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Tennessee football: Checker Neyland, black jerseys and how Vols should schedule their gimmicks

By Caleb Calhoun

Fans checker the Neyland Stadium as players run the "Power T" before the game against Florida on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014 in Knoxville, Tenn.1005 Kcsp Utfl0933 Al
Fans checker the Neyland Stadium as players run the "Power T" before the game against Florida on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014 in Knoxville, Tenn.1005 Kcsp Utfl0933 Al /
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Alternate uniforms and gimmicks for Tennessee football have been a thing for years. They go back to 2004, when on Labor Day, UT pulled out retro jerseys. Lane Kiffin brought out black jerseys with orange pants against the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2009, and Butch Jones debuted the Smokey Greys in 2013 and Checker Neyland in 2014.

All of these were abandoned after the coach was fired. However, Danny White knows you don’t have to reject everything about a coach’s tenure. As a result, he’s brought back Checker Neyland, the black jerseys and even the Smokey Greys. How do you organize each gimmick, though?

On the road, Tennessee football should just wear all white during day road games and white with orange pants during night home games. This post, however, is what they should do with their home games. So with the gimmicks coming back, these are the five that should be employed, and here is a look at when they should be employed.

Sep 22, 2018; Knoxville, TN, USA; Checkerboard end zone at Neyland Stadium before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida Gators. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 22, 2018; Knoxville, TN, USA; Checkerboard end zone at Neyland Stadium before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida Gators. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Retro jerseys: Non-Saturday games

We don’t even have access to any photos from the last time the Vols did this, but you can see them by clicking here. On Labor Day of 2004, UT opened the season against the UNLV Rebels wearing retro jerseys from the 1970s. It was Erik Ainge’s first game, and Rocky Top came away with a 42-17 victory.

Since then, the Vols have opened the season on a non-Saturday six times, and that seems to be turning into a tradition. Once was on the road, two were at neutral sites and three were at home. This is one that could apply to neutral site or road games along with home games since it’s white.

Whenever Tennessee football opens the season on a non-Saturday, or maybe whenever they play on a non-Saturday in the regular season in general, they should wear retro uniforms from some era. It’s the perfect time to nod to the program’s history, especially since a primetime audience is often expected for those games.

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