Not to paint Sean Dunwoody as an unusually passionate University of Tennessee football fan, but when asked whether or not his wife Anslea shared his love of the Big Orange, he replied, "When I found out her family had season tickets I said, 'When do you want to get married?'"
Like a lot of other Volniacs throughout the Tennessee Valley and beyond, Dunwoody has spent much time the last few days pondering the significance of UT's Gator - sorry, TaxSlayer - Bowl win over Iowa last Friday.
"I can't say it necessarily changes my mind about next season," said the Red Bank resident. "But I do think the confidence it gives them and the extra practice time they got will really help them get ready for next year."
Judging from the brisk sales business at the College Station sports apparel store at Hamilton Place Mall, Dunwoody is not alone in his heightened enthusiasm for Team 119.
"I'm sure there was a little push after the bowl game last weekend," said owner David Bradley. "But that enthusiasm has really been there all year. Even after the losses to Georgia and Florida, we were still selling a lot of UT stuff. Sales have been up about 30 percent over last year. In fact, Tennessee merchandise was No. 1 for 11 out of 12 months in 2014. I think Tennessee fans really believe in Butch Jones and what he's doing."
It doesn't take nearly as much faith to believe in the Vols as it did a year ago, when UT was coming off its third straight 5-7 season after Jones's first on the job.
But after last week's 45-28 win over Iowa in the Gator - oops, TaxSlayer - Bowl, the Vols have something concrete to believe in. They also have a 20-year-old point of reference to solidify their contention that something big might be just around the corner.
Much as the 1994 Vols rallied from a 1-3 start behind freshman quarterback Peyton Manning to finish 8-4 after rolling to a 45-23 win over Virginia Tech in that year's TaxSlayer, um, Gator Bowl, this year' s Vols went from a 3-5 record at October's close to finish 7-6 after the Iowa win.
Not saying that rising junior quarterback Josh Dobbs will do what Manning did for the 1995 Vols in guiding them to an 11-1 record, which was the first of four straight years of 10 or more wins. But scan the rest of the SEC today and tell me a quarterback who looks wildly superior to the aerospace engineering major. He runs like a tailback, his passing's underrated and it's hard to see anyone getting the better of him between the ears.
And good as Manning was, Dobbs also appears to have a little of that Tee Martin ability to rally his teammates. They like him. They want to help him succeed, which was an understated reason why Martin was able to guide the Vols to the 1998 national championship the year after Peyton graduated.
Not saying UT will make the 2015 College Football Playoff, especially since it must travel to Florida and Alabama. But come 2016, it's also not that far-fetched to see this fast-rising team make a serious run for No. 1.
Even this coming season should bring such serious water-cooler discussions as:
1) Does any SEC team have two better running backs than Jalen Hurd and juco transfer Alvin Kamara?
2) Is there a better wideout corps anywhere - even in the NFL - than UT's Marquez North, Von Pearson, Pig Howard, Josh Malone and Jason Croom?
3) Does anyone in the country make more one-handed, shoestring tackles than Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who should challenge for All-America honors this season?
4) Can Derek Barnett become the second-coming of Reggie White? (Yes.)
5) Is it folly to believe this 119th installment of the Clorox Orange can reach the SEC title game? (No.)
"I hope so," smiled Bradley. "This is my 16th year trying to cash in on Tennessee football since we first opened this store."
Yet Bradley and scores of other merchandisers figure to cash in this coming season regardless of UT's record as long as the Vols don't regress. The reason: Nike.
"We're a family-owned business and we have a store in West Tennessee that sells a lot of Arkansas gear," he explained. "The year Arkansas went from Adidas to Nike they went from a Top 20 school in sales to Top 10."
Unfortunately, the new Nike-produced UT merchandise won't hit stores until July 1.
"What happens, though, is that if you're a serious fan, you have to re-wardrobe your closet," said Bradley. "You've got to get the latest thing because everyone will know your Adidas stuff is from last year."
As last year gives way to this year, the 41-year-old Dunwoody is having more and more problems with the season tickets he gets from both his parents and his wife's parents.
"We've got two for most games," he said, "and it used to always be Anslea and me. But now our 6-year-old son Will wants to go, so Anslea's lost her seat a couple of times to him."
Whomever he sits with this season, Dunwoody isn't expecting the Vols to reach the SEC title.
"Naturally, I hope they'll win the national championship every year; that's always the goal," he said. "But I'd be happy with second in the SEC East."
But the Gator - oops, TaxSlayer - Bowl win changed such thinking for 30-year-old Thomas Hughes.
"Before the bowl game, I was thinking second in the SEC," Hughes said on Wednesday as he walked through Hamilton Place with a UT ball cap on his head. "Not now. Now I think we're going to win it."
Nike wouldn't have it any other way.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com