KNOXVILLE — Somewhere amidst the dense fog of cigar smoke that hovered and swirled inside Neyland Stadium on Saturday night, just as the first chords of “Dixieland Delight” began to blare, University of Tennessee first-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles finally broke character.
Stone-faced and stoic from the time he made his way toward the stadium on the Vol Walk — two hours before kickoff against sixth-ranked Alabama — and even later, when he emerged from the elevator to walk briskly to the coach’s box just after halftime, Knowles paused to survey the scene as he reached the field immediately after the No. 14 Volunteers had rolled the Tide, 26-10.
The man who had orchestrated one of the most impressive defensive performances by a Tennessee unit against Alabama in decades allowed a satisfied smile to overtake his face as he began to dance and even sing along to the familiar tune, “Spend my dollar, parked in a holler ‘neath the mountain moonlight … Go Vols!”
He punctuated the last line by thrusting his fist into the night air.
Not a single soul among the tens of thousands who had made their way onto Shields Watkins Field for the postgame celebration had earned the right to cut loose more than the white-bearded Knowles, whose $2 million contract this season suddenly seems like a bargain.