improvements. The streetscape project added wider sidewalks, left-turn lanes at intersections and is more pedestrian friendly. The changes should positively impact businesses in that area and is in line with the progress made on overall campus beautification over the past several years. The finished project is a credit to Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and city leaders, who oversaw this massive undertaking.
There's so much more I'd like to share, but we all have to get to work so we can take in that eclipse this afternoon! Remember your safety glasses if you plan to view the eclipse. Also keep in mind that I welcome any questions, comments or ideas you'd like to share through our "Hey John" portal at UTsports.com. And for daily nuggets, you can follow me on Twitter @John_Currie.
Thanks, and Go Vols!
