Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Tennessee football players and band members playfully interact before a game last season. The Pride of the Southland Band will not be on the field this year due to COVID-19 guidelines.The Tennessee Volunteers have run out of a “T” formed by the Pride of the Southland Band 365 times in Neyland Stadium since the tradition was launched before an opening win over Army in 1965.
It is among the best pregame rituals in college football, but it has been placed on hold. There will be no giant “T” and no Pride of the Southland Band on the field before Saturday’s game between the No. 21 Vols and visiting Missouri due to guidelines implemented out of coronavirus concerns.
“I don’t know how strange it will be,” Tennessee third-year coach Jeremy Pruitt said this week. “With this pandemic, we’ve all learned to adjust, and the norm is not the norm anymore. We won’t run through the ‘T.’ We’ll run to the sideline.”
Running through the “T” was one of two notable traditions to ignite early in Doug Dickey’s tenure as coach, an era that yielded a 46-15-4 record from 1964-69 and Southeastern Conference championships in 1967 and 1969. The other transpired in his inaugural season, when the “T” made its debut on Vols helmets.
Saturday will mark the second slate of seven head-to-head matchups in the SEC’s 10-game schedule consisting solely of league opposition. The seven conference schools that traveled for their openers will host games this weekend, with Alabama and Georgia among those joining Tennessee by being at home.