It’s beautiful.
Today, the University of Tennessee debuted their new their fourth-quarter anthem at Rocky Top, which is to honor the late, great Dolly Parton. The school hadn’t revealed which song they would use until the game today, and it has officially been revealed that “My Tennessee Mountain Home” is the one, which was the title track to Dolly’s album released in 1973. The cover features an iconic photo of the one room home she grew up in the mountains of Tennessee, and it’s always been one of my favorite Dolly songs.
I’m sure Dolly would have been thrilled to know that she’ll be represented on the field at Neyland Stadium, which officially replaced Morgan Wallen’s “The Way I Talk” for that part of the game, making it a very fitting tribute for the east Tennessee queen:
Nothing but chills as Dolly Parton’s “My Tennessee Mountain Home” replaces Morgan Wallen’s “The Way I Talk” as the #Vols 4th quarter song. https://t.co/0Kpz0a6N46 pic.twitter.com/0Ziivm1SrA
— Sam Granville (@samgranvilletv) September 5, 2026
It’s still hard to accept that she’s gone, and Dolly passed at the age of 80 almost two weeks ago following a brief battle with cancer, and ever since, tributes have been pouring in from all across the world.
Of course, her home place in east Tennessee meant the world to her, and the University of Tennessee is making sure to show love for Parton during the upcoming college football season with more than just the fourth quarter song. The football team will wear commemorative helmet stickers that they’ll wear in every game that honors Dolly.
An orange butterfly – with Dolly’s name front and center – will be on every athlete’s helmet all season:
“For Dolly. A commemorative helmet sticker will be worn to honor Dolly Parton for every game this season.”
Yesterday, the school posted a hype video ahead of their home, which is another absolutely beautiful tribute to Dolly, featuring her song. You see shots of a gorgeous east Tennessee farm, as well as people in the stadium preparing for game day, and of course, they show the Dolly helmet sticker too. It’s one of the best hype videos I’ve seen in a long time, and let me just say, I am NO Vols fan, but this is just perfect.
Of course, “My Tennessee Mountain Home” is playing in the background here:
The the University of Tennessee football team won their game today against Furman with a final score of 56-9, and surely that would’ve made Dolly very happy too.
In addition to all the other great Dolly tributes, Tennessee introduced their “Dolly Karaoke Cam” and today the song choice was “I Will Always Love You”:
Tennessee introduced the “Dolly Karaoke Cam” and 102,000 people are singing “I Will Always Love You” in Neyland Stadium. Chills.pic.twitter.com/tn9JuXhgv5
— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) September 5, 2026
