Sunday officially marked my one-year anniversary of covering Tennessee athletics for the Times Free Press.
It also marked a year since John Currie officially started his duties as Tennessee’s athletic director.
We both started our new jobs on April 1, 2017 full of hope and optimism for the great things we would do and the lasting impact we would have.
Only one of us is still standing.
Frankly, if I thought booking an unapproved flight to the West Coast could land me a $2.5 million settlement, I would have booked a flight to cover the Tennessee softball team’s recent trip to Hawaii and then hired a lawyer.
For some reason, I don’t think it would have ended as lucratively for me as it did for Currie.
Alas, I’m still here happily typing away.
On a more serious note, there are a thousand forms of media and sports coverage to read, watch or scroll through in today’s world. So to those who have taken time to read even one full article that I’ve written this past year, thank you. It’s because of Tennessee fans that my position exists.
In honor of Currie’s one-year anniversary – and my own – I wanted to revisit a few of my favorites stories from my first year on the beat.
Of course, there were a steady stream stories about the dismal 2017 Tennessee football season, the demise of Butch Jones and the disastrous search for his replacement. There was also coverage of men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball.
My favorite articles to write, however, are the ones that have some semblance of originality to them. They’re the articles that go deeper than the press conference and do more than just recite what happened in a game that you probably watched on TV.
When it comes to football, the compelling stories were hard to find in 2017, but my list starts at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta.
The legend of Paul Bain. A little known walk-on defensive tackle who transferred in from Tusculum College saved the season-opener for the Vols and then endeared himself to fans as he shared his story after the game. Stopping by the Atlanta-area high school where he played yielded even more insight into this previously unknown Vol.
Will McBride’s debut may have caused some water damage in his childhood home. Injuries to Jarrett Guarantano and Quinten Dormady left Jones little choice but to push McBride into action in a game against Southern Mississippi. The moment made for a cool scene at McBride’s house.
Talking to Alabama players at Sugar Bowl media day in New Orleans about Jeremy Pruitt revealed insight into what the Vols’ new coach is all about. Talking to several of his former coaches and co-workers was interesting, too.
Diving into James Daniel’s backstory. Tennessee needed a guard, and Rick Barnes got one when he landed a graduate transfer in Daniel. Once the nation’s leading scorer, Daniel left a legacy at Howard before arriving in Knoxville.
Rick Barnes the program builder. A dive into Barnes’ backstory showed that the turnaround at Tennessee that earned him SEC coach of the year is just the latest such program-building performance on his long resume. If you think Barnes built his reputation on Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge at Texas, you’re wrong.
Settlers of Catan showed Tennessee basketball’s lighter side. Barnes is often found by TV cameras watching the action on the court with a disgruntled gaze. Behind the curtain, he and this Tennessee team had a ton of personality.
Getting into Currie’s email before it was cool. A dive into the “Hey John” submissions began with a suggestion to “Please fire Butch Jones” and contained plenty of requests for Currie to bring back the Lady Vols logo, which he eventually did.
Those are just a few of my favorites from year one on the beat.
It’s been an eventful but fun 12 months. Thanks for reading along.
David Cobb is the Tennessee athletics beat writer for the Times Free Press. He is stationed in Knoxville. Follow him @DavidWCobb on Twitter, or direct your emails to dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Oh, and go download the Times Free Press mobile app. It’s free.