University of Tennessee Athletics
Inside The T Mailbag: The Barrel
November 13, 2014 | General
Each week, UTSports.com's Brian Rice answers questions from Vol fans on a variety of tops in and around Tennessee athletics. Send yours to him on Twitter: @briancrice or to UTSportsMailbag@gmail.com. On to this week's mailbag:
Curtis: With a lot of fans wanting a return of the Beer Barrel, I was wondering if UT still has the barrel in storage somewhere?
For those fans that may not remember the Beer Barrel, Tennessee and Kentucky once played for a large orange, white and blue painted keg with the score of each game painted on the side. It was a rivalry trophy fought for from 1925-1997. It was actually started by Kentucky alumni who wanted a physical trophy to help display their school's dominance in the rivalry. I use "dominance" lightly, even though it's referenced that way in the history books. UK led the series 9-8-1 when the trophy was established for the 1925 game.
The Barrel was marked as "Ice Water" that first year, a nod to the era of prohibition and stayed home with the Wildcats after a 23-20 win in Lexington. Kentucky wouldn't see the trophy again until 1935, as UT went 6-0-3 over the next nine seasons. UK won it back for a year with a 27-0 shutout in Lexington but Tennessee would hold on for the next 16 seasons with a 15-0-2 tear, including a 12-game win streak from 1936-47. The teams played twice in 1944 after UT did not field a team in 1943.
The trophy was not awarded in 1998 after a fatal alcohol-involved crash that injured a Kentucky player and killed another the week prior to the rivalry game. Following the hiatus in the 1998 game, Kentucky athletics director C.M. Newton and his Tennessee counterpart Doug Dickey decided to retire the trophy and not replace it.
Many fans over the years on both sides of the rivalry have clamored for its return. I have a large black-and-white photo of the trophy from the mid-1960's up in my office. I'd love to see it return, but I can certainly understand the reasons it was discontinued and has stayed out of commission.
It's still in Tennessee's possession in an undisclosed location. Part of the agreement to retire the trophy was that it not be displayed, as it had been by the winning team each year. Even if it's never awarded again, I hope fans on both sides get the opportunity to see it again one day.
Stephen: There is one parking spot left in the staff lot. Is it acceptable to go the wrong way to take it before a co-worker can circle around?
I suppose that's a matter of opinion, but that didn't stop you from swiping my space a few weeks ago.
Parking at UT is like the Hunger Games, and that doesn't stop when you graduate. Our parking lot has a very murky arrow at its entrance, which would lead one to believe that the traffic flows in one direction around the circle. Unless there's one spot left.
If you don't get that spot, it's a half-mile walk from the overflow lot. I get taking the spot, I admire the hustle on a couple of levels. But taunt me with the question, and the beef goes public.
Artie: If the Vols make a bowl, what bowl do you see them in? What would be the most beneficial for recruiting? I'm thinking Belk or Music City.
Obviously, Tennessee has a lot of work to do to make a bowl, but there are great possibilities out there if UT qualifies. Winning out would give UT a 7-5 record, which gives a better selection than a 6-6 record, which would still qualify the Volunteers for a bowl for the first time since 2010.
The first two SEC bowl selections will go to the College Football Playoff, the Allstate Sugar Bowl or the Capital One Orange Bowl. The next selection goes to the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
After those selections, there will be a pool of six bowls comprised of the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl in Nashville, TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, the Texas Bowl in Houston and the Belk Bowl in Charlotte. UT would likely fall into this pool. All of these are in fertile recruiting grounds, so all things are even there. Charlotte would be a very cool destination since this is the first year that game has been associated with the SEC. It would also be very nice to stay in-state, and I would have a hard time seeing Nashville and Memphis pass on the opportunity to fill their stadiums with Orange.
Now that you have me excited about my December, it's time to go out and finish the season off on a winning note!
Dave: Why are there checkerboards on Kentucky's uniforms, isn't that our thing?
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so we're flattered.
The checkerboard is a very common pattern in horse racing, and there is nothing more famous in the state of Kentucky than its horse racing. Checkerboards are often used in jockey livery including on Triple Crown winner Secretariat.
UK has used the checkerboard on basketball uniforms for several years and added it to the sleeves of the football jerseys in their last redesign. I like it because it just makes me think of Tennessee. If they were going to imitate, they could have at least used orange and white.
Stu: How is recruiting set up - who has what regions and how often does Coach Jones get involved? How's in-season done?
I can't give you the exact recruiting territory of each coach, they play that a little close to the vest, but each coach is assigned a specific territory or area to cover. Once specific players are identified, sometimes the position coach also helps recruit certain players. Every coach ends up helping out, it's a complete group effort and it helps build on the family atmosphere that defines the Tennessee football culture.
Coach Jones is one of the most involved head coaches I've ever seen. He wants to build relationships with people very early on and I think that's one reason he's so successful.
During the season, coaches will go out and watch various players they are recruiting, either in their territory or at their positions. Jones goes on the road to watch players on most Friday nights as well. Not every coach goes out every Friday night, game times and locations can factor into that.
Several coaches, including Jones and Jon Jancek, have sons that play high school football locally, so some weeks they will stay in town to watch them compete instead of taking to the road.
Jordan: Why we don't run some option with Joshua Dobbs, Jalen Hurd and Derrell Scott in backfield together? #Scary
I think there are a lot of things in the playbook that we haven't seen quite yet in games. The addition of the mobile quarterback in Dobbs has added a new dimension, but with his experience as a starter limited, they haven't put all areas of the playbook in the game plan yet.
Going into next season, I would be willing to guess you will see a lot more uniqueness in the playcalling, formations and personnel. Part of that will be experience, most of that will be depth and the development of players in the offseason.
Kristi: What was it like meeting Lil Jon?
I was still on the road coming back from covering Tennessee soccer at the SEC Tournament when he visited practice Sunday, so I missed out on meeting him. Our players and coaches LOVED meeting him, though. You can see their reaction right here:
